YOU’VE been on I’m A Celebrity for six days, with enough grease in your hair to power Blackpool’s chip shops, no trace of tan or moisturiser on your skin and any hint of mascara is long gone.
In a shapeless blue t-shirt and red cargo pants, you’ve never felt more disgusting.
Then in breezes 5’11’’ model Vogue Williams – swishing her blow dry, immaculate Botoxed skin and taut, gym-honed bod.
Her stunning arrival in camp is exactly why last night the Irish megababe became one of I’m A Celebrity’s early evictees – but it’s not for the reasons you might think.
I can tell you the exact moment Vogue went from pin-up ‘inspo’ for I’m A Celeb fans and became a Mean Girl in one startling, ugly utterance.
Sat with Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley and Ruby Wax, Vogue said: “I feel so ugly in here. Everyone is so good looking, it’s so annoying.”
The internet erupted.
No one could believe that a woman who is so beautiful she is literally paid money to pose for photographers:
A) Thought that in the first place.
B) Said it out loud.
c) To two older women, who have both struggled with body image.
What was at best a clumsy fish-for-a-compliment and at worst a harsh dig spelt the end of Vogue’s jungle run before it had even begun.
Ruby, speaking for us all, piped up: “You’re the prettiest person I’ve ever seen in my life.”
But for jungle viewers, the damage was already done.
One wrote: “Vogue randomly telling people clearly less fortunate in the genes game than she is that she’s ugly is a severe case of Not Reading the room.”
Another said: “Umm .. just watching #ImACeleb .. so Vogue Williams (the model ) just walked up to 2 people who look like they have just been dragged through a hedge backwards and said (I s**t you not) ugh I feel so ugly in here.. and went on to describe her Botox regime. Wtaf?? Is she 12?”
A third said: “Oh everybody, aren’t I just so ugly and you are so attractive Lisa and Ruby” Get to f*** with your blatant manipulative compliment fishing vogue. Rotten. #ImACeleb”
And it went on, with others adding: “Vogue’s face card is f***ing lethal which is why it pissed me off when she was like “ugh I’m so ugly” like, girl. #ImACeleb
And another said: “I’m sorry but you cannot tell me vogue thinks she’s unattractive … she did that for an ego boost. which is actually mean girl behaviour when you can tell lisa isn’t self confident at all and she chose her out of everyone to say it too. dooooont like that at all #ImACeleb”
And: “Oh vogue sneaking her tiny violin into camp and saying she’s ugly ! Behave yourself darl #ImACeleb”
Consider us suitably riled up.
But is it perhaps worth considering just why this kind of intrusive thought would even cross Vogue’s mind?
RILED UP
I’ve met her casually a number of times as Vogue is often booked by TV channels to conduct Q&A interviews as part of promotion of new shows, like the Apprentice.
And my good friend Kelly Allen – who works for The Sun’s Fabulous magazine – sat down with her a few weeks ago and left with nothing but praise for her warmth and wit.
So where did this all go so wrong?
Let’s consider how 15 years in the spotlight as a model, then on the arm of not one but TWO celebrity husbands (Westlife’s Brian McFadden and then Made In Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews) does for your self-esteem.
Her entire career is built on her looks, which must carry an unbearable weight.
There was one glaringly obvious clue that Vogue was painfully aware of her image in camp – her chunky, gold necklace, which she never removed.
This is a woman who is so acutely conscious of her image she even thought about what jewellery to wear in the middle of a rainforest, in Australia, whilst covered in fish guts and kangaroo anus.
Vogue has opened up on the situation since leaving camp, telling The Sun’s reporter Down Under Amir Razavi how she really felt about baring all.
She said: “You’re aware at the start when you first go in. Your clothes are a lot of your personality, in a sense, and so you’re stripped of that.
“And I love my fake tan. I do love my makeup. I love hair extensions.
“Being stripped of that at the start, you kind of miss it.
“You’re on TV and you just feel a little bit grim.”
The good news for Vogue is maybe the experience has helped her rethink her stance on why her looks are so important to her.
She added: “Towards the end I was like, ‘What’s the point?’
“I’m not even looking in the mirror. There’s no point. You just get used to it.
Who has won I’m A Celebrity?
I’m A Celebrity first hit our screens in 2002.
Since then, it has aired every year – including twice in 2004.
The show even relocated to Wales during Covid in 2020 and 2021.
Here’s who has been crowned King or Queen of the Jungle – or in some cases, Castle.
2002 – Tony Blackburn
2003 – Phil Tufnell
2004 – Kerry Katona
2004 – Joe Pasquale
2005 – Carol Thatcher
2006 – Matt Willis
2007 – Christopher Biggins
2008 – Joe Swash
2009 – Gino D’Acampo
2010 – Stacey Solomon
2011 – Dougie Poynter
2012 – Charlie Brooks
2013 – Kian Egan
2014 – Carl Fogarty
2015 – Vicky Pattison
2016 – Scarlett Moffatt
2017 – Georgia Toffolo
2018 – Harry Redknapp
2019 – Jacqueline Jossa
2020 – Giovanna Fletcher
2021 – Danny Miller
2022 – Jill Scott
2023 – Sam Thompson
2024 – Danny Jones
“It was nice towards the end. I was like, ‘You know what? Who cares.’ It doesn’t actually matter.”
Whether Vogue’s beauty obsession will have had the same transformative impact on Lisa and Ruby, I don’t know.
But for her it seemed to be business as usual, as she added: “All that coming from someone who went straight up and put fake tan on.”
It is a cracking tan though, to be fair.
