Georgia Toffolo reveals how childhood bullying hell gave her the strength to win I’m A Celebrity
JUNGLE queen Georgia “Toff” Toffolo has revealed how she won I’m A Celebrity – being bullied at school aged 12 taught her to avoid confrontation.
As a result she had no bust-ups in the reality show camp and kept clear of others’ arguments, instead cruising through to victory on Sunday.
In part two of her only newspaper interview since winning the ITV reality show, Toff — also a regular in TV’s Made In Chelsea — said: “I’m very passive and in the four years I’ve been on Made In Chelsea I generally avoid arguing. I really don’t like it.
“So when there was animosity in camp I could feel it. I would always remove myself from the drama by going for a work-out, a swim or hanging out with Stanley Johnson, who was mostly doing his own thing. So I didn’t experience any upset.
“Maybe by nature and because of my past I protect myself. The minute I feel any tension I take myself away. I really prefer to be positive.”
Toff’s bullying hell as a 12-year-old was so traumatic that her parents had to remove her from her posh girls’ school in Exeter, Devon.
She said: “It was a really horrible time in my life and I can’t really remember it. I think I’ve blocked it out because it was so upsetting.
“A group of girls didn’t like me and picked on me on a daily basis. They were ever so bitchy. But I moved on, with the support of my family. Even talking about it now makes me well up with tears.
“But it’s important to remember, most people have been bullied, and it makes you a stronger person in the long run.”
Toff’s parents Nicola and Gary, who split in 1999 when she was five, decided to take her out of expensive fee-charging The Maynard School and enrolled her at Blundell’s, a boarding school in nearby Tiverton — something she is eternally grateful for.
She said: “I’m so glad my parents moved me away from that school. It was a time in my life that I hated.
“I’ll always be grateful to them for that and I was fortunate enough that moving was an option for me.
“From then on I had a wonderful experience at school, but it is funny how you block it out — it must be a coping mechanism.”
Toff, 23, won over a legion of new fans on I’m A Celebrity with her positive attitude, quirky sense of humour and also her endearing posh tones.
She inherited her plummy accent — and her surname — from her mum Nicola, a property manager, rather than her dad Gary Bennett, a scrap metal collector from a working-class background.
After having two goes at completing a law degree, Toff settled down in Chelsea, where she fell in with the rich socialites of E4’s Made in Chelsea scripted reality saga — and her posh tones felt right at home.
As well as telling all about her bullying experience, Toff also opened up about her struggles with acne.
She told how she pleaded with I’m A Celebrity producers to let her use heavy-duty foundation to cover her spots, explaining that bad skin cripples her confidence.
She said: “I know I’m really happy to most people, but when my skin is bad it makes me cry and I lose all my confidence.
“On Made In Chelsea there are cameras in my face and some days I think, ‘I can’t go to filming today,’ but I just have to dry my tears and pull myself together.
“People suffering will understand what I mean because you can’t get away from the spots on your face. Having spots is awful for a woman and thank God we can sort of cover them up. I don’t want anyone to feel they can’t talk about it.
“I wish I was the sort of girl who could walk around with no make-up on, but I have big angry red marks all down the side of my cheeks. I have had to learn to cope.”
In March Toff was tested further when she was at a Countryside Alliance awards event at the House of Commons when the Westminster terror attack took place.
She recalled: “I was standing outside having a glass of wine and suddenly I saw all these police and a commotion on the bridge.
“All these scary plain-clothed military SAS guys came storming in, screaming, ‘Get off the effing terrace’. And then on all the screens it said, ‘There’s been a terrorist attack. Westminster on lockdown’.
“It was so scary. We had to hide under tables and we were there for seven hours. I got out at 10pm, when we were transferred to Westminster Hall.
But her alarming experience at the heart of government has not put her off politics, and Tory-leaning Toff still wants to encourage political conversation among youngsters.
She said: “I just want people talking about politics and engaging. If people don’t vocalise their views, then nothing will change.
“I don’t want to get involved in party politics or have an affiliation to a party. Of course, you’ve got to have a political opinion in order for people to engage and disagree. I just want to instigate discussion.
“I just want to write informative articles. My dream would be to have my own newspaper column one day.”
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Toff has other ambitions aside from politics. She said: “I’d love to do a clothing line. I’ve never had the opportunity but if I did, I would love everything to be really girly and cute.
“I think I’ve been completely underestimated in the past because of my blonde hair and the connotations of Made In Chelsea as a reality show.
“People put me in this ditsy category, so it’s been nice that people have been able to see the true me.”