Millie Mackintosh reveals former school bullies ‘came out of the woodwork’ when she got famous: ‘I learned how to handle it’

The former Made in Chelsea star is supporting The Diana Award’s Back2School campaign
'Stronger': Millie Mackintosh is speaking out to help stop bullying
Dave Benett
Jennifer Ruby5 September 2018
The Weekender

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Millie Mackintosh says having to deal with being bullied at school made her “stronger” — and when she rose to fame on Made In Chelsea, some of her former tormentors tried to reach out to her on Facebook to be “friends”.

The TV star star, 29, was the target of school bullies during her teenage years and used to dread the first week back at school after the summer holidays, but learnt how to “handle” the abuse.

Mackintosh, who is supporting anti-bullying charity The Diana Award’s Back2School campaign, said: “I think it has made me stronger because bullying doesn’t necessarily end with school, you experienced bullies in lots of different stages of life.”

“I learnt how to handle it and how to deal with it early on. I got through it, I survived it and I felt much better once I’d left school. I think it’s different for everybody but I was lucky had a real supportive family.”

After she rose to fame on the hit Channel 4 show back in 2011, Mackintosh discovered that some of her former bullies had reached out to her on Facebook.

“I don’t really use Facebook socially anymore but when I actually went on TV there were people coming out the woodwork and suddenly being really friendly, it made me laugh,” she said.

“I thought, ‘Well things were quite different a few years ago.’ They’re definitely not by best buddies now.”

Tied the knot: Millie Mackintosh and Hugo Taylor got married this summer
Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

Mackintosh, who has over a million followers on Instagram, said that the rise of social media can make bullying worse as it’s “harder to get away from.”

“I think social media has made it much more accessible, anyone can be a target, but it’s a very cowardly way of bullying. There’s no way you’d say that stuff to that person’s face. It’s much harder to get away from it,” she said.

Mackintosh said she is keen to present the reality of her life on her social media channels so that her followers can see the “unpolished” version of her.

Millie Mackintosh' wedding dress process - in pictures

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“I try to post so people can see that social media isn’t real – it’s what we choose to show the world, it’s not every day and real life and I think it’s good to be open about that,” she said.

“I’ve been a bit more real recently on my Instagram, showing things like when I breakout as I think it’s good to show imperfections. I’m not always dressed up, wearing make-up and looking polished, that’s not my reality and I want my social media to reflect my life quite accurately, not just the polished version.”

Speaking out: Millie Mackintosh was bullied at school (Getty Images )
Getty Images

Mackintosh married former Made in Chelsea co-star Hugo Taylor back in July after they rekindled their romance following her divorce from rapper Professor Green.

After celebrating her 29th birthday last month, the star is looking forward to reaching her thirties as she feels “more confident” the older she gets.

“I feel good about it, bring on my 30s. I’m not worried about it or dreading it, I’ve got plans to have a really big, fun 30th - I think it should be celebrated,” she said.

“I think I’ll look back on what I’ve learnt about myself. I feel much more confident and so much more myself compared to when I was 21 – I’m definitely growing into myself.”

To support text ANTI18 to 70070 followed by £5 and to find our more and watch Millie’s video go to back2school.antibullyingpro.com.

Millie Mackintosh - In pictures

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