I’m shamed for living in my Essex town, trolls say I’m a chav and they’re right, I wear it as a badge of honour
A WOMAN from Basildon claims she’s trolled for being an ‘Essex chav’, but laughs off the cruel slurs and says, “I wear it as a badge of honour.”
Katie Lee, 26, says she loves being from ‘Bas Vegas’, the nickname locals give the town, which is in the county of Essex. And she insists people have Essex culture all wrong.
“It’s sad we’re ‘town-shamed’ so much,” Katie says.
“Basildon is totally chilled. The majority of people walk around in tracksuits and I love that. If you pop down the shops here, people will have their hair in rollers, trackies on.
“Obviously everyone has to have a full face of makeup on, but everything else about them is dressed down.
“When I come into London for work I can’t dress like that, people would judge me. But in Basildon, everyone’s relaxed and happy.”
Katie, who works as a performer, says she gets frustrated that people assume everyone from Essex has to look like a TOWIE cast member.
“When I tell people where I’m from they say things like: ‘you’re really pale for an Essex girl, where’s your fake nails, is your hair real?’
“Straight away there’s this unfair stereotype that everything’s fake in Essex and I think a lot of that is down to TOWIE.
“I’ve never watched it. I stay away from it because even though it’s put us on the map and accurately shows that we love a party, I don’t think we’re all as bad as that.”
Katie says she’s been targeted by trolls, sometimes online and sometimes in the flesh, by people branding her a ‘chav’.
“I’ve been called a chav many times, but I use it to my advantage,” she says proudly.
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“I embrace it. There was a Christmas fancy dress party once and I had nothing to wear.
“I just put on one of my usual tracksuits and went as a Christmas Chav and got away with it.
“I did my hair in my highest ponytail, put some fake nails on – everything that people expect ‘chavs’ to wear and it went down a storm.
“The funny thing is, it was barely fancy dress at all.”
Katie , who was born in Canning Town, East London but moved to Basildon with her family when she was six, didn’t always feel so secure in herself, though.
She says, “Initially, when I was at college meeting new people, I had a chance to change. I actually hated my Essex accent.
“I felt really insecure about it and so I started speaking in a much ‘posher’ voice. I tried so hard to get rid of the twang. I was really ashamed of it.
“But now as an adult, I’m sad that I ever felt that way. It’s a brilliant accent! I wear it as a badge of honour. I’m from Essex, this is my personality, I’m not boring and I’m happy! I love it.”
And Katie has no plans to leave her beloved Basildon any time soon.
“I’ve been here for 20 years and I don’t see the point in moving,” she says.
“Why go to London where it’s so much more expensive?
“House prices, going out – everything’s extortionate there whereas in Basildon it’s much more affordable.
“And people in the community are much more accepting of each other. Plus, what’s the point of moving out to London when Essex is just a short car journey away?
“We’re only a few miles from each other, but to me it feels like a whole different world.”