I was on Big Brother but got bodyshamed and branded disgusting and an ‘egg’ after hitting size 18
BIG Brother legend Chanelle Hayes has opened up about how she was cruelly bodyshamed by trolls after hitting a size 18.
The reality star says vile bullies branded her ‘disgusting’ and an ‘egg’ after her hair started to thin, prompting her to undergo gastric sleeve surgery and a hair transplant.
Chanelle, 35, spoke to new magazine about the hideous online abuse she received, revealing: “They would say my body is ‘disgusting’ and ask what happened to me – just awful things really.
“I used to reply to them, but I think it made things worse,” she admitted. “I would spend hours talking to these people, then I’d get angry, and it would really bother me.”
While Chanelle starred in Big Brother back in 2007, between 2013 and 2020, she went from a size 6 to a size 20.
Yo-yo dieting during this time saw her weight fluctuate up and down, but also led to hair loss.
At her biggest, she reveals she didn’t want to leave the house.
Chanelle recalled: “It got to the point where I didn’t want to go out anymore, so I’d just stay in on my own. I’d make an excuse every time someone asked me to do something so I didn’t have to leave. I lost a part of my life and myself.
She then lost nine stone, thanks to a gastric sleeve operation which took her from a size 18 to a size 10.
A hair transplant helped to resolve the hair loss too, but while Chanelle no longer worries about the keyboard warriors, she has had to protect her kids – Blakely, 13, and Frankie, six, from being bullied over her weight battles.
The pair have had unkind things said at school about their mum’s past appearance.
“At school, other kids can be nasty to my kids. That’s an issue,” Chanelle explained.
“It would be good if the school were a bit more supportive, but what can I do? It really does affect them and upset them. It doesn’t happen so much for Frankie, but older kids do say things, which is frustrating.”