Portrait of I'm a Celeb Amy in her 'insecure spotty teenage years': Former classmates say they have no memory of her being anything other than 'stunning'
- Miss Willerton claimed she was bullied for wearing glasses and suffering from chronic acne
- Former class mate Andreas Mavrides claims she was attractive at school
- Miss Willerton said she lost a lot of weight when she was 18-years-old
By EMMA LOWE
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In the jungle she claimed she was once a spotty, overweight teenager ridiculed for not being the pin up she is today.
But yesterday former class mates of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here star Amy Willerton told how they had no memory of her being anything other than ‘stunning’ in the old school days.
The Miss Universe Great Britain model – who reduced fellow contestant Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington to tears with her bikini clad confidence last week – told the nation how her 15-year-old self was teased for wearing glasses and suffering from chronic acne.
My 'insecure spotty teenage years': Miss Universe Britain model and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here star Amy Willerton said she was once an overweight teenager who was bullied
However, school friends of the 21-year-old claimed they failed to recall Miss Willerton’s ugly duckling past deeming her ‘very attractive’ and ‘thin’– with one former pupil from Bristol’s Cottam School, claiming a photograph of her looking anything less would not exist.
The model who once claimed she only blossomed at the age 18 when she lost a lot of weight does not appear to be suffering from low self esteem as she smiled for the camera a year earlier when crowned Miss Bristol.
'Stunning' in the old days: Former class mates of Miss Willerton said they remember the model as 'very attractive' and 'thin'
Reduced to tears: Fellow contestant Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington was reduced to tears by Miss Willerton's bikini clad confidence
Yesterday early portraits revealed how teen-queen Miss Willerton simply masked her poor skin with make-up as she confidently entered the city’s beauty competition.
Now it would appear the young star hopes to ensure her survival in the ITV jungle by seeking the sympathy vote with tales of playground bullying.
Despite claiming she was once much larger and covered in spots Miss Willerton, then 17, still had confidence to put herself forward for, and win, a series of local beauty pageants, including Miss Bath and Miss Bristol.
Wearing her finalist sash and a white dress, Miss Willerton, wore immaculate hair, no spectacles and little foundation make-up to cover her skin’s unpleasant blemishes.
Bizarrely at the time, the ‘teased’ Miss Bristol winner told how she has been bullied at school for her ‘unfortunate’ looks but had been undeterred when putting herself up against her peers.
Speaking at the finals in 2010, she said: ‘When I was younger I was really shy with braces and glasses, and I got bullied at school.
Bullied at school: Despite claiming she was once much larger and covered in spots Miss Willerton, then 17, still had confidence to put herself forward for, and win, a series of local beauty pageants, including Miss Bath and Miss Bristol
‘Then I had the braces taken off and stopped wearing glasses and people started treating me differently. I even had some people ask me if I had joined the school, even though I had been there for years.
‘Back then I was a lot bigger – I lost a lot of weight when I was 18.’
Miss Willerton sparked debate on Thursday last week when gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, 24, had to be comforted by her fellow female contestants after the sight of Amy Willerton in a bikini became too much for her to bear – later breaking down in tears.
The four-medal winner, said admitted: ‘It’s making me very, very insecure that I have to look a certain way. For me, I was an athlete.
‘I wasn’t trying to be a model, but pretty much every single week on Twitter I get somebody commenting on the way I look.’
Attempting to comfort her, Miss Willerton claimed she too had experienced unkind remarks as a young girl, adding: ‘People say nasty things and you have to drive your inner confidence.
‘Tell that to the 15-year-old covered in acne and braces and glasses. I’ve been there.’
But yesterday classmates were unable to recall the playground insults stating she always had a nice figure and was viewed by her peers as ‘a good looking girl’.
Blossomed at 18: Miss Willerton said she lost a lot of weight when she was 18 but did not appear to be suffering low self esteem as she smiled for a camera a year earlier when she was crowned Miss Bristol
Andreas Mavrides, 21, who was in her form group throughout Cotham School in Bristol, said: ‘I remember her at school she was always pretty stunning to be honest. I remember she was really smart, she was never in my sets because she was brainier than me but she was in my tutor group through the whole of school.
‘She was never considered not attractive, I mean she had a boyfriend throughout most of school, they were quite a good looking couple.
‘I remember she was always very quiet and a nice girl. I remember she had braces at one point but she was always stunning it wasn’t like it made her ugly.
‘I remember her winning Miss Bristol and telling my dad she was in my class at school. I don’t remember her glasses. I wouldn’t say anyone was ever cruel.
Another class mate claimed the star was exaggerating her weight problem, claiming she was ‘always thin’ and ‘fancied by the boys’.
She said: ‘I think you will struggle to find a bad photograph of Amy I went to secondary school with her and she always good looking – all the boys liked her.
‘I never remember her being overweight she was always thin. If she was bigger than she is now she wasn’t much bigger.
Stunning: Former class mate Andreas Mavrides said Miss Willerton 'was never considered not attractive'
‘She was always smart, I think she may have has bad skin but she was never a not attractive.’
However a close friend, who wished not to be named, admitted she remembered the star struggling with poor skin in her teens.
Before entering the reality show jungle it was revealed the beauty queen has been nervous of appearing without make-up on the ITV1 prime time show.
Miss Willerton, who was still suffering with her skin in the early days of her pageant career, branded it was something of a ‘personal challenge’ after she suffered from chronic acne in her late teens.
Prior to starting her jungle experience it was reported the model underwent a series of skin peels, vitamin injections and micro-needling treatments to combat a possible outbreak of acne during her time in the camp.
Model Miss Willerton planned to attend Cardiff University after achieving a string of A’s at A level at Redland Green School, Bristol, but instead chose to pursue her pageant career after being crowned Miss Bristol in 2010.
The reality star, who was crowned Miss Universe Great Britain in June, won the reality show Signed By Katie Price in 2011 but turned down the contract with the glamour model’s management company.
She entered the Miss Universe contest in Moscow last month, despite not winning she was the first UK contestant in 30 years to reach the top ten.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2512943/Portrait-Im-Celeb-Amy-insecure-spotty-teenage-years-Former-classmates-say-memory-stunning.html#ixzz2lc4BQxkg
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