Yahoo Finance Kate Thornton reveals TV boss asked her to bleach 'annoying' freckles
Although Kate Thornton has presented some of the biggest shows on the box – from The X Factor to Loose Women – she wasn’t immune to bullying in the early days of her career.
Talking on White Wine Question Time to her good friends Amanda Byram and Gaby Roslin about their early days in TV, Kate revealed that her appearance “annoyed” someone she once worked with.
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“I once had a genuine straight-face conversation,” she said, “where I was asked would I consider bleaching my freckles because they irritated him on camera. My frickin’ freckles!”
Needless to say, Kate didn’t bleach her freckles, however, it seems she wasn’t alone in being targeted by bullies in her career.
Gaby Roslin, whose career has spanned 33 years, said she was bullied by both a man and woman when she started out.
“There was a girl when I started out in the industry 33 years ago, who was not supportive at all,” she revealed.
“She didn't like the idea that I was coming in and doing what she did. She tried to stop me doing what I wanted to do, but I think because I'm a bit 'happy clappy', that I just sort of didn't let it get to me. I did let it get to me, but I didn't let it take over what I was trying to do.”
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Keen to point out that her male bully was never co-hosts Chris Evans, Neil Buchanan or Terry Wogan, Gaby said bullying is usually about the other person. She said: “Bullying is always about the bully and it's about their insecurity. If there is any bullying, you have to remember, it's about the bully.”
Total Wipeout star Amanda Byram agreed, saying she was bullied by a co-host whose ego got out of control.
“I've been made to cry on a TV show, not on air, but back in my dressing room,” Amanda confessed. “And it was a co-host; it was a male, but it was just this person's own ego.
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“Over the years I realised what he was doing was all about him. And you know, I was just kind of a young TV presenter and I thought it was all about me and I thought it was my fault.”
Amanda went onto explain that she calls people like this a ‘sapper’. She said: “Sappers are those who we all know, people who when you have a conversation with them, you walk away exhausted because they've sapped your energy!”
Hear Amanda Byram and Gaby Roslin talk more about their best career moves, how they deal with negative comments on social media and much more on this week’s episode of White Wine Question Time. Listen now on iTunes and Spotify.
