Meet the girl it’s just impossible to pigeonhole.
The mini skirt’s so short your mum has worn more substantial belts. And the opinions (about anything and everything) are just as bold.
Welcome to the world of Sunderland reality TV star Charlotte Crosby. Or, one of her worlds.
Celebrity Big Brother winner and Geordie Shore star Charlotte is a mass of contradictions. She’s a doting granddaughter never away from her nan’s, a devoted big sis who cares for her autistic brother and an ordinary girl who dreams of settling down and starting a family.
She’s better known as a boozing, ranting, loud and lairy party animal whose expletives and wild behaviour on TV are enough to make your nan’s eyes water.
So what’s the truth about the irrepressible 23-year-old who’s working on her eighth series of MTV hit Geordie Shore angel or devil? Surprisingly, she’s fed up of boozing and partying and says she’d rather watch a wildlife documentary instead. But is this change of heart because of a change of TV tack with new show The Charlotte Crosby Experience?
I ask Charlotte how she thinks she’s viewed. “I think 20% of people wouldn’t know who I was,” she admits candidly. “I think 30%, no, 28%, would say she’s an idiot, a slag who gets drunk all the time. And the rest, 52%, would say ‘Wow, Charlotte’s hilarious’.”
Charlotte went to an all-girl school in Sunderland and, despite sticking in for good GCSE results, she concedes the nuns despaired. So did mum Leticia and dad Gary, especially of the party weekends that started on Wednesdays. “I was very bad when I was younger and I caused my mum and dad a lot of anxiety,” she reveals. “But I think that’s the norm for parents to worry every step of the way. I know they worry about my younger brother Nathaniel every day. He’s nine and has Asperger’s.
“He’s low on the [autistic] spectrum but it’s still a concern. We have a laugh and wind each other up but I’m really proud of him. I’m not home a lot so when I am it’s an excuse for him to sleep in my bed he gets scared of the dark.”
She’s a frequent visitor to her nan, who lives alone and “doesn’t like to think I’m famous. I think she watched Big Brother for about 10 minutes”.
Although some may not know who Charlotte is, she has almost two million following her every move on Twitter. That following came in useful when her mum’s car was stolen from the driveway of the house and a social media plea for help led to its whereabouts being reported in two hours.
And when she heard of a hunt to find a bone marrow donor, Charlotte mounted a one-woman Twitter campaign which resulted in two matches being found and the patient getting a transplant. But there’s a downside, too, and Charlotte admits suffering from anxiety attacks when big groups notice her.
None more so than when stopping for petrol at a service station with fellow Geordie Shore favourite Holly Hagan just as hordes of football fans arrived.
“I knew what was going to happen and, sure enough, the abuse started. Everybody was shouting this really horrible, vile stuff. We went to the toilet to try to escape but all these men followed us in. It was terrifying.”
While work on the latest Geordie Shore series is under way for MTV, her new show has opened up a new side of life for Charlotte. She travels the world exploring different cultures, becoming part of an Indian Royal household, a geisha and living with Arctic Inuits.
“I got to see some weird and wonderful things like a cuddle caf in Japan where you paid to have people give you hugs,” she explains. “And in India I got beauty treatments like having milk in my eyeballs. My guilty pleasures have totally changed.”
Truth is, spend a while in her company and she’s bright and fun.The nuns shouldn’t write her off just yet.
The Charlotte Crosby Experience starts on TLC on Thursday at 9pm.
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe