I fled the country after cruel bullying – I thought everyone hated me and wanted to quit fame, says Georgia Kousoulou
GEORGIA Kousoulou has opened up about the dark reality of being one of the country’s favourite reality stars.
The former Towie star, 32, joined forces with Secretary of State Michelle Donelan as part of the Government’s social media crackdown.
Today Georgia met with Technology Secretary Michelle, 39, to discuss the new Online Safety Bill which, once passed as a law, will require social media companies to take responsibility for their users’ safety or risk huge fines.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Baby Steps star Georgia opened up about being on the receiving end of social media trolling on a huge scale thanks to having 1.5m followers on Instagram and having shot to fame on Towie.
She said: “You’ll always get some viewers who like you and some who don’t – but some are very fickle.
“The comments a lot of the time are about the way you look and you can’t do anything about it. I joined Towie when I was 22 so I’ve kind of grown up in the industry and on TV but I struggled with it.
“I always think ‘oh my God, imagine if I was a 14-year old-girl – if it can affect me, it can affect all of these young people growing up’.”
Escaping reality
Georgia, who is engaged to fellow former Towie star and luxury footwear designer Tommy Mallet, confessed that at one point she was facing such abuse from online trolls that she had to flee the country.
“You just feel like everyone is out to get you,” Georgia said. “I had to turn my phone off and leave the country, it got that bad.
“Tommy took me away and I was thinking ‘does everyone hate me?’
“It gets in your head and you start believing these things – it’s terrible. People don’t realise the long term damage they cause with those messages.”
But Georgia refused to come off of social media and insisted it’s wrong for people to say that would be the solution rather than cracking down on those at the root of the problem.
Paying the price
At the height of her trolling hell Georgia did wonder if fame was worth the price she was paying.
She said: “There were times I was like ‘what am I doing? Why am I doing this? Is it worth it?’
“Because when you’re in that dark space all you’re seeing is the negativity.
“When I was on Towie we were all going through it and kind of came together over it. The show was really good with supporting us.
“There was always a therapist on board who we could talk to, which was definitely needed. Some people say we should expect abuse if we’re on a TV show but in a normal nine to five job you would never agree to that.
“I shouldn’t have to deal with it. I know not everyone is going to like you – I completely get that. But there’s not liking someone then there’s abusing their appearance or how they talk.”
Georgia and Tommy share two-year-old son Brody and he’s the driving force for Georgia wanting to be involved with the new Bill.
She said: “Change needs to happen now before he gets to the age where he’s using social media because I can only control so much.
“I protect him as much as I can in the world but I can’t protect him online and that frightens me.
“I’m a mum and that’s what we do, we protect them no matter what. But the thought of him just going on social media as it stands now and having no protection just freaks me out.”
Cracking down
Michelle believes that the UK will become the “safest place in the world to go on the internet” when the new laws are passed in the next couple of weeks.
As well as putting in place huge fines for social media companies who don’t comply with the new regulations, there will be an option for people to verify themselves and only interact with other verified accounts.
The MP said: “We’re having a zero tolerance approach.
“We’re saying that anything that’s illegal should not be there, anything that’s harmful shouldn’t be there – and we’re making sure that social media companies do what they say they’re going to do.
“Let’s inject some common sense here. Let’s make intimate image abuse,the promotion of self harm online and cyber flashing illegal. This Bill does all of that and it’s the most comprehensive Bill in this space in the entire world. We’re doing that and delivering it so that everybody can go on the internet, and have a safe experience when they’re on social media.
“I think at the heart of the Bill is children. When we look at the impact that the abuse can have, it can have devastating consequences. I’ve been really taken aback and touched by the comments and the work of the families who have lost loved ones.
“It’s the reality we’re living with. With this Bill that will change. I think that’s groundbreaking and I think it’s the right thing to do.
“That’s why I’m so proud to have worked on this piece of legislation. It’s why I carried on delivering it throughout my maternity leave because I really think that in years to come, when my sons and other children are older, they will grow up in a world where social media poses less dangers than it does today.”