I was punched, headbutted and mocked just for being ginger... and it’s not OK

I want those who suffer cruel taunts from bullies to know there is help PAUL ON HIS WORK FOR THE BULLYING HELPLINE

so exhausted that she passed out as she lost so much blood. It was so incredibly stressful, there were points that I thought she or Charlie would die. “A traumatic entry into the world and I remember the midwife saying something like: ‘Oh and he’s not ginger like you, what a relief ’.

“And I remember thinking ‘how do you think that’s a normal thing to say to any dad? Never mind a dad who experienced what I did.’”

Paul, who received thousands of tweets and became the subject of memes after appearing on Traitors, with most of the show’s six million viewers becoming obsessed with his

smug scheming, says his childhood experience of bullying helped him to cope with the pressure.

He explains: “Looking back, I think I developed a sense of humour from the bullying.

“I literally don’t think I would be the person I am if I wasn’t ginger. When I told my parents about the National Bullying Helpline yesterday, they had no clue I was bullied.

“Now I have to think about the kids out there who don’t have a thick skin and are being bullied. I was ashamed to speak to my family, and I want that to change for others.”

One of Paul’s co-contestants on the BBC reality show, model and disability activist Mollie Pearce received a social media backlash after she failed to uncloak the eventual winner, Harry Clark.

After losing her chance to win the £95,000 prize, Mollie was forced to quit X, formerly known as Twitter, by some online barracking.

Paul says: “It drives me mad that people are forced off of platforms, I hate the idea of abuse doing that. You are being bullied off a medium where people want to see what you’re doing, it’s sad.

“Everyone has got a story to tell.”

SCHEMING Paul during BBC show The Traitors FAMILY MAN Paul with his partner and son