Painful past of TikTok star in celebrity jungle
POISED to shake up the I’m A Celebrity Jungle this year is the TikTok sensation Nella Rose – as her vast internet fame will attract millions of young viewers to the ITV reality show.
But just six years ago, the YouTube star, who boasts close to one million followers on Instagram, was evicted from her home and spent two years living out of a suitcase.
In March, she posted a video to her one million followers on TikTok with the caption: ‘When you’re an immigrant, have been homeless, lost both parents, family have disowned you, constantly body shamed but God continues to bless you.’
Ms Rose, 26, who started her YouTube channel in 2015 with hair tutorials and fashion tips, is of Congolese descent and arrived in the UK from Belgium at the age of seven with her mother and older brother.
‘Migrant, homeless and no parents’
Set on losing her thick French accent, the I’m A Celebrity contestant – who was born Nella Rose Hollela – would watch videos of Ant and Dec while growing up in north-west London to adopt a British accent.
She is now worth several hundreds of thousands of pounds and she bought her first house in the capital last week – a far cry from her poverty-stricken upbringing.
After her mother died unexpectedly in 2017, the council took back the family home from the teenager and her brother, leaving Ms Rose to live at her accommodation in Leicester University or with friends.
She told fans on YouTube about her mother, explaining: ‘She died in my arms. It is the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
“I was planning on using my stuto dent loan and my little YouTube money to pay the rent and bills.
‘But then my brother and I get a letter telling us we had 30 days to move out. So I’m in my second year of uni, I’m dealing with my mum’s death and now we’re homeless.
‘My uni room was my house or I was going on brand trips abroad in the holidays because I was running away from the fact I had nothing to call my own, nothing solid, I was escaping my problems.
‘You all thought I was living my best life, but in reality, I was homeless, living out of a suitcase and hopping from bed to bed.’
At 20, she rented her first flat in an affluent area of London and admitted it cost thousands to furnish.
But Ms Rose has added: ‘I didn’t want this to be my life. I wanted to come home to my mum and live with my family. Instead, I come home to echoes and will be alone until I marry.’