Vicky Pattison praises ‘sensitive’ pal Chris Hughes after Jesy Nelson split

When you have 4.6 million followers on social media and post the ins and outs of your life 24/7 for the world and their Labradoodle to see, is there anything left to give?

Fortunately for us, reality TV star Vicky Pattison is the gift that keeps on giving.

The gorgeous Geordie, who’s partial to an overshare or two (you’ll know this if you watched MTV reality show Geordie Shore), is the northern doyenne of cheeky banter. Perfect for a girlie chinwag.

It could have something to do with the fact she feels a teeny bit excited about her life right now. She insists the ‘VIP Vicky days’ of downing shots in clubs and flirting between the sheets on TV are over.

She’s since won a new army of fans while swinging from tree tops and eating creepy crawlies in I’m A Celeb… and dishing up dauphinoise on Celebrity MasterChef.

Vicky is well and truly over her public break-up with her ex-fiancé – he cheated on her days before their wedding – and has found her match in Ercan Ramadan, from TOWIE. A new chapter beckons for our girl…

You’ve transformed in lockdown – you’re now presenting a podcast about everything from body confidence to getting over heartbreak. How did that happen?

A bit of pot luck. It was something I’ve been keen to do for a while, but I felt intimidated by the wealth and quality of others.

I’ve spent the last 10 years in TV, but this is a new space for me to get my head around. And it stopped me from scaling the walls with boredom. I’ve done 16 now – I’ve really enjoyed it.

Any favourite guests?

I’ve probably heavily relied on my friends like Chris Hughes from Love Island, Chris Taylor, my mate Ferne McCann from the jungle and Kelly Brook. I like people who are passionate about something.

They’ve all surprised me how open they’ve been chatting over Zoom. The last thing I want to do is poke around in someone’s personal life.

I am nosy, but I don’t want to make them uncomfortable. But Chris started telling me about his difficult break-up and I was a bit taken aback. It was nice for him to show his sensitive side as a fella.

There’s a lot of toxic masculinity in reality shows, and in society in general, so for him to be honest about his struggles was properly refreshing. I’m super sensitive too and often cry when people share difficult times in their life.

Maybe he felt he could talk to you, because you’ve also experienced a serious public break-up?

I’ve had my share of ups and downs, so I can empathise. There was a lot of public humiliation involved in my break-up (with ex-fiancé John Noble). I was so desperate to be loved that I forced the relationship – even when there were red flags.

I wanted to be married and have all the things my friends were having. I had to put myself back together in the limelight. I’d had heartbreaks before, but that was a different type of pain. But I’m grateful we split. I’m a lot stronger.

But you’re happy with boyfriend Ercan?

Ercan definitely helped me put myself back together. He’s been a really positive influence on my life. He’s such a nice guy.

How did you meet?

It’s not very romantic. We followed each other on Instagram, but we were both in relationships. Then coincidentally, we both broke up with our partners around the same time.

Three months later, he reached out to me on social media and we started talking. We took things slowly – by my standards anyway! He’s lovely, and my family love him too.

Your mum Carol crops up on your podcast a few times. You two seem really close…

She’s like my best friend. Honestly, she’s the best. I think my relationship with my mam has grown as I’ve got older. The dynamic definitely shifted when I hit my 30s.

She went from the woman who protected me and was there when I needed her, to me seeing her as her own person. We do yoga, go on girlie retreats and have nights out. If I can rope her into anything, I will do.

What else changed when you hit 30?

I wanted a different life. I wasn’t interested in downing shots and slut-dropping and kissing boys. It’s natural that I’m going to get excited about my new food processor or do some gardening.

It’s been reported that you’ve earned thousands in lockdown from Instagram. Are you a lover of social media?

It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, isn’t it? When Geordie Shore was shown in 63 different countries, my followers went up. Then I went into the jungle, so I had another jump.

I gained more followers after MasterChef too. It doesn’t overwhelm me. If it had all happened overnight, I definitely think I would have turned into a bit of an a***hole.

You were really thin in your 20s, and now post pictures of your curves and unfiltered body images. What changed?

I was wracked with insecurities and self doubt in my 20s, and all I wanted was to be skinny and be attractive to men. I thought being thin would make me happy, but of course it didn’t.

I fought against my body type, I’m naturally super curvy. I don’t know where the pressure came from – society or media, I don’t know.

If anything, at my thinnest, I was the most miserable. I’ve always been a good scranner, but I exercised a lot. And at one point, I probably was counting how many blueberries were on my porridge.

I just had a really unhealthy obsession with a number on the scales. But I’m different now. I’m about fitness and nutrition. I want to be strong and healthy, and mentally well.

You spoke on social media about your struggles in lockdown. How do you feel now?

No matter how positive or resilient you are, there will always be low moments. I take my responsibility on Instagram seriously. I could easily post nice pictures of me in a bikini or me having a drink like my life was perfect every day.

But what good is that doing to everybody? It’s an unrealistic standard and it makes people feel bad about themselves.

Comparison is the thief of joy. Lockdown was tough! I wanted to normalise the bad days too. The response I got was always overwhelmingly nice.

Don’t get me wrong, if you managed to learn Latin in lockdown or completed an amazing body transformation, then hats off to you. But for every one of those, there are 10 people who have locked themselves in the cupboard one afternoon and had a glass of wine.

Did you ever find yourself doing that?

Let’s say, some days I’d get up and do a workout and have a green juice, and feel smug. Some days it’s a glass of wine before noon and definitely a takeaway.

What’s next on the Vicky life plan?

My last break-up taught me a lot about myself. I will never settle for anything that isn’t right again. Besides, I can survive on my own. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get married and feel really loved.

And I do want kids. Honestly, sometimes when I look on Instagram, I feel like I’m the only one who isn’t pregnant. But I know that we’ve all got different journeys, and that’s something I’ve had to learn.

I’d like the whole happy ever after, but I’m not in any rush. I’ve got it pretty nice right now.

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Reality showsVicky PattisonGeordie Shore