Warning: This article contains discussion of domestic violence which some readers may find distressing.
Gemma Collins is known for a lot of things but her 72 flying stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! is arguably what she’s best known for outside of TOWIE.
Her three days spent in the jungle marked the exact minimum amount of time she needed to stay to get her money for the show, having been paid £75,000 for it.
Despite her stay being mostly talked about comedically, focusing on her self-diagnosed malaria and helicopter meltdown, the reality behind what actually happened is the stuff of horrors.
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Collins has spoken about the exit in a new interview, stating that she vows to make sure she lasts longer this time round.
What is the true story behind Gemma Collins’ I’m A Celeb exit?
Collins has revealed that, after exiting I’m A Celeb and becoming a meme for her troubles, she suffered badly with poor mental health, even stating she 'wanted to die'.
Speaking to The Sun in 2017, Collins also said she ‘was really badly beaten’ by her ex-boyfriend the day she was set to fly out to Australia.
She said that she was ‘powerless’ and regretted not pressing charges.
What has Collins said about her boyfriend attacking her right before her I’m A Celeb appearance?
Collins added: “I was in shock and had a taxi outside my house waiting to take me to the airport. He started beating me up and kicking me constantly on the floor repeatedly in the bottom of my spine, which he knows I had a fractured coccyx.
“When he beat me enough to get me down on the floor then he didn’t stop there. He locked me in my flat – he then repeatedly kicked me, kicked me, kicked me – then for some reason he got disrupted and he walked into the bedroom and started smashing up the place in there.
“I dropped all the charges because I was too scared to see it through. I wish to this day that I saw it through.”
Her at-the-time partner Alexander Moss is a convicted drug dealer and was later jailed for Grievous Bodily Harm in 2019 over an incident where he broke his new girlfriend’s arm during a row where he threatened to kill her. Moss denied the attack on Collins.
Collins claimed she was encouraged to pull out by ITV, adding in 2024 on the Everything I Know About Me podcast: “No one was even honest about what happened to me, so I had to walk around with this shame that I’d something wrong.”
What has Collins said about returning to the jungle?
In a new interview following her return to the show, Collins has said: “Going on All Stars is a real moment for me in my career – it’s redemption. To be able to do this again is the greatest honour ever. I am going to be the best campmate and get those stars. None of us will be starving under my watch.”
Directly addressing her previous short appearance on the show, she said: “There is no way I am going to be leaving after 72 hours. I am in it to win it. I am going through to the end.
“If I could get crowned the ‘Legend’, I would just feel complete in my life. Me quitting has been a shadow hanging over me. It would be my real redemption moment of my career that I had done this and nobody could take it away from me.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.
Topics: Gemma Collins, Im A Celebrity, Mental Health, ITV, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin