HIS journey from Twitch streamer to I’m A Celeb star is nothing short of incredible and as he prepares to enter the jungle in a few days, Angry Ginge is poised to become a much-loved household name.
But behind Angry Ginge’s – real name Morgan Sam Lee Burtwistle – fairytale-like rise to fame, lies a dark and somewhat troubled childhood. Now, those in his inner circle say there are fears dark memories from his past may come back to haunt him and tell for the first time how his younger years were rocked by a difficult relationship with his father.
An insider told us: “Morgan has a very complicated relationship with his dad but hasn’t heard from him since he became famous.
“In the past he’s done things just to rock the boat and there is some concern he might do that while Morgan’s in the jungle and on telly every night.
“His dad was a very difficult man – when Morgan was a kid he has memories of him being racist and occasionally aggressive.
“He has been in and out of Morgan’s life for years, but cut contact before he became an online star.
“It’s incredibly sad that he’s had no real part of his son’s life or his success, but it’s been his own doing.
“His relationship with his mum is incredibly tight and he has made it his mission to support her now he is famous, after everything she did for him.”
Morgan has made no secret of his difficult upbringing on a council estate in Manchester.
He has told how mum Michelle raised him and his sister on just £12.5k a year and has already said that the thing he will miss most while in the jungle will be his mum.
On his own podcast – Tays & Ginge Off Stream – he revealed that growing up his dad was a “massive racist” and that the man’s gaming user name on Call of Duty was a highly-offensive racial slur.
He said: “I’m obviously a kid. I didn’t know right from wrong.
“But now I look back and think, ‘Oh wow f***ing hell’, like he’s pretty bad and I’m just fortunate that I’m f***ing very lucky my mum’s f***ing amazing. She guided me the right way”.
Angry Ginge said how the “tip of the iceberg” involved a row over child maintenance payments.
He claimed that his dad, who was a truck driver, used to keep moving jobs to avoid authorities and alleged that “he wouldn’t actually pay my mum anything”.
Other shocking moments included Ginge discussing how his dad – who Morgan has not named – “kicked in” the back fence of his garden as well as littering “cans of Stella and smashed glass outside”.
He then recalled how his dad “picked up a brick and threw it through the window”.
The 23-year-old added: “The next day he had the balls to see me and had gone, ‘What’s happened here?’ knowing full well he’d done it.”
He was six when he can first remember meeting his dad and recalls how a “stranger” came up to tickle him outside his home – he later learned it was his father.
His dad later decided he wanted access to his son and Morgan has told how he got a court order so they would have visits every other Sunday.
But the contact didn’t last long and after years of being on-and-off, it ended entirely when Morgan was a teenager.
His experience has made his relationship with his mum better than ever.
In the past he gifted his mum £10k in a suitcase for a Christmas present – as well as a new car.
His dream is to be able to retire him mum completely and also give back to his nan, who was instrumental in his upbringing.
At just 23, Morgan has made more money than many could ever dream of, pocketing £1.1million in the past year alone.
His story is remarkable – his first stream of FIFA gameplay in October 2020 landed him just 40 viewers and made him only £12.44. These days he gets on average nine thousand viewers per stream.
Morgan has said of his own success: “I think it’s gone down well because people can relate that I’ve come from the same place they’ve come from.
“I’ve come from a council estate and I know what they go through and have been through and can bond with them and get to know them more on a personal level.”
He made friends with Wayne Rooney and then first caught ITV bosses’ attention during the Soccer Aid Match in June this year, where he was named man of the match.
Our insider continued: “It’s actually surprising his dad hasn’t come out of the woodwork before and tried to cash in on him.
“The thing about Morgan is he is very level headed and actually very little worries him. But hours of downtime in the jungle could lead to him thinking about his past and his dad.”
He previously insisted that not having a relationship with his dad hasn’t had a huge impact on his life.
When asked about it, he said: “I wouldn’t say it affected me, but I would always say I did kind of, like just wonder, like what I wonder, what it is like to have a dad, which is weird to say, but yeah, it doesn’t affect me anymore, but it was weird back then.
“But having known what sort of bloke he was, I would probably say I’m kind of glad he weren’t there. He didn’t deserve the moments.”
And Morgan believes it has helped make him more thick-skinned when it comes to trolls – admitting: “I feel it’s toughened me up massively. I don’t think it’s possible to get under my skin.”
He says he would walk past his father if he saw him in the street now, but those close to him say he would hear him out.
They told us: “Morgan is incredibly mature and would listen to what his dad had to say, but he wouldn’t forgive what he had put him and his mum and sister through.”
On his podcast, he very wisely told his mate Tays – whose dad is in jail: “The world’s still going on around you. No matter what it is, you have to crack on because the world ain’t stopping for no one.”
And it seems he’s really heeded that advice himself – he’s hopped on the wild ride and won’t stop until he’s at the very top.
The Sun has contacted a representative for Angry Ginge for comment.
