The hit ITV1 reality-show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here is totally unscripted and captures the participants at their weakest moments, records all the stupid things they say and gives the public the opportunity to determine whether or not they have to eat Kangaroo testicles and other bush tucker delicacies. And it’s pretty much a given that what you see is a true reflection of each of the participants personalities.
Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan was arguably the character we most loved to hate on last year’s show and she stunned audiences and fellow campmates night after night with her ridiculous comments, brainless beauty regimes (remember the fake tan fiasco?) and her inability to do anything for herself.
But, instead of accepting that she needs to work on some aspects of her personality and become more aware of those around her, the 21-year-old blonde has suggested that the show that made her famous and is possibly to blame for making her the way she is.
Posing in raunchy underwear whilst playing teen temptress Rosie Webster
Speaking to The Daily Mail, the reality TV star has revealed that some of the storylines she had to deal with as a child made her feel uncomfortable and 11 years of playing Rosie Webster eventually took its toll.
Joining the soap when she was just nine, Helen had her first on-screen kiss age 13 and at 16, was involved in a storyline that involved her seducing her teacher whilst wearing provocative, revealing underwear.
“When I was about 16, all these storylines suddenly happened with Rosie doing all these sexy scenes and I really didn’t understand any of it. I was clueless,” she says.
“My character seemed to change the minute I grew breasts. I went overnight from a 32AA to a 32E and at times I really struggled with it. I was willing to do the scenes because, at the time, it seemed like fun and what 16-year-old girl doesn’t want to think: ‘Oh, I’m sexy.’
“But it also felt really weird because my family were very strict, I went to an all-girls school and at home I had the highest morals. Rosie may have been very promiscuous, but I was the complete opposite.”
The Mancunian who was diagnosed with ADD at 16 and eventually diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder has also suffered from an eating disorder and at one point only weighed a tiny 6st 10lbs.
“Once, on Corrie, I had to do this really sexy scene with loads of dialogue. I’d hardly been sleeping and couldn’t concentrate so I was struggling to remember the words. I was wearing a bra and knickers, feeling very self-conscious, going through really bad depression. I felt knackered and just burst into tears. It was too much pressure.”
With boyfriend Scott Sinclair
But, the curvy actress wasn’t shy about exposing her assets in the jungle and regularly took to the freezing cold waterfall shower to give viewers and fellow campmates an eyeful but says she doesn’t regret doing the show and was only concerned about embarrassing her boyfriend Scott Sinclair, a footballer.
“I find it hard to trust anyone, but I trust Scott one million per cent. I know he’d never betray me because, even though I’m strong and independent, he’s seen my fragility. He would never hurt me like that.”
