I always wanted to be famous
Essex Girl Gemma Collins on living her dream of a celebrity lifestyle
BEING backwards in coming forwards is not something Gemma Collins could ever be accused of.
The Only Way is Essex star is open about the fact that “from a young girl, I always wanted to be famous”.
She got her wish – from a nude shoot for Heat magazine to a fabricated sex tape story,
People say, ‘We love you, Gemma’. They start grabbing and touching me. It’s crazy
Gemma is never far from the spotlight. The 37-year-old, known as The GC, has made her name in a string of reality shows since she burst on to TV screens in 2011 in The Only Way is Essex.
Former car saleswoman Gemma managed just three days (reportedly the minimum time celebs must stay to get paid) in the I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle in 2014.
She quit after voicing her dissatisfaction with the lack of food, saying: “Even a murderer gets fed three times a day.”
Gemma also plunged into the diving show Splash! and became the seventh housemate to be evicted in series 17 of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016. Recently, she’s been seen putting prospective partners through their paces in E4’s Celebs Go Dating and she has just brought out a book called The GC: How to be a Diva.
But even this light-hearted guide to diva-dom hit the headlines, with Gemma appearing on Loose Women to explain away an awkward interview.
In it, she had quizzed a Now magazine journalist about whether she’d read or researched the book. (The journalist had, in fact, not been sent a copy, yet Gemma repeatedly refused to answer any questions. The interview went viral.)
After much to-ing and fro-ing over our interview time and date, I finally catch up with Gemma. She is also keen to know that I’ve read her book – even though she doesn’t seem too sure what’s in it.
“It’s a fun read, isn’t it?” she says confidently. “Yes,” I say, a little less so.
Amid the froth of the guide, Romford-born Gemma writes that she was bullied at school because of her outgoing nature and that the bullying continued as she got older. Today, the memory eludes her.
“I’ve not read that bit in the book, where was that? I’ve not seen that bit so I can’t comment on that.” Time to move on. Was she always ambitious? “Yeah.” Silence. Waiting for the next question. So, how would she describe a diva? “I think a diva is used as a negative word. It’s more about being a woman and knowing what you want. So many people misuse the word as someone that’s a
nightmare, but it’s not, it’s just about an assertive woman who knows exactly what she wants.”
The book features numerous pearls of wisdom on the subject, such as: “A diva knows what she likes and the things she likes are often pink and are always fabulous.”
With an eye-catching cover (pink), featuring an even more eye-catching Gemma in a hot-pink figure-hugging dress with tasselled sleeves, the book is sure to be a hit with her fans and social media followers.
The outspoken star says: “From a young girl, I always knew I wanted to be famous. Mum always wanted me to be famous, so she got her dream in the end.”
She says she’s recognised all the time when she’s out, adding: “People say, ‘Gemma, we love you!’ They start grabbing me and touching me. They go absolutely crazy. It’s just all part and parcel of what I do.”
She claims she has two personas – one is the larger-than-life, bubbly, bold GC, the other is the Gemma Collins when the cameras aren’t rolling.
“I’m just a normal girl. I’m quite sweet and normal away from The GC,” she adds.
“The GC is like the Towie character. It all says it in the book. That’s the character that’s made me famous. The real Gemma is a lot more softer.
“I like being famous,” she continues. “Just recently, it’s gone to new heights because once I fell off the stage (she fell through a stage live on television in October as she was attempting to present a prize at the Radio 1 Teen Awards 2017), it’s gone really crazy for me. It is full-on but it is fun.”
Her on-off relationship with fellow reality TV star James “Arg” Argent, is currently on and they live together in Essex and have a home in Marbella.
The TOWIE twosome have even discussed names for their future children (Angel or Mimi, possibly), according to one report.
But Gemma can’t pinpoint what it is that she loves about Arg.
“I don’t know. I ask myself the same thing.” Another long pause. Or what first attracted her to him? “I don’t know really. I think it was his hair.”
She says she wants to get married and have a family.
“Every girl wants that.” So, is Arg “The One”?
“I don’t know,” she says. “How can you tell?”
And we’re back to the diva guide.
The GC waves the flag for curvy girls and offers an alternative calorieburning regime, listing how many calories you can burn walking around particular shopping centres. The plaza at the MetroCentre in Tyne and Wear, for example, is 3.5-miles long. Calories burned – 294. “If you add in the raised heart rate caused by the sight of a bargain and the weight of the bags you carry, it’s a full-body workout,” she says. Body image is not a problem for The GC, although she falters when asked if she’d ever do another nude shoot like the one in 2011 for Heat. Gemma says: “I probably wouldn’t do it again now. I don’t know if I would. I might do. If I was pregnant, I’d definitely do a nude shoot – I’d want to empower other pregnant women out there.” While she continues to steamroll her way through reality shows, TOWIE and other reality stars have reportedly been banned from this year’s Strictly Come Dancing by BBC bosses, who are fed up with minor celebrities entering the show just to boost their own publicity. Gemma says: “It’s a little bit snobby because the people that make decisions on the show have all had to start somewhere. “Strictly would be the dream for me – I’d love to do it.”