'I'm a Celeb' reality TV star and 'Catfish UK' presenter Nella Rose accuses spa of 'racism and Islamophobia'

‘I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here’ star Nella Rose has accused staff at a French spa of being "racist" and "Islamophobic" and claimed that they even phoned the police after discriminating against two of her friends.

The TV personality and presenter, who was the second contestant to leave the ‘I’m a Celeb’ camp last year, told her social media followers that during a business trip she was a part of two Muslim influencers in her party were not allowed into the pool area of a luxury spa in the French Alps due to their "modest" swimwear.

The 26-year-old also said she tried to reason with an employee, but claimed this made no difference to the situation. In a TikTok video discussing the incident, Rose said: "Because the (women) are Muslim, they wore a hijab, leggings and a top made of material they could swim in. Of course their swimwear had to be more modest. I tried to explain that to one of the staff members. I spoke to him directly in French and told him they should be allowed to film."

Rose, who is also known as a presenter of ‘Catfish UK’ on MTV, was part of a group of and 20 influencers who in the French mountain resort of Megève earlier this month to promote and film content for a skincare brand Topicals.

Explaining the incident further, she said: “We decided to shoot some content at a apa on the trip. Within the group of 20 black and brown people, two of the influencers with us were Muslim. We get changed into our swimwear, and we begin to make our way to the pool area. I hear a man stop the rest of the girls and he’s speaking French."

She continued: “I can speak French, and I can hear him telling them ‘You guys can’t come in like that. He kept saying ‘we have a shop downstairs, you can buy bikinis and bathing suits there if you like’.” According to Rose, the spa staff members refused to listen to her and her fellow influencers as they tried to explain the religious reasons for the outfit choices made by their friends.

The TV star, who has also recently been a contestant on BBC quiz show ‘The Weakest Link’ added: “I saw the racism and Islamophobia that was occurring.” The situation then ordeal supposedly escalated when the group left the pool area. The YouTuber said they were stopped by managers who allegedly told them: “You have offended our spa guests! You girls are going to have a blast at the police station.”

In a follow-up video, Rose said: “We don’t stand for Islamophobs or racists so we had to go”. She also claimed the group had only been there for around 10 minutes before the incident occured.

As a result of the incident, which occured last weekend, Rose and her fellow influencers have refused to promote the spa. The spa has not given a comment about the alleged incident.

Skincare brand Topicals has since spoken out in defence of its hired content creators. A spokesperson for the brand said: “We experienced discrimination, harassment, and were threatened to have law enforcement called on us.

“As a Black-owned brand, we will not allow this to stop us. We will continue to place black and brown creators at the forefront of our branded experiences. Discrimination cannot and will not stop us.”