Gemma Collins has claimed that a week of trolling and drama has taken its toll on her and her Dancing On Ice pro partner, Matt Evers.
The TOWIE star faced a string of reports last week claiming she was threatening to quit the show, refusing to be filmed during rehearsals as well as facing criticism from judge Jason Gardiner.
Read more: Brian McFadden says Gemma Collins has been “crying from tiredness” on DOI
Speaking to The Mirror Online, Gemma – who denied she was acting like a ‘diva’ backstage – claimed that she was worried the situation would affect how people voted.
“I’m not looking forward to this week at all,” she said. “What has happened could really affect my voting.”
She went on to say that her instinct was to hide from all the drama – but that she was determined to push through.
“This week it’s been absolutely awful. If I could get on a plane and disappear I would – but I don’t want to let people down,” she said.
The star added that the week had taken an emotional toll on her pro partner, Matt.
“He’s in such shock over all this,” she said. “He’s getting so much trolling and hate, which he’s found exceptionally hard. He’s been totally broken by some of the nasty things said. The other day he was in tears.”
Last week, during an appearance on This Morning, hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield accused Gemma of being unprofessional after it was reported Gemma had been a ‘diva’ backstage.
“I love Gemma and she’s great on the show. But there has to be a bit of professionalism that comes into any work you do,” Holly said.
“The entire studio were standing there waiting,” added Phil. “We found out, ‘Where is Gemma?’ for five, 10 minutes, ‘Oh she’s having a nap.'”
Read more: DOI’s Christopher Dean criticises Gemma Collins over behaviour on show
Matt has leaped to his partner’s defence, claiming that Gemma was missing due to a miscommunication – and that she’s completely committed to the show.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on Wednesday, he said: “We weren’t performing a competition number on Sunday… after the group number she thought she was free to go. She got a text from her car saying it had arrived, and she asked somebody if she could go and they said, ‘yeah, you’re done.'”
He also said that Gemma was as dedicated to the show as he was, claiming that after a day off the pair was embarking on a double training session.
“She’s coming into the rink today, we have a double session planned,” he said. “We had Tuesday off, so I haven’t seen her yet this week.”
Gemma and Matt will be appearing on tonight’s episode with a Marilyn Monroe themed number.
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