Reality TV star Zara McDermott opens up about bullying saying she remembers being 'mocked' daily

McDermott, aged 27, said she experienced lots of bullying throughout her school years but at the time she was too scared to speak out about what happened. Now, however, she has revealed her "entire experience" at school was blighted by bullies who made her life a misery.

Opening up about her childhood while speaking on a podcast, the TV personality, who now also hosts BBC documentaries, said: "There really wasn’t a day where I didn’t experience it. I would go in every day just thinking, what’s it going to be like today? I got bullied up until I was in Year 13 so it was my entire experience. There really wasn’t a day where I didn’t experience it."

Zara continued on Auto Trader’s Show On The Road podcast: "I remember being mocked by my entire science class, it was my form class and they were making really nasty gestures towards me all at the same time and thought it was really funny." She also claimed that the adults who were in charge did not help her, adding: "My teacher didn’t really do anything."

She also explained that her mum worked at her school, which was a comfort in some ways, but also made the situation more painful: "It was really hard because my mum worked at the school as well. So I used to go and eat my lunch with her because I didn’t really have any friends. That’s why I’m so close to her now."

Posting on her Instagram Stories after the interview, McDermott told her two million followers that the experience had been “cathartic”. She wrote: “One of the best days I’ve had so far this year. It’s not often I get to speak openly about my childhood, upbringing, even my time on Love Island.

“It’s crazy how much life has changed but looking back was so cathartic for me in so many ways. Thank you so much for having me @autotraderuk.”