Gail Porter has opened up on just how bad things got when she was homeless (Picture: WNS/REX)
Gail Porter has spoken candidly about just how desperate she became when she was homeless.
The media personality previously revealed that she was forced to sleep on benches when work dried up as a result of her refusing to wear a wig after being diagnosed with alopecia.
Gail found that TV shows were only interested in booking her if she would talk about ‘being bald’, which also came while going through her divorce with former husband and Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave.
As her situation worsened in the mid-00s, Gail was unable to make ends meet.
However, it seems one reality show came just at the right time.
In conversation with Metro.co.uk, Gail, 52, reveals how she agreed to go on Celebrity Big Brother purely so she’d have a roof over her head.
The TV personality says work dried up when she refused to wear a wig following her alopecia diagnosis (Picture: Mark Large/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)
Explaining her situation at the time, she begins: ‘I was going through a rubbish time, my hair had fallen out years ago, my mum had passed away, my divorce was not pleasant, and work was drying up. People just wanted me to go on and talk about being bald and I was getting more and more depressed.
‘Before, I was doing really good things and I’m still the same person, I just look different! Lots of jobs would say, “Can you come in and do an interview, but we’ve got no money to pay you.”
‘And I kept going, but I needed to pay my rent and my bills and I’ve got a daughter.’
The model was ‘doing lots of free work’, which eventually meant she couldn’t afford her rent.
‘That’s when everything started to get extremely scary.
Gail reluctantly appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015 (Picture: James Shaw/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite not wanting to do the show, she was desperate for a roof over her head (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
Gail credits the show for helping her get back on her feet (Picture: Digital/Eroteme.co.uk)
‘I had to pack up all the stuff from my flat and a lot of it went to storage, I couldn’t afford to get it out, I watch Storage Wars just in case I see it on the telly! Just for fun, see who’s got it!’, Gail jokes.
Despite numerous friends helping her out, she didn’t want to burden those with families to put her up.
‘I just started to panic about how I was gonna get myself out of this,’ she confesses.
‘I’d phoned around about jobs and all people wanted to talk about now was the fact that I didn’t have a home!’
On the moment things started to look up in 2015, she shares: ‘Then, they asked if I’d go into Big Brother, which wasn’t ideal.
‘I thought, this is not the sort of programme I want to do, but if I’m gonna get a roof over my head with a little bit of money, then I’ll do it. So, I did.’
Gail admits the government needs to ‘do more’ to aid with the issues of homelessness and mental health, especially amid the cost of living crisis (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
As a result of the show – where she appeared alongside the likes of Janice Dickinson, Natasha Hamilton, Sherrie Hewson, and Bobby Davro, before being evicted on day 20 – Gail was able to afford a place of her own.
‘Which I’m still in, I’m still renting, and work’s back on,’ she says proudly.
‘It seems to have got better and better. I think, when you hit the lowest of the low, it can only get better.’
Following her own turmoil, Gail is determined to help others in similar situations, which is why she’s partnered with Virgin Media O2 and Good Things Foundation amid the cost of living crisis to offer free data to people on the streets, with research revealing 11.4million Brits are only one pay slip away from serious hardship.
The campaign aims to help people to stay connected, opening the UK’s 1,000th National Databank Hub, with free O2 mobile data, texts, and calls available to those in need.
She’s teamed up with Virgin Media O2 and Good Things Foundation to raise awareness of data poverty (Picture: SWNS)
If Gail had access to data when she was on the streets, she wouldn’t have been homeless for as long as she was, she shares (Picture: SWNS)
Reflecting on feeling ’embarrassed’ at the height of her own struggles, Gail says she couldn’t afford to top up her mobile phone, meaning she couldn’t access information, ask for help, or even call a friend just to hear a friendly voice.
‘If I’d had data when I was homeless, I’d very much doubt that I’d be homeless as long as I was.’
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But, she admits homelessness is also a political issue, admitting that the government needs to ‘do more’.
‘They don’t do enough for people who are homeless. The government has got a lot to answer for and they just need to take their finger out.’
1,000th National Databank Hub
TV personality Gail Porter has partnered with Virgin Media O2 and Good Things Foundation to raise awareness of the National Databank – where the 1000th Hub has opened, providing free O2 data to people in need.
It comes as a third of Brits say they are only one pay slip away from serious hardship. To find out more, visit o2.co.uk/national-databank.
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Things have only got ‘better’ for Gail since 2015.
