Judi James: ‘Her body language looked staged to gain sympathy’
Body language expert Judi James told Closer she does not believe Roxanne’s interviews following the scandal showed real remorse.
Judi says, “It was clear Roxanne had decided to apologise and show remorse during both interviews, and her body language seemed planned and staged to gain sympathy.
“Were these performances genuine? There were moments when the help of PR advisors seemed to be obvious. In the first interview, she referred to her career as though it was something to regain, and she used words like ‘sensitive’ in what sounded like a bid for sympathy. For Roxanne to have said ‘everyone makes mistakes’ suggested a diminished view of what happened. It appeared to make excuses for her actions. There was an odd moment when she tagged herself as ‘the most hated girl in Britain’, and performed what looked like a small smirk. This could have suggested an ongoing love of the drama, but it could also have been a gesture of denial over the whole ordeal.
“She used a subdued vocal tone on Jeremy Vine’s show, and her eyelids were drooped to suggest lack of sleep or that she had been crying. She vocalised her apology with her hands held in what’s called the forward steeple. This might have been a device to restrain her normal hand movements, but it can also been seen as a power and high status signal.
“The hand gesture didn’t match her apology, suggesting a desire to appear compliant with the apology but also control the situation to re-boost her status.
“For Emma Willis’ interview on CBB, we had eye-to-eye contact, which meant Roxanne had nowhere to hide. She was equally low-key, but her constant nodding increased as the accusations came at her. They began to occur before Emma had finished speaking, suggesting Roxanne was desperate to agree with everything and anything in a bid to get it all over and move on. She was less confident when she was asked questions, though, and there were a couple of times when she paused for so long that Emma moved on.
“It would be easy to say she was trying to show remorse just to be forgiven and get back to work, but a lot depends on factors such as whether she believed her own stories, and what might have motivated her to do these things. We will probably never know the depth of her problems and motivations.”