Gemma Collins

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Gemma Collins
Born
Gemma Clare Collins

(1981-01-31) 31 January 1981 (age 40)
Romford, East London, England
Education
Occupation
  • Media personality
  • businesswoman
Years active2000, 2011–present
Television

Gemma Clare Collins (born 31 January 1981) is an English media personality and businesswoman. In 2011, she began appearing on the ITVBe reality series The Only Way Is Essex, appearing until 2019. Collins subsequently went on to appear in numerous television shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2014), Celebrity Big Brother (2016), Celebs Go Dating (2018), and Dancing on Ice (2019). In 2018, she began starring in her own reality franchise, Gemma Collins: Diva, and a year later, she began hosting a podcast on BBC Sounds.

Early and personal life[]

Gemma Clare Collins[1] was born on 31 January 1981[2] in Romford, London to Alan and Joan Collins.[3] She has an older brother named Russell. Collins attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School.[4] She also attended Frances Bardsley Academy and Raphael Independent School.[5] Before her career in television, she was a used car sales person.[6]

Collins suffers from polycystic ovary syndrome. In January 2012, she suffered a miscarriage.[7] In 2020, Collins suffered a second miscarriage, which she initially suspected to be a heavy period.[8]

Collins became engaged to Rami Hawash on 25 December 2013 but the engagement was called off a few weeks later.[9] Collins briefly dated James Argent in 2012; the pair reconciled in December 2017 and have been in an on-and-off relationship ever since.[10][11]

Career[]

2011–2017: The Only Way Is Essex and Celebrity Big Brother[]

Collins' first appearance on television was in the ITV documentary Snobs, which aired on 13 January 2000.[12] The series focused on people who believed they were a different class. Following her appearance on the show, Collins visited an agent who told her that she 'had charisma but was too fat to be on TV'; suggesting she should lose two stone.[13]

In 2011, Julie Childs, mother of Collins' friend Amy, suggested to producers of the ITV2 reality series The Only Way Is Essex that Collins, who was a used car sales woman at the time, would be an appropriate subject.[14] They went to Collins' house and then filmed her and her friends for two weeks.[15] After going back to work selling cars for a week, she was cast in the programme and began appearing in The Only Way Is Essex from its second series in 2011; her first ever scene was selling a car to Kirk Norcross.[15] While appearing on the programme, Collins opened a clothes boutique.[16] Her mother Joan joined in the fifth series in April 2012.[17]

In April 2013, Collins released her debut autobiography Basically...: My Life as a Real Essex Girl, which became a bestseller in its first week of release.[18] In January 2014, Collins took part in the second series of the ITV diving competition Splash!. During training, Collins suffered severe bruising and admitted she had to overcome a fear of water. She became the third celebrity to be eliminated after losing the splash-off to Michaela Strachan in the first heat.[19] In November 2014, she took part in the fourteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! on ITV.[20] After she refused to parachute into the jungle along with her cast mates, she withdrew after spending 72 hours in the jungle, which she said was due to health issues.[21]

On 5 January 2016, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to participate in the seventeenth series.[22] On 2 February 2016, she became the seventh housemate to be evicted, having received the fewest votes to be saved, spending a total of 29 days in the house.[14] In 2017, she returned to Big Brother, as a special guest for a shopping task, alongside fellow ex-contestants Marnie Simpson and Nicola McLean.[23] In October 2016, Collins appeared on Sky News where she was interviewed by Kay Burley about the campaign to remove the word 'Essex girl' from the Oxford English Dictionary.[24] Collins described the definition, which stereotypes Essex girls as 'unintelligent, promiscuous, and materialistic', as derogatory and suggested that the meaning be changed. The expression was removed from the dictionary following the successful campaign in December 2020.[25]

In October 2017, Collins presented the BBC Radio 1 Teen Award for Best TV Show to Love Island and, after announcing the winner, fell through an opening in the stage.[26] The clip later went viral on social media.[27][28] In an interview with Irish News, Collins said "the seriousness of it is, it could have been really fatal".[29] After the video's widespread attention, further videos of Collins were used as memes, including scenes from her appearances on The Only Way Is Essex and Celebrity Big Brother.[14]

2018–present: Dancing on Ice and Diva[]

In 2018, Collins appeared on Celebrity 100% Hotter,[30] as well as the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating.[31] Collins also appeared in Gemma Collins: Diva España, a one-off reality television special aired on 29 August 2018.[32] Collins also took part in Celebrity MasterChef, and guest starred in a promotional advert for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black.[33] In June 2018, she released her second book, titled The GC: How to Be a Diva, in which she provides advice and self help for women to gain confidence.[34] In an interview on Loose Women, she admitted to using a ghostwriter.[35] Collins then collaborated with fashion website Boohoo.com on a collection of swimwear for plus-sized women in 2018.[36]

In 2019, Collins took part in the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice, alongside professional partner Matt Evers.[37] While competing in the series, Collins had an on-screen argument with judge Jason Gardiner, who made comments about her weight and lack of commitment to the series.[14] In week four, Collins suffered a fall during a live performance. She fell on her face, nearly breaking her jaw and neck, and injured her knee significantly.[38] Despite the fall, the couple received their highest scores of the competition and subsequently progressed to the next week.[39] In week six, they became the fifth couple to be eliminated, following a skate-off against Ryan Sidebottom and his professional partner Brandee Malto.[40]

In April 2019, Collins began filming for her own reality series, Gemma Collins: Diva Forever.[41] The series premiered on 7 August 2019 on ITVBe.[42] The pilot episode premiered to a total of 673,038 viewers, and was the most watched episode on ITVBe in that week.[43] Diva Forever was subsequently renewed by ITV for a second series,[44] but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production was suspended.[45] As a result, Collins filmed a new reality series, Gemma Collins: Diva on Lockdown, from her home in Brentwood.[46] In August 2019, Collins began hosting a podcast on BBC Sounds, titled The Gemma Collins Podcast.[47][48] In September 2019, Collins released her debut perfume, Diva Pink.[49] In August 2020, Collins began hosting a second podcast on BBC Sounds entitled The Gemma Collins Love Lounge.[50]

In September 2020, Collins announced her collaboration with fashion company InTheStyle, debuting her first plus-size collection with the brand.[51] In October 2020, Gemma Collins: Diva Forever & Ever premiered on ITVBe.[52] Collins also collaborated with Zymurgorium, a distillery in Manchester, to launch her own premium gin liqueur as part of the company's 'FlaGINgo' range.[53] In November 2020, Collins partnered with the online casino PlayOJO to launch a faux fragrance, in order to raise awareness that problem gambling is the 'addiction with no smell'. She admitted that the campaign was close to her heart having previously been around addicts in her life.[54]

On 11 December 2020, Collins released a charity single, a cover of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" alongside her Celebrity Big Brother co-star Darren Day, with proceeds from the single going towards Rethink Mental Illness.[55] The music video was released at the end of Gemma Collins: Diva for Xmas, which aired on 9 December 2020.[56] In February 2021, Collins appeared on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, where she discussed her early life, career, relationships, and miscarriages, as well as her struggles with her weight and online trolling.[57][58] Collins also appeared as a special guest on the second series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK to judge the Snatch Game segment of the show.[59]

Filmography[]

As herself
Year Title Notes
2011–2019 The Only Way Is Essex Series regular
2014 Splash! Contestant; series 2
2014 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Contestant; series 14
2016 Celebrity Big Brother Housemate; series 17
2017 Sugar Free Farm Participant
2017 Big Brother Guest housemate
2018 Celebs Go Dating Main cast
2018–present Gemma Collins: Diva Lead role
2018 Celebrity MasterChef Contestant
2018 All Together Now, Celebrities Finalist
2019 Dancing on Ice Contestant; series 11

Guest appearances[]

Podcasts[]

  • The Gemma Collins Podcast (BBC Sounds, 2019)
  • The Gemma Collins Love Lounge (BBC Sounds, 2020)

Bibliography[]

  • Basically...: My Life as a Real Essex Girl (2013)
  • The GC: How to Be a Diva (2018)

References[]

  1. ^ Abdelhamid, Hesham (16 February 2021). "We ranked Gemma Collins' 19 most hilarious and outrageous moments..." Heat. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  2. ^ @OnlyWayIsEssex (31 January 2019). "