Geordie Shore's Chloe Ferry explains why she publicly defended Wayne Lineker
When Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry publicly stood up to trolls who accused Wayne Lineker of being a paedophile - many assumed it was simply because they were close friends.
But when the Mirror exclusively caught up with the reality TV star, 28, ahead of the launch of the 24th series of the show, it seems that Wayne's brutal treatment was triggering, as it reminded her of being bullied as a teenager. In November last year, Wayne was invited as a guest to Crouchfest, which was former footballer Peter Crouch's live podcast. But as he walked on stage, he was greeted by chants from the audience, shouting out the word "paedo."
This came after Wayne thought it was funny to prank his fans by pretending that he was engaged to Chloe Ferry, who is more than 30 years his junior. Speaking about her experience as a victim of bullying, Chloe said: "I was bullied about my tooth. What happened was was, I was on a boat and my brother moved the ladder away from us and they pulled the ladder away so my tooth stuck out and at 15 I had a really bad tooth. So for a long time, I didn't get to show my personality because I was so worried about my tooth. So every time I talked, I'd talk like [mimics mouth over tooth]. Yeah, I was really bullied in school."
And so this explains why she jumped to Wayne's defence as she explains: "Seeing anyone trolled like that even for someone I don't even know it's not nice at all. Until you know him, he's a very caring person. Seeing anyone getting trolled like that, even someone I don't even know, its not nice at all, especially in the public eye you know how it feels, it's awful. And Wayne is such a nice person when you get to know him. When everyone just looks at him they have their own opinion of him. We've only ever been friends.
At the time. Wayne was left traumatised. After his humiliating experience, he took to social media and wrote: "What a day, but yeah, yesterday was weird you know. Really, really weird. Everyone wanted to get a picture with me, saying 'Wayno we love you.'"
Love Island's Zara sparks Ofcom storm as fans rush to complain about ugly scenesHe added: "And then I walk on stage and a couple of kids are like "paedo" and the next group were like "paedo, paedo, paedo. All of a sudden there's thousands of people calling me a "paedo". I'm like what the f*** man. Yeah, it wasn't a nice moment. I just wanted the stage to open up... I wanted to be Gemma Collins. That's who I wanted to be. I wanted to just fall into that trap door. But it is what it is. I think everyone that knows me has messaged me. A lot of my friends have messaged me today and are sending their love to me. But yeah. It is what it is."
When Wayne first started being called a paedophile, Chloe was quick to jump to his defence. She too took to social media and wrote: "Some of the stuff that I have had to read about him is disgusting. I can't believe the stuff he is getting called. Paedophile is such a strong word to call someone it is absolutely disgusting that he is getting called that when all his friends and family have to read that about him. Wayne is one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life and he does not deserve the abuse and the awful words that are getting said about him I am disgusted having to read that."
Watch the first TWO episodes of the brand-new series of Geordie Shore on Paramount+ first from 9 Jan, or catch-up weekly on MTV! New episodes drop first on Paramount+ every Tuesday