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Gemma Collins’ TOWIE co-star reveals what she said straight after horror fall

The drama continues!

Ever since Gemma Collins plummeted through an open trapdoor on stage at the BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards on Sunday, the story has dominated the headlines.

And according to one of her TOWIE co-stars, Gemma has been hoping to use her misfortune to her advantage!

Charlie King has claimed business-minded Gemma, 36, was already thinking about the publicity her fall would bring to TOWIE, just moments after it happened.

He told The Huffington Post that he spoke with Gemma minutes after she exited the stage.

And he alleges GC was already hoping her stage plunge may help TOWIE overcome the popularity of Love Island, which has totally taken over the reality world in recent months.

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“She was fine, but obviously she was going to lap that up,” he said.

“When we went into the green room, she was like, ‘That’s going to take over Love Island’.”

Charlie explained: “Because Love Island is totally smashing it these days, especially over TOWIE, because it’s the new thing and the most popular reality show from the summer.

“So to her, in her little PR head, she was like, ‘That’s going to get TOWIE back on top’.”

Clever, Gem, very clever!

That’s not something Gemma herself has confirmed in any of her interviews about the incident, which happened (ironically) while she was presenting the Love Island cast with an award.

She twirled on the stage and fell straight through an open trapdoor from which the Love Island cast were ascending to collect their gong.

Phoning into This Morning the day after, Gemma joked her bottom had acted as an “air bag” to help her avoid serious injury, but also stressed the end result could have been far worse.

She said: “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.”

“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,” she added.

“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’.”

Gemma initially laughed off the incident on social media by posting a meme joking about injuries at work.

But on Tuesday Gemma suggested things were about to get serious, telling The Sun she was considering her legal options against the BBC.

“I’ve got to consult a lawyer, yeah. The BBC, they’ve not been in touch with any compensation or anything — or even an apology,” she said.

“It’s very important this gets sorted out because, really, you know what it is — it’s negligence.

“Do you know what I find shocking? The BBC hasn’t sent any flowers. Nothing.”

Read more: BBC Breakfast presenter apologises for swearing on air

Gemma has alleged she wasn’t told about the trapdoor but the BBC countered by saying they were told by the production company Gemma was briefed ahead of taking to the stage.

A statement from the corporation said: “The BBC takes the health and safety of everyone involved very seriously and we are awaiting a full report from Remedy – the production company who made the show – about the incident, but they have told us that Gemma did receive a full briefing before going on stage.”


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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