Trending 25th April 2021 by Hannah Hillyer

Channel 5 Announce They Have Removed Controversial Charlotte Crosby Documentary And Issue Apology

"That hour could have been used to host a mental health documentary."

Earlier this week Channel 5 aired a documentary called ‘Celebrities – What Happened To Your Face – Charlotte Crosby.’  The hour long show featured experts from all different fields including health and fitness, as well as plastic surgeons, who sat and dissected the Geordie Shore star’s appearance on TV.

As well as discussing her fluctuating weight they went into great detail about what cosmetic work they believed she had undergone and commenting on her looks.

The backlash to this shocking and damaging documentary has been fierce. Charlotte herself has been on Instagram stories in tears since the show aired.

She also issued an emotional statement about it to Instagram this weekend, where she slammed show producers for allowing it not only to air, but that it was even made in the first place; “I cannot quite believe I am saying this but here goes. Last night, Channel 5 & Crackit Productions put out a one-hour documentary called ‘Celebrities – What Happened To Your Face – Charlotte Crosby.”

“In 2021, a main UK channel and production company believe it would be a good use of airtime, to dissect my physical appearance.”

“I have seen how many of you saw it, switched off and complained – many not even ‘fans’ of me, just good people who know right from wrong. Thank you for that, and for your messages of love and support.”

Continuing Charlotte said; “I am aware I have put myself and my face in the public eye. TV and broadcasting had given me and my family a life we could never have dreamed of. I enjoy it, am enormously grateful for it and many of my respected closest friends work within the industry.”

However, she acknowledged that just by putting herself out there does not mean this kind of dissection of her appearance is acceptable; “I have had a public battle with my appearance, and have had to go through personal trauma & issues of self-confidence in the spot-light. I like to think I’m an honest, balanced person – I get it, I understand the interest.”

“One quick Google or look at my Instagram page, you’ll see how intensely I’ve been targeted by trolls and how I’ve learnt to ignore the hate, focus on the positives and work on loving myself again. It’s a process, it’s taken time, compassion, personal and professional support.”

“Their ‘experts’ dissected my ‘plastic face’ with disgust, discussing my fluctuating weight (with images), and then decided to flash up the worst troll comments from the past 5-6 years. I want to say here for context. When this was commissioned last March 2020, my agent found out about it and was appalled.”

The 30-year-old continued by saying that both she, and her agent had both reached out to Channel 5 about how damaging this documentary could be; “She very clearly outlined to Crackit Productions not just how immoral and insensitive it was but how detrimental this would be to my mental health. They ignored her, despite repeated correspondence, and ran with it regardless.”

“We only found out this week when it was in the TV listings that it was still going ahead – unbelievable.”

Continuing, she discussed how instead of such a nasty show being aired that’s only goal was to put her down, instead the messaging of ‘be kind’ that we have seen everywhere since the death of Caroline Flack should have been considered.

“Dealing with trolls is one thing, you ignore, you block. BUT where are we as a society, when the trolls are in the mainstream TV channels? Will, they not take responsibility for my dip in mental health and my plummeted self-esteem? Do they take responsibility for the resulting press from the show, again discussing how ‘shocking’ my face is.”

“Channel 5 have a list of mental health helplines on their website – is this for viewers or the subjects of their poor choice in programming like me? Broadcasters are so keen to do psych tests for shows, yet at the same time give space to programmes which destroy the mental health of its subjects.”

“That hour could have been used to host a mental health documentary. That hour could have educated the public in the many issues & good causes which need publicity. That hour didn’t need to go after a 31-year-old woman for her appearance, choices and ”rubber lips. When is enough enough?”

She finished by acknowledging that she can handle trolling, but not everyone is that strong; “Just because we’re in the public eye, doesn’t mean we aren’t human. Fortunately, I’m strong enough to deal with that but many aren’t!”

The backlash since the show aired has been huge, with multiple other reality TV personalities and celebrities slamming the doc and sharing Charlotte’s statement.

Channel 5 have since removed it from streaming services and apologised, issuing this statement; “Channel 5 and the programme’s producers, Crackit Productions, take duty of care very seriously.”

“While we acknowledge that the programme was OFCOM compliant, we have taken on board Charlotte’s feedback and removed the episode from our streaming platform My5. We apologise for any upset caused.”

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