TOWIE’s Bobby Norris on homophobic bullying: ‘It was awful’

The Only Way is Essex’s 

Bobby Norris has opened up about the “awful” homophobic bullying he received during his time at school.

Speaking to our friends at Star magazine, the reality star said: “I used to dread it when Heartbeat came on the telly on a Sunday night – I’d get a churning in my stomach and feel sick because I knew what I was going into on Monday. I’d walk through the corridor and all I would hear is ‘batty boy’ or ‘poof’.

“I was being told being gay wasn’t OK and wasn’t normal,” he added.

“You put up this exterior and tell yourself you’ve got to have a thick skin and tolerate it. I got myself in such a state over it all. I tried to act brave and not let the bullies see they were affecting me, but they absolutely did.”

Continuing, the 27-year-old said that the bullying lessened following his decision to come out when he was 15.

“Obviously I wasn’t patted on the back because it was the 1990s, but the moment I stopped denying it, it slowed down,” he said.

Bobby has recently been announced as one of the faces of ITV and Stonewall’s new anti-bullying schools campaign. attitude.co.uk contributor Andrew Hayden-Smith shared his thoughts on the new project with us yesterday (March 17).

The full interview with Bobby appears in the new issue of Star magazine (see left), which is out now.