Daily Express

What does the future hold for ‘evil’ Roxanne now?

The former Emmerdale actress has sparked one of the biggest national reactions in Celebrity Big Brother history after accusing housemate Ryan Thomas of ‘punching’ her

- By Sadie Nicholas

UNTIL a few days ago Roxanne Pallett was best known as a former Emmerdale actress who co-hosts the breakfast show on York-based Minster FM and was due to star in panto for the umpteenth time this Christmas. How life can turn on its axis.

Now, with many on social media calling for her head, the 35-year-old must surely wonder whether her career is ruined following the huge furore she’s caused on the current series of Celebrity Big Brother.

Pallett is at the centre of what’s being dubbed “punchgate” after she accused fellow soap star Ryan Thomas, who played Jason Grimshaw in Coronation Street, of punching her in the ribs during a play fight in the Big Brother house last Thursday.

Despite TV cameras showing there was no malice Pallett protested to other housemates, including ex-banker Nick Leeson, Hollywood actress Kirstie Alley and former Liverpool footballer Jermaine Pennant, that there’d been an “altercatio­n” with Thomas during which he’d punched her “like a boxer”. She was seen sobbing in the Diary Room and begging to be allowed to sleep alone after accusing Thomas of punching her “repeatedly, unprovoked and completely deliberate­ly”.

But she didn’t stop there. After branding him a wife beater, Pallett demanded he be removed from the house at Elstree Studios in Hertfordsh­ire. She added: “This is why women don’t say anything [about domestic violence] because it’s turned around completely. He doesn’t even talk to me and then he punches me repeatedly in the ribs.”

Thomas also went into the Diary Room for a good cry to Big Brother. He said: “I’ve done nothing, I don’t understand how she can do this. I don’t understand it.”

Although he was given a warning by producers of the Channel 5 show, the fact that they didn’t boot him off or get the police involved speaks volumes. In fact away from the cameras they must be delighted that this controvers­y trounces all previous Celebrity Big Brother debacles, including Les Dennis’s now infamous “breakdown”.

AS the scenes aired over the weekend, social media went into meltdown with viewers calling Pallett a disgrace and liar while the live eviction audience chanted: “Get Roxy Out.”

At the last count, media regulator Ofcom had received 11,215 complaints from viewers incensed that she’d accused Thomas of punching her. Many may have been encouraged to register their displeasur­e after his girlfriend, TOWIE star Lucy Mecklenbur­gh, shared a link to the Ofcom complaints page on her Twitter feed.

The reality star, who started dating Thomas last year after they met on Celebrity Island With Bear Grylls, tweeted: “I don’t think she is mentally fit to be in the house.” Even some of Pallett’s former Emmerdale co-stars piled in, including Kelvin Fletcher, who played her husband in the soap. He referred to her as “evil” and “manipulati­ve” while Charley Webb – Emmerdale’s Debbie Dingle – also defended Thomas, tweeting: “We’ve just watched it and nothing happened. Outrageous.”

Channel 5 announced on Saturday that Pallett had left the show, a move that could cost her the £75,000 fee she’s rumoured to have agreed. Meanwhile Thomas, 34, has described himself as “broken” and says his life is “in tatters”.

A spokeswoma­n for Pallett said: “Roxanne decided to leave the CBB house late last night after deliberati­ng for two days with some sensitive issues she felt strongly about. She has now been reunited with her fiance and family.”

She has perhaps retreated to Cumbria where she was raised by her mother and grandmothe­r after her Iranian father left when she was a baby. Punchgate will certainly cast a dark shadow over her CV which includes being in a girl band, plus TV dramas Waterloo Road and Casualty, and high-profile stage shows like The Wedding Singer. Ironically, given her claims on Celebrity Big Brother, she won acclaim for a major domestic violence storyline on Emmerdale in 2008 and that same year became an ambassador for the Early Warning Signs campaign for UK domestic violence charity Refuge.

But can she ever hope to rebuild her reputation or career after the CBB backlash?

Dr Elle Boag is a senior lecturer in social psychology at Birmingham City University and says the viewing public can be terribly unforgivin­g. “In a lot of cases there is no coming back from being judged as a liar. People will always judge her through that lens and I don’t mean the people who are casting for TV shows, I’m talking about the general public.

“If the general public don’t watch TV shows or movies then celebritie­s lose their celebrity status.”

Could Pallett’s only hope now be to play on her newfound “villain” status by signing up for another reality show? After all, it’s her appearance­s on shows like Dancing On Ice and Soapstar Superstar that have kept up her star appeal.

“Going on another show and using it as an opportunit­y to talk about what she’s done and fessing up about why she did it may be her only option,” Dr Boag adds. ‘There must be a reason why she’s stooped that low.”

But Dr Boag also urges caution, based on something known in psychologi­cal circles as the Big Brother Effect. “This means that when we’re being watched all the time, after a while we can no longer modify our behaviour and portray ourselves in the way that we want to be judged. Instead we turn into who we actually are.

“These celebritie­s want us to see them in a particular way so that they maintain their celebrity status. But after a while we see them as they truly are.

“So some celebs might be unpopular when they first go on to a show but then we suddenly find that they’re not as awful as we thought, while others whom we think are all sweetness and light turn out to be an absolute nightmare.”

Even if a stint in the jungle or on the dance floor beckons as her only option, Pallett must now realise that despite the stardom and the pay cheque, sometimes reality does bite. Hard.

 ??  ?? CELEBRITY BIG BUST-UP: Roxanne Pallett has now left the Big Brother house after her assault claim against Ryan Thomas
CELEBRITY BIG BUST-UP: Roxanne Pallett has now left the Big Brother house after her assault claim against Ryan Thomas
 ??  ?? ON THE FARM: With Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and social media storm
ON THE FARM: With Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and social media storm
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