Carol Vorderman has admitted that she used to get insulted about her weight on a daily basis while working on Countdown.
The TV presenter, now 58, was told every day that she wasn’t “half as fat” as she looked on TV.
Read more: This Morning fans slam Eamonn Holmes for calling wife Ruth Langsford ‘very fat’
In a Twitter conversation between I’m A Celebrity co-star Scarlett Moffatt and Emily Atack about random things fans think they can say to you, Carol laughed off the comments, saying they were “lovely”.
She wrote: “Well @ScarlettMoffatt and @EmAtack….every studio day on Countdown I roared laughing when someone said ‘eee Carol Love, you’re not half as fat as you look on the telly’….
“I thought that was lovely… I know what they meant… #YouGottaLaugh cos we’re all very lucky xxx.”
Read more: James Jordan says obese people need to take responsibility for their weight
Carol’s confession came in response to Emily Atack’s frustration with people for saying she “scrubs up well”.
The Inbetweeners star told her 251,000 Twitter followers: “If one more person says ‘you scrub up well!’ to me…. IT’S NOT A COMPLIMENT!!!!”
In response, Scarlett wrote: “The best is when people say eeeeh your ‘actually’ very pretty.”
Some Twitter users pointed out that such a comment is in fact a ‘complisult’ – a phrase which is seen as a compliment but could be taken as an insult.
Emily’s tweet follows a comment from King of the Jungle Harry Redknapp, who said she might have a chance with his son Jamie Redknapp because she “looked all right” after “scrubbing up” following her jungle stint.
The day after his triumph, he said: “When I first saw her in the jungle I thought, ‘No chance’.
“But I’ve seen her today, when she’s scrubbed up, and she looks all right. I’m telling ya, she looks very useful. She looks good.
“But, when I saw her in the jungle I thought, ‘No, you ain’t got a prayer’.”
Carol, who appeared on Countdown for 26 years from 1982 until 2008 opposite Richard Whiteley, has recently been battling ‘man flu’ and told her 387,000 Twitter followers that her illness had helped her squeeze into a pair of tight Karen Millen jeans.
She told fans: “Brave little ‘man flu’ soldier that I am…I’m off to film a little television today…. And my jeans fit!! maybe it was the #ManFluDiet….or the satsumas….”
What’s there worst compliment you’ve ever received? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think!