‘Trolls are just jealous because I’m doing 10 times better than them’
Charlotte Crosby on the darker side of the web and why she’s delighted to be doing a celebrity version of catfish show The Circle
Reality star Charlotte Crosby has enjoyed her fair share of jawdropping moments on our screens. Her appearances range from her early days partying in Geordie Shore, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, to hosting the bonkers Just Tattoo Of Us, where people designed secret inkings for each other – often with shocking results.
Now, she’s moving into The Circle’s apartment block to play the game where anyone can be anyone, in a charity version for Stand Up To Cancer.“I’m playing Peter Andre,” she tells us, laughing.“I’ll be friends with everyone!”
Here, Charlotte, 30, talks to us about her game plan and how she’s tackling trolls…
Hi Charlotte. Are you looking forward to being someone else on The Celebrity Circle?
I didn’t want to be myself, as I know there’ll be people of all ages, from all backgrounds, but I find most people don’t like reality stars. It’s a common trend. I’ve done a lot of shows, I’ve picked up on a pattern. There are normal reality stars, then there are reality stars from Geordie Shore. And that’s normally the most hated category, until you go on and they meet you face to face and you change their opinions. But in The Circle, you can’t meet anyone. The biggest thing about talking over social media, WhatsApp, text, is you can misconstrue what is said. Someone could write something in a normal way but you read it like something else, because you can’t see their emotion.You can’t see how they’re saying it.You can’t see if they’ve said it sarcastically. So I think if I was to go in and be myself, people might not know how to take it and might read things in the wrong way.Things I mean as a joke and I would say with a smile might be just read as,“Ooh, that was a bit sarcastic.”
Do you think you’re automatically judged due to
Geordie Shore?
Oh yeah, and I wouldn’t have that opportunity to win them round face to face. I always win people round when they meet me face to face. It’s something that I pride myself on.
Do you have an idea how you might play the game?
I’m just going to try to be friends with everyone. Pete is very positive – like if someone was feeling down, he’d be the one to cheer you up. He’s good with his words, he’s a bit of a shoulder to cry on. He’s a big morale booster. So that’s what I want to be. I don’t think I can cause mischief as Peter Andre, because people are going to suspect something’s off.
How are you feeling about living on your own?
I’m kind of OK with it, to be honest. I can be quite good company for myself. I’m a bit worried I might get a bit bored, but no, I think I’ll be fine. I’m used to being in places with cameras all around, I’m just used to being with a couple more people.
Do you think you might forget about the cameras and let your guard down?
I think I’ve done that in every show I’ve ever been on. Like the whole of the Geordie Shore house was rigged with cameras. I mean, I forgot about a lot of things then, let’s remember that. So I don’t think that’s going to be a problem somehow.
How do you deal with trolls?
Oh, I block them.You block them and then they’re gone. It’s no big deal. But I do agree that trolling is bad and it should stop. Whether you will ever be able to get it to stop, I don’t know. I feel like I’ve never been bothered about trolls. I think on Geordie Shore, we’ve never taken ourselves seriously. I think that’s what people love about us. We know how to have a laugh. We’ll walk around looking a mess, with our hair in rollers, we don’t take ourselves seriously. So when people troll us, we laugh it off.
Have the trolls ever got under your skin?
I can tell you one occasion where I did get upset about a bit of trolling on social media. It was when I put up this lovely picture. We’d been to the National Television Awards and I’d got this
lovely dress made, all my hair was in these big curls, I’d had my makeup done. Honestly, I felt a million dollars, I felt so glamorous. I was on the red carpet and I picked this lovely picture of me and put it on my Twitter page and I thanked my make-up artist. About two hours later there was this man and he’d commented, saying I looked disgusting, like a man in drag, so plastic I was going to melt. On that thread of messages, there were like 10 to 15 other men joining in. It was all men and I did get upset because I thought,“You know what? On the happiest day of my life, my wedding day, I will be scared to post a picture in fear of getting
pulled apart.” That’s meant to be the happiest day of your life. I felt a million dollars that night and I got torn apart.That’s sad but it’s more sad that it’s by a group of men.
Why would they visit your page just to be mean?
Because they’re jealous a woman half their age is doing 10 times better than them. And they’ve all probably got tiny little d**ks as well. Tiny, small d**k syndrome. They’ve probably been tortured all their life. So if it makes them feel better, troll me. I don’t mind, I have a very large penis!
When you have kids, will you let them use social media?
Yeah, but they’ll have private accounts up until they’re a certain age.They won’t have a public account because there are a lot of things you can’t control.The only reason I have a public account is I’m a public figure. If I wasn’t, I’d be on private. So I’d like to think my children would be the same. When they turn 18, they can do what they like. I’ll be a strict mum! I suppose I’ve got so much experience they can learn from the mistakes and the good things I’ve done.
‘I felt a million dollars that night and I got torn apart’
What’s coming up for you work-wise this year?
I don’t know! We’re not doing any more of The Charlotte Show until something big really goes on in my life. I’ve heard there are a couple of other shows coming back on that I was involved with, which went away, which is exciting. I was meant to be doing a big tour, it’s called One Night With Charlotte, and then coronavirus hit and we all got cancelled. I had a tour planned in the UK and in Australia. So I’m really, really hoping there’s some way that they can get it put back on.
What’s the show about?
I go through memories, we do questions and answers. I always have one guest on and then we’ll play this really fun game at the end. It is kind of like I Have Never.You have to stay standing if you’ve done something. People at the end have one last question, and you win loads of prizes and stuff. It’s really fun.
The Celebrity Circle For Stand Up To Cancer starts on Tuesday 9 March at 9.15pm on Channel 4
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