The Only Way Is Essex star Charlie King has spoken out about his struggle seeing his co-stars succeed after he suffered a botched nose job.
Charlie, 39, found fame on TOWIE back in 2012 when fans were engrossed in the details of his relationship with icon Gemma Collins. However, Charlie found himself becoming obsessed with his appearance when he quit the show a year later and ended up in a “dark place” instead of enjoying the success many of the reality show’s original cast had.
Opening up in a candid new interview Charlie – who works as a personal trainer – said that he struggled to find work after his time on TOWIE and that the failed nose job only made things worse. Charlie admits that he would love to have had some of the opportunities his peers have had – but it just hasn’t come to fruition.
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He told The Sun: “I’ve watched them all go on all the other shows, a lot of them anyway, and you can’t help but question, I wonder why it hasn’t quite happened for me, because I’d love to do Dancing On Ice, I’d love to do more presenting.”
“I think you can get very caught up in your image, in this day and age, with what you think you need to be, and obviously the social media world that we live in, and my background with reality TV and having a bit of exposure and being in in the spotlight once upon a time, you do get very consumed with how you look.”
His confidence plummeted when he had a nose job after the first Covid-19 lockdown which went very wrong. He said: “I got in a very, very dark place with how I saw myself, and that’s why I resorted to plastic surgery, something that I’m now having to deal with, even today.”
Charlie famously came out as gay on national TV back in 2014 after his brief sting dating Gemma on TOWIE where fans were gripped by the couple thanks to her popularity with viewers. The original TOWIE cast was plunged into the spotlight before the days of Instagram and an appearance-led world.
Charlie was used to being part of the glittering party set in Essex where how you looked was important, but he says it has become even more prevalent over the years due to the rise of social media and reality TV and the unrealistic standards it sets younger viewers.
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