Cliff Notes – Paloma Faith was ‘bullied at school’ as Natalie Cassidy reveals childhood feud
- Natalie Cassidy claims she was bullied by Paloma Faith during their school years, but they have since reconciled, with Paloma apologising.
- An unearthed tweet from Paloma reveals she also faced bullying in school, citing her appearance as a factor.
- Despite the challenges, Paloma has spoken positively about her education at Islington Green, highlighting the support she received from teachers.
Paloma Faith was ‘bullied at school’ as Natalie Cassidy reveals childhood feud
Paloma Faith’s unearthed tweet has revealed she too was bullied as Natalie Cassidy claims Paloma bullied her at school (Picture: GETTY / REX)
Natalie Cassidy recently claimed that Paloma Faith bullied her in school,and unearthed tweets from Paloma suggest she too was bullied.
On her podcast Life With Nat, the Eastenders actress was discussing the upcoming cast of Celebrity Traitors and how it was ‘such a good line-up.’
The conversation turned to Paloma, 43, who is set to appear in the series, which is when Natalie, 42, revealed that she was once bullied by the popstar when they attended school together.
‘Paloma Faith, she bullied me at school.
‘She went to Islington Green and was in the year above me,’ she said.
She then revealed that the pair had cleared the air since leaving school: ‘We’ve spoken about it and she has said sorry about that.’
The conversation then quickly moved on as Natalie and her guests discussed some of the other guests, including Clare Balding.
The celebrities both attended the same secondary school, now called the City of London Academy Islington, and Natalie grew up in Islington while Paloma was raised in Stoke Newington.
Paloma has yet to speak about the bullying allegation, but an unearthed tweet from the singer has now revealed that her school years weren’t exactly easy.
In 2012, she tweeted: ‘Yes I got bullied at school. I had braces and before that, wonky teeth.’
Yes I got bullied at school. I had braces and before that, wonky teeth#askpaloma
— Paloma Faith (@Palomafaith) May 31, 2012
Paloma has also previously spoken about having a fantastic time at the Islington secondary school, despite it being ‘very rough’.
‘I had an amazing education there. It’s funny because at the time I did my exams it had one of the worst reputations in the country.
‘But I have to say the teachers were incredible,’ she said in 2010 to the Tribune.
She also added that she was in the school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors: ‘I was never one of the leads. I was always one of the dancers because at that time I was really into dance.’
In 2012, Paloma also told The Evening Standard that she was ‘encouraged’ at school and did very well in her GCSE exams.
She said the school was ‘very, very rough,’ adding: ‘The police were there every day; there was a lot of violence. But the teachers were incredible. My tutor sold the Socialist Worker every Sunday in Hackney Central.
‘They were very encouraging to me. I was put in the Hackney Gazette because it was a failing school and I got all As at GCSE.’
Paloma and Natalie first met when they were pre-teens (Picture: Alex Sudea/Shutterstock)
Natalie first came to fame as Sonia Fowler in EastEnders (Picture: Shutterstock)
Paloma has previously revealed that her place in the spotlight has brought with it a huge amount of criticism, revealing in recent years she has even faced death threats.
‘Being in the public eye, lots of people are quick to shame me,’ she told The I Paper, after she said she would raise her daughter gender-neutral.
‘Lots of people started giving me death threats and saying that I was an abusive mother and my kids should be taken away from me. I was like, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’m just talking about children being who they are and not judging them for it.”‘
Metro has reached out to Paloma Faith’s representatives for comment.