Daily Star

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GEORDIE girl Vicky Pattison looks fitter than ever as she battles back against the harsh critics who have knocked her success.

The sizzling telly star has slammed the online haters who trolled her appearance after she put on weight last year.

“I am sick of everyone being so bitter,” she says. “Why can’t we just applaud each other?

“People claim I Photoshop my pictures but I don’t, so I posted a video to Instagram to prove them wrong.

“Slimming down is really hard for everyone and I felt humiliated last year that people were picking up on my weight gain. What’s sad is that most of the comments were from other girls.

“Last year was really busy for me and as soon as you are overloaded with work your fitness regime is always the first thing to fall by the wayside.

“I’m back on the diet and fitness now and feel better than ever. I am never going to be the boring one who turns down drinks with the girls but I will work my ass off before and after to stay in shape.”

Pressure

Vicky, 29, was crowned winner of I’m A Celeb in 2015 and went on to scoop more ITV success with a slot on Loose Women. She returned to the Jungle last year to front spin-off show I’m A Celeb: Extra Camp but says she found receiving unkind comments upsetting. “It was my first big presenting gig – who is good at something on their very first go?” she says. “I was feeling quite vulnerable anyway as I was away from home and I’d put on a bit of weight. “I put too much pressure on myself. There could be 10 positive tweets praising me on the show but I would get upset over one bad one. “I was crying and not sleeping. Why do people love to tear you apart? “I felt like I couldn’t win. But as soon as I learned to stop reading them, the show did really well. “The ratings doubled from the previous year and we had a great laugh. I learned to let go, have more fun and stop worrying.” Vicky says she is also happier than ever in her love life after going official with Geordie boyfriend John Noble during her time in Oz.

The pair dated previously when she was 20 and working in the Newcastle nightclub scene, and a chance meeting last year brought them back together.

“There was never a great fall-out, we just moved away, but we’ve always known of each other and had the same friends,” she explains.

“Last year I was on a train to Manchester going to a mate’s birthday and he was there.

“We started texting, then dating and before I knew it I was in love with him. So when I went to Australia we made it official.

“I am under no illusions – I have awful taste in men. Stephen Bear was a particular low point.

“But I think I needed to go through those bad apples to work out what I really wanted.”

Vicky says kissing so many frogs helped her realise that John was “the one”.

“He is lovely and he’s a real man,” she says. “He is successful in his own right and couldn’t care less about fame. He runs a fashion label but also works for his family business running bars and restaurant­s up in the North East. He doesn’t need me for anything.

“I nearly gave up on men last year. I tried dating ones who were in the industry as I thought they’d understand but that didn’t work.

“And then I tried to meet people who weren’t and they all said they wanted a strong, independen­t woman but it just made them feel emasculate­d.

“And the rest just wanted a ticket to fame. But John is a breath of fresh air and he’s not like that at all.

“It’s a level of happiness I’ve never known. He’s definitely the one.”

Excited

Vicky’s rollercoas­ter love life and telly success has now put her in the running to host Channel 5’s new relaunch of iconic dating show Blind Date. She reveals: “Everyone has seen the Blind Date story and got excited. “But mine isn’t the only name in the hat so I don’t know any more details about who they will choose. “All I can say is that I would absolutely love to do it. I would be good at it and I would call a spade a spade. “I loved Cilla Black back in the day and how relatable she was and honest. “So I would love to bring the show back with a modern twist. I’ve been through relationsh­ips and I know how hard it is to meet someone. “They are massive shoes to fill and whoever gets it will be awesome. But it’s my dream job so I am keeping my fingers crossed.” The Vicky Pattison Mini V Nutrition product range and on-demand fitness & lifestyle service is available from minivnutri­tion.com. Daily Star readers can use the code DAILYSTAR2­0 to get 20% off.

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