When Gemma Collins walked out of the Australian jungle while on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Here! after just 72- hours, many assumed the reality TV star would brush things off in her usual care-free manner.
But now the 43 year old TV personality has revealed that she was left in such a dark place following the criticism and ridicule she received - she seriously considered taking her own life, similar to that of Caroline Flack who died by suicide in 2020.
Just hours before entering the jungle, Gemma was physically attacked by an ex-boyfriend in 2014, leaving her not only physically but mentally fragile. Just before she was due to get on the plane she was "knocked out, attacked and robbed."
Reflecting on when she decided to quit the show, she told the Daily Mail's podcast, Everything I Know About Me: "I remember GMB being there, I'd just got off the plane and like Good Morning Britain, again I love Good Morning Britain but it was all too much. Can you imagine getting the biggest TV show, getting paid £75,000 which was a hell of a lot of money then, and then getting beaten up , then getting robbed, that upset me."
Gemma Collins was left so depressed while in the Australian jungle she decided to quit the ITV show (REX)She tearfully added: "And then all the embarrassment of like, you know what the TV programmes were saying, ' Gemma Collins left the jungle, she was hungry, she was this...And it wasn't my fault. I can remember laying in my flat where I lived and just thinking I just want to die. I haven't done nothing wrong. I've left the jungle because of something that happened to me. No one was even honest about what happened to me, so I had to walk around with this shame that I'd something wrong."
Good Morning Britain's Laura Tobin looks incredible in revealing dress
Gemma continued: "That, I'm gutted about because I feel like I was robbed of my moment and then I was also made to feel like the worse person on earth. So that's in the past but it has affected me for sure. But that's my biggest kind of regret with the jungle because I probably would have gone on to win the show. I would have been hilarious on there you can see from the first couple of days I was in there. But all the psychological like, sh**, that was given to me after that, I could have killed myself. I actually remember being in my flat thinking 'I think I'm going to kill myself I can't cope'
Gemma recalled that it took her roughly two months to repair her emotional and mental state in order to start bouncing back into the spotlight once again, as she felt forced into hiding. During that time in her life, the reality star said it was a real "breaking point" for her. But she insisted: "I think it made me such a stronger person. People call me a diva because I have certain boundaries. What happened to Caroline Flack, that could have been me after the jungle. And that really could have been me. I'm pleased I didn't do anything silly because I would have regretted it."
A coroner reported back in February 2020 that Caroline's cause of death was suicide by hanging Coroner's Officer Sandra Polson said the presenter had "apparently been found hanging" on February 15, while an autopsy said the provisional cause of death was suspension by ligature.
*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
