Lottie Ryan has opened up about her past experiences with bullying.
The 2FM presenter told Jennifer Zamaparelli that the bullying was so intense, she was forced to move schools.
“I was really badly bullied, like very badly bullied when I was in first year of school – so around 13 or 14,” she explained.
Picture: Brian McEvoy
“I haven’t spoken about it with anyone outside of my family before but if I speak about it I still get really upset.”
“I had to move schools because I was at the stage where I was eating my lunch every day in the toilet by myself and not in a good place.”
Lottie revealed that her father’s prominence in Irish radio contributed to her being singled out and targeted in secondary school.
“I think my dad made me an easier target, and for me that was a huge shock,” she said.
“When I moved into secondary school with a whole load of people I didn’t know before, for them it was a huge deal and I’d never experienced that before.”
Lottie revealed that her parents supported her any way they could during the bullying.
“My parents did everything they could at the time, I think they were heartbroken for me,” she went on, explaining that dad Gerry was late for work for a year so that he could help her with her confidence before school.
Picture: Brian McEvoy
“It ended up that my dad was driving me to school every morning, up to the door, and giving me a pep talk,” she said.
“School begins at 9, and he had a show at the time that began at 9. I’m pretty sure for that whole year he must have been late to air nearly every day.”
“I think he got in trouble over it. Nobody knew why he was late, but I’ll be forever grateful for that because I needed it.”
On this week’s Gosscast Goss.ie Founder Ali Ryan talks to Lisa Cannon about her best and worst celeb interviews and the reality of working in showbiz.
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