IT’S TOFF AT THE TOP
Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo thought she had no chance of winning I’m A Celebrity... but proved herself wrong. Now she’s busier than ever. The Made In Chelsea star talks to GEORGIA HUMPHREYS about new challenges, self-confidence, and why she’s opening up about
SINCE being crowned queen of the jungle, life has changed tenfold for Georgia ‘Toff’ Toffolo. In the three months since winning I’m a Celebrity... she’s landed a presenting slot on ITV’s This Morning.
No one’s more surprised by her sudden success than Georgia herself.
“I just thought everyone would hate me,” the Made In Chelsea star says of going into the jungle.
She continues, her voice loud and energetic: “Because I kept on getting voted to do the trials I assumed that everyone didn’t like me. So when I kept on getting through, I thought, ‘What on earth is going on?’
“And then to the final, and then to win – it’s just ridiculous.”
For someone who says she “fell into television”, Georgia has taken to her new role on This Morning extremely well.
Last week saw her front coverage from LA ahead of the Oscars – she recreated famous movie scenes and went on a tour of the city with the son of actor Mickey Rooney.
Jetting stateside is just one exciting part of becoming the sidekick of Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the daytime television show.
“I’ve done so many things,” says the 23-year-old, her blonde hair falling in perfect curls around her face.
“I went off to Verbier to do a piece on skiing. I did a really cool piece about Winston Churchill, where I went into the House of Commons and up to Blenheim Palace, which was amazing.”
The Devon-born TV personality is also using the show as a platform for speaking out about something really important to her – her ongoing battles with her skin.
Having suffered from acne and red marks since her late teens, she’s started a self-confidence campaign, and plans to go into schools to talk to young people about the issue. It kicked off with Georgia showing her face bare of make-up on TV for the first time.
“I got very emotional, because it’s something that I’ve tried to mask for years,” she confides, adding the “perfect life” she portrays on reality show Made In Chelsea played a part in her hiding her acne.
“I needed a bit of a gentle nudge, but gosh, it really is just one of the most empowering, liberating things I’ve ever done.”
Asked why now felt the right time to open up about her skin condition, she says: “I felt that, actually, I’m so in the public eye now that it would be a travesty for me not to be honest about the struggles that I’ve had.”
She adds the reaction online to the feature has “blown her away”.
“I’m getting messages from middle-aged women, saying, ‘I struggle’; young men; obviously an enormous amount of young girls just saying, ‘Someone in your position has finally said, I’m not perfect.’”
On the topic of social media, Georgia admits she always held back from being honest about her skin problems to her followers: “I’m not the first one to upload a no-make-up selfie of me lying in bed in my dressing gown,” she quips.
After all, the young star knows what it’s like to deal with negativity on Instagram and Twitter, having discussed online trolls’ hurtful comments about her “spots” live on This Morning earlier this year. “The problem is, I think people tell porkies if they say they don’t care, because some trolls can be so personal,” she maintains.
“But you find your own way of managing it, and my own way is ignoring them and leaving the comments there, because I think it’s mortifying that you should be so unkind about another person.”
Georgia says she’s fortunate in that she doesn’t normally get negative comments from fans of Made In Chelsea, which she has starred in since 2014.
“I think it’s because they’ve got to know me now,” she muses. “It’s so difficult when you first start because they think, ‘Who’s this impostor?’ And then it gets easier.”
She will soon be seen in the 15th series of the E4 reality show, as it once again follows the lives of SW3’s bright young things, and someone rather surprising will be making an appearance alongside her. Yes, her new pal, Stanley Johnson.
Georgia and the 77-year-old politician and author, whose son is Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, bonded hugely during their time on I’m A Celeb... together, and their unexpected friendship has continued on home soil.
“I love him so much,” she gushes. “He’s just got back from the Maldives. He’s been sending me pictures of him and big tortoises.”
She’s also met Boris a couple of times, noting: “It’s really bizarre how similar they are.”
However, Georgia doesn’t see herself “going into politics as such” in the future. “I shan’t be heading in to be an MP,” she insists. “But yes, I will always be politically engaged because I think it’s very, very important.
“Young women and men need to speak up because it’s our life it’s affecting, politics and the decisions that are being made now.” For now, she’s just pleased being on TV means young people are engaging with her (which, she adds, does mean she has a “massive responsibility to put out and portray the right things”.)
“I need to have good job satisfaction,” she says. “And helping people, and trying to make myself a role model – because I think I should – will give me that job satisfaction I really crave.”
Watch out, world – there’s no stopping Toff now. This Morning airs on ITV every weekday at 10.30am.