Jorgie Porter: “I love meeting guys on dating shows”
Ex-Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter opens up about finding love on TV and widening the net for her Mr Right
She made her name as bubbly Theresa McQueen in Hollyoaks in 2008, but in more recent years,
Jorgie Porter has become a reality-TV favourite, starring on I’m A Celeb, Dancing On Ice and Celebs Go Dating.
Fans had high hopes for the selfproclaimed “unlucky in love” 32 year old – who has been single since splitting from rugby player Luther Burrell in 2016 – when she clicked with her date, personal trainer Craig Moultrie, on Celebrity First Dates.
The pair continued dating after meeting on the show, including her taking him to a swanky industry awards ceremony.
But shortly after, their romance soured as she accused him of being a “pest” who inundated her with messages, while he called her a “game player”.
VIRTUAL DATES
Yet despite calling the experience “intense”, it hasn’t put Jorgie off meeting potential suitors on TV shows, as she tells Closer,
“I never thought I’d do reality TV because I used to be a dancer and an actress, but now I’ve done most of them. I really enjoy doing the dating shows because you get free food and drinks! On Celebs Go Dating, I had to go into a room and pick a guy I fancied, but I found that a bit terrifying.”
But with the UK in lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak, Jorgie has been using dating apps in a bid to find Mr Right instead, and has been on virtual dates from the comfort of her Cheshire home via FaceTime. She said last month, “It’s quite awkward, so instead it’s good to do a creative activity like paint a picture together, which is what we did. It’s cool because you see how much effort they’ve put in. So if they get their paints and canvas ready, you’re like, ‘Ah, he wants to impress me.’”
Jorgie, who famously dated her hunky Hollyoaks co-star James
Atherton from 2011 to 2014, trained as a ballet dancer as a teen – yet shockingly, the petite 5ft 1 size 6 star was told by teachers that she was too overweight to be a professional dancer. On a past shoot with Closer, she revealed how, then a size 12, she was told to eat only fruit or veg, and as a result her weight became “a constant battle” for years afterwards.
BEING FAKE
“I wanted to be skinny, but I was always hungry,” she said. “I would be on every diet from Atkins to the Cabbage Soup diet. But when you’re not allowed something, you want it even more, so then I’d overeat to make myself feel better.”
Now the Manchester-born star has a healthier attitude to food, adding, “I don’t do fad diets any more. But I never sit still either, so I’m always burning off energy. Although if I ever go to the gym on my own, I’ll just stand on the cross trainer on my phone watching Netflix, so I have a personal trainer to really push me.”
Her confidence has grown in recent years, after her role in Hollyoaks – which she quit in 2016 – saw her win legions of male fans and top Sexiest Female awards. And while she’s happy in her own skin, she jokingly admits to being “fake”. She says, “I am a big fan of an add-on – I love a fake eyelash or nail and hair extensions, even when I’ve already got big hair and fake tan! I think I’m just quite a fake person. I can’t live without mascara – I even took it to the jungle as my luxury item when I did I’m A Celeb.”