Jodie Marsh has revealed she felt bullied by Ulrika Jonsson after the TV weather girl made fun of her appearance.
Speaking to MailOnline, former glamour model Jodie, who has swapped fame for an animal shelter, said she first struggled with trolls over her appearance when Ulrika wrote a ‘nasty’ column about her in the now-defunct News Of The World.
Jodie, 45, recalled: ‘It was the most disgusting thing I’d ever read about my physical appearance. She joked that she and her husband at the time couldn’t figure out if my nose was a trunk because it was so big and ugly.
“I was suicidal because I was being trolled, and I remember crying for days about it. It was the most disgusting thing. I had never met the woman before and it was so inappropriate. It was just straight up harassment.”
Jodie was so shocked by the column that she decided to write to Ulrika, 56, but says she has not received a response.
Jodie Marsh has revealed ‘bully’ Ulrika Jonsson left her ‘crying for days’ after making ‘mean’ comments about her appearance while she was suicidal
Jodie was so shocked by the column that she decided to write to Ulrika, 56 (pictured), but she says she has not received a response
Jodie explained: ‘I wrote to her and said, ‘I hope your children are never, ever bullied like you just bullied me in that newspaper.’
“It’s so hard, like when you’re being abused every day of your life because of your physical appearance. How I got through that, and I’m still here, IIt’s just crazy.
‘I don’t look at people the same way anymore. Ulrika is still talking in the press about what she’s talking about now, but I don’t care.
“I look at her and think, ‘Oh, you don’t have anything better to do with your life?’”
Ulrika’s representatives did not respond when contacted by MailOnline.
In the noughties, Jodie also had an infamous two-decade-long feud with Katie Price and her then Page 3 girlfriend Jordan.
While Jodie may laugh off the comments now, she hasn’t forgotten how it all started.
“Katie started it!” she explained. “She said I had saggy tits. All I did was hit back and say, ‘At least mine are real,’ that was it.
‘She called me every name under the sun. She said I had sagging tits. I had tits like a spaniel’s ears. I had a nose like a builder’s elbow.
‘All those comments came out and then stuck around for years and years and years. And I was young, I was in my early 20s.
‘It’s hard when you’re being abused every day of your life because of your physical appearance. How I got through that is nuts.
“How do people think it’s acceptable to be like that? People would call me ‘saggy tits’ on the street. They would read it in the paper and think it was okay to say it to my face.”
In her heyday in the 2000s, Jodie also had an infamous 20-year feud with Katie Price, and then her rival Page 3 girl Jordan (pictured in 2004)
Now, however, Jodie has had a complete change of mindset and career, turning her back on fame to run an animal sanctuary in Great Dunmow, Essex and opening Fripps Farm in 2020
But now Jodie has completely changed her mindset and her career. She has turned her back on fame and started running an animal sanctuary in Great Dunmow, Essex. In 2020 she opened Fripps Farm.
Jodie broke into showbiz at the age of 24 with a role in the short-lived reality show Essex Wives.
At the time she was working as a stripper at the gentlemen’s club Stringfellows and soon became a favourite in a men’s magazine.
“When I was younger, I naively thought I was a really nice person, so I thought if you’re a nice person and you get famous, people will just like you,” she admitted. “And then of course the trolling started.
‘There were times when I felt suicidal because of the trolling. I thought about what would be the quickest way to kill myself.
‘I don’t understand why people sign up for shows like Love Island or Big Brother these days. Don’t do it because you know what you’re getting into.
Unless you have really thick skin, trolling will get you killed.
‘Even now, when I save animals’ lives, I still get trolled! It’s ‘the most bizarre thing in the world.’
Jodie has always loved wildlife and while she was earning thousands stripping down for glamour shoots, she dreamed of working with animals.
Jodie has been a vegetarian since she was five and has always had a passion for wildlife. While she was earning thousands of dollars stripping down for glamour photo shoots, she dreamed of working with animals.
But it wasn’t until her mother Kristina tragically passed away from cancer in September 2020 that Jodie felt the motivation she needed to open Fripps Farm.
Jodie explained: ‘When my mum got sick, she deteriorated quite quickly. It was during Covid, so my dad and I had to look after her at home because the hospitals had thrown all the cancer patients out.
“It was just horrible. I gave up my job and gave up everything to take care of my mother. And that was what made me realize that life is too short, watching my mother die in front of me.
“Why would I do another TV show or a photoshoot or whatever if that’s not what I want to do in life? That’s not what’s going to make me happy.
“What’s going to make me happy is an animal shelter, because that’s all I’ve ever really wanted. I always knew that was the end goal.”
It wasn’t a difficult decision for Jodie to step out of the spotlight.
By her own admission, “I hated being famous. If I had money no one would ever see me again!’
It wasn’t until her mother Kristina tragically passed away from cancer in September 2020 that Jodie felt the push she needed to open Fripps Farm
Now Jodie is glad she got through the trauma of being trolled, because it set her on the path to opening Fripps.
She explained: ‘In a way I’m glad I’ve been through it all before. I don’t care anymore. If I hadn’t, I might have read the trolls’ comments and felt Now I’m suicidal, while I’m living my dream.
‘I’m in heaven every day. Fripps is my paradise and I am happier than ever.’
To donate to Fripps Farm, visit www.frippsfarm.co.uk/support