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Gemma Collins explains how she survived horror fall

It's the moment EVERYONE has been talking about today!

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If you haven’t seen THAT clip of Gemma Collins tumbling down a hole in the stage at the Radio 1 Teen Awards, then, really, you need to watch it right now. We’ll wait…

Seen it now? Replayed it a few dozen times, as well? And no doubt you’ve laughed hysterically then felt a bit bad given poor Gemma had a nasty fall.

Thankfully, the TOWIE star, 34, wasn’t seriously hurt in the incident, which went viral and spawned a slew of memes, but she has insisted that was down to pure luck and the outcome could have been far worse.

While Gemma initially laughed off the incident on social media and even posted a funny ‘If you’ve been injured at work…’ meme, she’s now done a bit of a U-Turn and said it could have been very serious.

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Phoning into This Morning on Monday, the star admitted it was all pretty “hilarious” – but she’s also in shock as she could have DIED during the tumble.

“I’m in a bit of shock still,” she said.

“I found the whole experience absolutely hilarious but I am in a bit of pain this morning,” she said.

“The seriousness of it is that it could have been, like, really fatal because what people don’t see is that under there it’s all machinery going on because the three Love Island guys were coming up on stage.

“It could have been fatal but it wasn’t so do you know what? You’ve just got to dust yourself off.

“Yes, I’m in a bit of pain but it was the best moment of my life to stand on stage at Wembley Stadium but I just wish I hadn’t got so excited and spun round to give them the award and fell in the hole.

“My mum was crying her eyes out. I was like, ‘Mum I’m okay!’ and she was like, ‘Gemma, this could have been fatal, you could have died’.”

Despite the incident, Gemma still managed a joke, quipping that her bottom was like an “air bag” that had protected her fall.

“It was my left side that hit as I went down. I’ve got a bit of a booty and thank God for that because it has protected me.”

“I have a bruised left bum cheek but apart from that I’m rocking and rolling.”

Gemma had been in the middle of presenting an award to the Love Island cast when she spun around on stage… and promptly plummeted through a trapdoor in the centre of the stage.

Ouch!

She said on This Morning she wanted to “apologise” to the Love Island stars, saying: “I wiped them out and they had to go see paramedics after.”

Ben Shephard tentatively asked: “In all seriousness, there is quite a big hole there you’ve fallen down, maybe the Love Island guests saved you as you squashed them on the way in?”

She answered: “They were screaming ‘Get her up! Her legs are gonna be crushed!’ because the platform underneath was raising up and my legs were dangling over the end of it so thank you to the two Love Island guys.

“That poor girl [Amber Davies] nearly got totally crushed, there’s nothing of her.

“But you know what, I lived to tell the tale, I got back up on stage, gave the award and went on to present with Grimmy and Rita.”

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As for whether anybody warned her about the huge hole in the stage, she laughed: “I’m not allowed to discuss that at the moment, but all will be forgiven with the BBC if they give me a slot on Strictly next year!”

She added: “It’s just one of these moments I don’t think I’m ever going to live down.”

We think that’s pretty accurate!

Glad you’re okay, GC!


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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