Gail Porter opens up about being homeless: ‘Don’t be proud – keep asking for help’
Gail Porter was someone you would see regularly on big TV shows such as Top Of The Pops and Live & Kicking in the 1990s and 2000s, as well as on the cover of lads mags – famously the FHM cover that saw her naked image projected, without her prior knowledge, on to the Houses of Parliament.
But when she was diagnosed with alopecia in the mid-2000s, after already suffering with mental health problems, her TV work dried up.
“My hair fell out, nobody wanted to touch me with a barge pole,” she tells Sky News. “I didn’t want to wear a wig because I find them uncomfortable. And then suddenly the only jobs you’re getting offered are to go on and talk about being bald.”
Gail Porter appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015
After bouts of depression, self-harm, anorexia and a breakdown – and at one point being sectioned – the star found herself with nowhere to go about eight years ago. She had no work, and an unexpected tax bill “completely scuppered me. I was done”.
Porter, 52, says she spent time moving between friends’ spare bedrooms and sofas. “And there were a couple of nights on Hampstead Heath, just sitting, thinking: ‘I’ve got no idea where to go’. It was a very long six months, but I managed to get back on my feet again.”
Porter entered the Celebrity Big Brother house in August 2015, appearing alongside stars including Janice Dickinson, Bobby Davro and Natasha Hamilton, and was able to rent the flat in London she is living in today. “I’m happy to have a roof over my head,” she says.
In recent years, the star has campaigned to raise awareness of those facing homelessness and is now working with the Good Things Foundation, a digital charity, and Virgin Media O2 to highlight The National Databank – described as similar to a foodbank, but for free mobile data, texts, and calls.
The star worked with the Single Homeless Project before Christmas
‘I never thought in a million years it would get this bad’
The charity says demand for the National Databank is increasing, with its website already receiving almost double the number of visits in 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, as the cost of living crisis continues.
Virgin Media O2 surveyed 2,000 adults in the UK, and say more than a third (35%) believe they are only one pay slip away from finding themselves in extremely difficult financial hardship.
“That is such a frightening statistic,” says Porter. “I never thought in a million years it would get to this bad with me. And then it was just spiralling out of control.
“I was trying to apply for jobs, but without my phone or a laptop… I was walking round with a black bin liner with my clothes. ‘Excuse me! You got any jobs going in the bookshop? Or you got any jobs going in the library?’ I just want to work anywhere, I don’t care. It was very difficult for me, traipsing around everywhere with a bag, just trying to get myself back on my feet.”
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Porter found herself struggling to access some of the everyday services most take for granted. “I did have a little bit of data on my phone… then when that ran out, suddenly I thought, my gosh, can someone help me get somewhere to stay? Can I go to the doctor’s to talk to somebody about how I’m feeling mentally? Can I contact a friend?”
Because of her fame, the assumption by those around her was that she would be okay.
“All those magazines I did, I never got a penny… not everything is as lucrative as it seems.”
Porter says she appeared on shows for minimum pay and even without payment. “So you’d see me doing lots and lots of things… that kind of went on for quite a long time. You can’t really work for free all the time.”
Moving to stand-up comedy
Life is great now, she says, and there’s a new challenge on the cards – Porter, who is Scottish, is due to launch her stand-up comedy career at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this year.
“I have good days and bad days,” she says when I ask if she’s feeling nervous. “Sometimes I think, this is going to be great, what could possibly go wrong? And then sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with the sweats. What was I thinking of? And it’s my hometown so my friends have said they’ll come.”
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Porter says she doesn’t want to give too much away, but the show will draw on her personal experiences of mental health struggles and her homelessness.
“Now that I’m on my feet again, I can laugh about certain things,” she says. “So, lots of little stories about losing my hair, being sectioned, all sorts of little funny things. Hopefully people will enjoy it.”
Before she goes, Porter offers advice to anyone who is going through similar experiences to hers – and urges people in need to find their local databank.
“You’re not on your own,” she says. “Don’t be proud. You just have to swallow that and say, you know what? It’s happened. The best thing I can do is go onwards and upwards – and keep asking for help.”
Owen Cooper, the star of TV drama Adolescence, has made history becoming the youngest to win an outstanding supporting actor Emmy.
Cooper, who is 15, played Jamie Miller in the highly-acclaimed Netflix series set in Liverpool.
Adolescence, which dominated Netflix’s most-watched list earlier this year, centres on the story of a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a classmate.
It won a total of four Emmys.
Cooper was just 14 at the time of filming Adolescence and had never acted before.
Pic: Netflix
In his acceptance speech he said he was “nothing three years ago.”
“It’s just so surreal. Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here.
“So I think tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life.”
The four-part mini-series provoked a strong response from viewers and prompted a conversation in the UK – and worldwide – around misogyny and online safety, with co-creator Jack Thorne joining Prime Minister Keir Starmer for a discussion on the matter at the end of March.
It was also widely praised for its filming techniques, with each episode captured in one continuous take.
Gyllenhaal’s gift
Cooper’s co-star Erin Doherty (who played Jamie’s therapist) won best supporting actress in a limited series, director Philip Barantini took home the Emmy for outstanding directing for a limited or anthology series or movie, while writers Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham won for outstanding writing in the same category.
Before the awards ceremony, Cooper, from Warrington, had been surprised by his acting hero Jake Gyllenhaal, who walked in unannounced during an interview he was giving to press.
The pair hugged, and Gyllenhaal gave Cooper a small gift – a “lucky duck”.
“I made this movie [Brokeback Mountain], and I got nominated for an Academy Award, and a friend of mine sent me this before. Something just like this,” he said.
“It’s just a ‘Lucky Duck’ to keep in your pocket. To give you a little bit of luck.”
Entertainment
From the general public to Hollywood and music stars, everybody wanted a piece of Ricky Hatton
There are few sporting stars who cross from the newspaper back pages to become front page news… but Ricky Hatton always was one of them.
Aside from his boxing brilliance, it was his personality and humour which made people pay attention.
In recent years, his happy-go-lucky character saw him cast on reality shows like Dancing on Ice.
But what’s more interesting is how and why the public came to have such great affection for him back in the day.
Follow the latest: Tributes being paid to former boxing world champion
Putting it kindly, sports stars aren’t always known for their sparkling personalities.
It was Ricky’s lack of interest in the trappings of fame which accompanied his epic run of victories that made him all the more cool.
He was the working-class hero who seemed unstoppable. It was a story that everyone wanted to follow.
Ricky Hatton smiles during a news conference in 2006. Pic: Reuters
Celebrities wanted to be seen alongside him. Piggy-backing off his popularity the likes of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington and David Beckham were all pictured ringside at one time or another, drawn to his fan-friendly style and impressive winning streak.
At the same time as the Gallagher brothers were flying the flag for music from Manchester, Hatton was doing the same for boxing.
During his 2008 fight against Paulie Malignaggi, he had Liam and Noel escort him to the ring.
In an interview he said he thought all three of them might be killed when Liam held up Hatton’s IBO belt inches from Malignaggi’s face and with a swagger said ‘what do you think about that you d*** head?’.
Stories like that are why his appeal extended beyond sport. He was an ordinary bloke who’d done extraordinary things. He never lost sight of who he was and fans loved him for it.
Ricky Hatton is joined by Liam and Noel Gallagher after his 2008 fight against Paulie Malignaggi. Pic: Reuters
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