Belfast Telegraph

Actress ‘got it wrong’ over Big Brother punch claim

- BY LAURA HARDING

FORMER Emmerdale star Roxanne Pallett has apologised and said she “got it wrong” after she claimed that actor Ryan Thomas punched her in the Celebrity Big Brother house.

The actress previously alleged Thomas “punched me like a boxer would punch a bag” but has now said she could see his actions were not deliberate.

In her first interview after quitting the reality show on Saturday, she told Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine: “At the time it hurt. But when I looked back on that footage as soon as I left the house — the first thing I did was view that clip — and I really got it wrong.

“I’m a sensitive person, my friends and family can vow to that, everything in that house was so heightened, a look, a comment, an action.

“Your insecuriti­es are height- ened, the only thing I can explain is it was, in the moment, it felt worse than it was.

“I can’t prove a feeling. I can’t show you a feeling. It was the word ‘deliberate­ly’ that I regret.”

Coronation Street star Thomas was left in tears after Pallett claimed he hurt her by punching her, which many viewers defended as merely play fighting.

She said: “I massively apologise to not just Ryan but to his family and friends and his fans and every single person who watched that and completely and justifiabl­y saw an over-reaction to what wasn’t a malicious act.

“He did apologise and he did say his ring caught me. It was the word ‘deliberate’ I regret because I doubted his intention and there was no malicious intention behind that and that is what I apologise for as I shouldn’t have questioned his motivation.”

When Vine said if there had not been cameras there to show what happened, the accusation could have ended his career, Pallett said: “He couldn’t disprove his intention and I couldn’t disprove or prove a feeling.

“My judgment was clouded, my sensitivit­y was heightened. I wasn’t thinking straight and that is something I’m going to have to go away and work on to become a better person.”

Pallett denied suggestion­s she was doing the interview in order to protect her career.

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