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DANCING QUEEN
GEMMA COLLINS knows the whole country has been talking about and – let’s be honest – bitching about her unlikely and controversial bid to become an ice-skating queen.
But to suggest she purposely flung herself on to the rock-hard rink of Dancing On Ice, putting her face at risk of permanent injury, in front of 7.1million viewers — that is a step too far.
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Today, the ITV live show’s biggest ever diva, known as The GC, lashes out at false claims in other national newspapers and online that she faked her dramatic fall on Sunday night — and reveals the stress of the contest is putting her health at risk.
Speaking out for the first time since the fall — and TV judge Jason Gardiner’s threat to sue her — ex-Towie star Gemma tells The Sun in an exclusive interview: “It definitely wasn’t faked, one million per cent. If they knew the pain I am in with my knee, they would understand.
“I didn’t fall, I passed out. I was just going and then, next thing, on the ground. What is scary is my teeth could have been smashed out.
"It was so weird. I don’t think I tripped, I think I blacked out, Dan.”
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Gemma, 37, has been resting up in a wheelchair, looked after by Towie boyfriend James “Arg” Argent, but was cleared by doctors to return to the show next Sunday. She is defiantly refusing to give up.
But she reveals show bosses knew something was not right with her before she took to the rink with dance partner Matt Evers before her fall — and medics found she was suffering from low blood pressure.
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Gemma Collins visits Children's Hospice in wheelchair as she recovers from horrifying Dancing on Ice fall
She says: “What no one knows is, before I went on stage I’m getting really tight chest pains and they had to call the medics. I was saying, ‘My chest feels really tight, I don’t feel right’. You can speak to the medics at Dancing On Ice, something wasn’t right, I had low blood pressure.
“I was wired up to machines before going on the ice, with two medics out the back, and they were giving me glucose tablets and getting Lucozade brought.
"The medic lady was like, ‘Look, you’re not right, you’re not 100 per cent right’. But I said, ‘I’ve got to go on and do it. I can’t not do it’.”
James had to lift me into bed last night
Gemma Collins
Gemma has been subject to thousands of vile social media smears and attacks since starting on the show — which she believes had started to take a toll.
She says of Dancing On Ice: “Their viewing figures are through the roof, Dan, ain’t they? I’m not complaining, but it puts on a lot of pressure. I felt really unwell. There’s been so much stress after all the trolling and pressure.
“We are there from 7.45am on Sunday and do three rehearsals, plus a whole run-through of the live show.
“I’ve fallen in rehearsal, out of nowhere, and had anxiety. I was just under so much pressure from the week before so I just blacked out.
“But I knew I had to get back up and I’m so grateful I got up and just carried on.”
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Though Gemma — who previously went viral after falling through the stage at the Radio 1 Teen Awards in 2017 — was distraught as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.
She says: “The minute I came off the stage I was crying my eyes out, breaking down. I was so hurt and also absolutely gutted because the routine up until that point had gone so smooth in rehearsals. I thought it was all over. I felt so embarrassed and thought, ‘It’s all gone terribly wrong’.”
Gemma, of course, survived the public vote — but is black and blue because of the physical pressure of competing while overweight.
People have got to stop fat-shaming
Gemma Collins
She explains: “James had to lift me into bed last night and help me run a bath. I’ve lost my independence and I can’t bear that.
“It was really upsetting because, at the end of the day, people have to cut me a bit of slack. I’m the biggest girl in the competition.
“It’s physically more tiring for me than for everyone else, I’m carrying weight that the others haven’t got.
“Both of my knees have taken a battering since doing the show, so that’s an area where I’ve suffered.
“I’ve fallen on my knees so many times I’ve been wearing kneepads to train. The medic was already worried. It was really painful yesterday morning. But to be honest, I want to get back out there on the show.
“Everyone’s rooting for me to do well so taking a week off isn’t an option as far as I’m concerned.
“If they can strap my knee up and give me a cortisone injection, I’ll be all right.”
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Gemma’s physical transformation as a result of the training has been phenomenal. She says proudly: “James and I don’t tend to get on the scales — and on the cameras I look bigger — but when I got on scales this week, I’d lost two stone. I can’t believe it. I’ve got a lot more to lose but definitely the exercise has helped.”
She has not spoken publicly since I revealed last week that show judge Jason was intending to sue for defamation after she claimed on the live show that he was “selling stories” on her.
But after behind-the-scenes pressure on both sides from ITV bosses wary the pantomime was getting out of control, a truce has now been called.
I’ve never spent longer than ten minutes with him so I just felt calling me a ‘brat’ was really unfair and he was hurtful
Gemma Collins
Gemma says: “To be honest, I don’t mind Jason Gardiner, I’ve always found him amusing.
“I do agree with some of the comments he said — I can’t skate as well as the others — but the only reason I didn’t like what he said was because he brought up about the lifts and I felt that was regarding my weight.
“It felt like he was saying no one could lift me. At the end of the day, the show’s not called Lifts On Ice, it’s called Dancing On Ice. He did want to sue me but I think he’s not doing it now, I think he realised he shouldn’t have personally gone for me. There’s so much more he could have said and he didn’t need to bring up about the lift and the weight.”
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Gemma Collins' skating partner Matt Evers says she is getting physiotherapy after horrible fall during Dancing On Ice routine
It was Jason’s bombshell interview in The Sun — where he called Gemma “lazy” and said she makes him “despair” at the state of society — which sparked the initial fallout between them.
But she says: “I’ve never spent longer than ten minutes with him so I just felt calling me a ‘brat’ was really unfair and he was hurtful. He doesn’t attack the other contestants.
“We never see Jason backstage. That’s why I was so shocked when he was saying what he was saying because I’ve only ever met him twice, and that was for two seconds, not even a long time.”
I’ve known Gemma for years and been a fan of her bold and vivacious approach to being a reality TV star — a position that has angered many, especially when on ITV’s Lorraine show I launched a campaign called The GC To Win Dancing On Ice.
But one thing I’ve come to work out is that almost every person who criticises her eventually exposes themselves for having an issue with her weight.
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Gemma Collins reveals she has been 'in tears' at Dancing on Ice rehearsals as she strives to prove Jason Gardiner wrong
Gemma agrees but says: “It’s their issue, not mine. I’m not apologetic for who I am. I do work hard. People just can’t believe I’m a big girl and I’m successful.”
The public criticism has reached such a level that Gemma has even been hit by judgments about her going for late-night curries with Arg, which she posts about on social media.
She says: “It’s no one’s business what I do, where I go with my partner, everyone needs a bit of chill downtime.
“People have got to stop fat-shaming and writing bad stuff. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be around for a long time. Get over the weight thing and look at yourself.”
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But Gemma has forgiven Jason — for her own peace of mind.
She says: “I can’t be bothered to keep any ill-feeling going on, I just end up being as bad as them, do you know what I mean?”
“So as far as I’m concerned, I’ve just got to keep putting the love out there, Dan. You get more done with honey than you do with vinegar.”
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