JODIE MARSH:Tough act 2 Follow

SUPER-fit Jodie Marsh is battling back against bullies – and showing kids they don’t need to live in fear.

The glamour girl-turned-bodybuilder tells victims how to fight back in a new documentary that she’s starring in.

But as well as helping others who have suffered, filming the show made Jodie, 33, come to terms with her own painful demons.

She says she has been bullied all her life – from her schooldays to her first shot at fame in the reality show Essex Wives to her brief stint in Celebrity Big Brother.

“When I was at school I was bullied really badly and told I was ugly,” explains Jodie. “That’s why I decided to try to become a model – to prove I wasn’t ugly.

“But when I became famous I was bullied again over my appearance, my boobs, my nose, every part of me torn to shreds. Horrendous things were said about me.

“I know I brought some of it on myself by wearing skimpy outfits and by being outspoken, but neither of those is a crime. So I’d been bullied as a teenager and as an adult in my place of work.”

But making the programme wasn’t plain sailing for Jodie and she admits she was constantly left in tears by what she discovered during filming.

She says: “I went into schools and talked to kids who were being bullied, and tried to help them. But emotionally it’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was in tears every single day because I felt so heartbroken for them.

“But I knew it was the best thing I’d ever done.

“I have been successful at what I do and 10 years later I’m still here and pretty much a household name in the UK. I wanted to show the kids they don’t have to be beaten by the bullies. The kids responded to me brilliantly. They were so lovely and I’m still in touch with some of them.”

One family’s tragic story particularly moved Jodie.

She says: “The worst point was when we met a family whose son killed himself last year. He was 15 and bullied on Facebook. It was so horrendous.”

The documentary inspired the former model to set up her own Twitter campaign called Delete And Block.

The idea is that young people are often bullied via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook but are too scared to delete the bullies, fearing it will only get worse.

But Jodie says: “If bullies get deleted, they can’t see you any more.

"You might still have to see them at school but at least they can’t bully you online. It gives you back the power and control. If that boy who killed himself had deleted and blocked the bullies, he might still be alive now.”

Jodie herself hit rock-bottom after appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006 and was the subject of taunts from Michael Barrymore, Pete Burns and George Galloway.

She felt so low she contemplated suicide. Jodie says: “I thought about driving my car into a lamp-post and I really considered it at length.

“I’d thought about how fast I need to be going to kill me instantly and how hard I’d need to hit the lamp-post, and which one was the best to do it to.

“I knew then I needed to sort my head out. I’d had a breakdown. But these days I’d rip them to shreds. That comes with age and wisdom and finding what makes you happy in life.”

And Jodie discovered what really makes her happy is bodybuilding. Her amazing transformation into a muscled
wonder-woman shocked the nation and won her an army of fans.

She says: “Bodybuilding has made me 200% more confident. It’s totally changed my life from three years ago when I started.

“It’s like being given a scalpel and surgeon and asked how you want your body to look.

“Before a competition, my gym routine is ridiculous. I can be in the gym for up to 10 hours every day.

“I’ll do two hours’ cardio, an hour and a half of weights, half an hour of abs and the rest of the time I’ll be practising my routine and posing.

“And when you’re competing, it’s seven protein shakes a day and not much real food. It’s really tough but I like it.

“I think I am addicted to bodybuilding but I don’t think I’m dangerously obsessed.”

But one area of her life where Jodie is having less success is romance. She’s single after dating a string of “weirdos”.

Jodie says: “I do love sex and I’m very open about it, but for the last two-and-a-half years I’ve refused to sleep with anyone. It takes so long for me to get into bed with someone because I know people are not always what they seem.

“Blokes get the hump with me because they’ll date me for so long and not get anything. One guy took me out for dinner five times and I wouldn’t even kiss him.

“I’m just waiting for the right person – I feel like a born-again virgin.

“Bodybuilding has definitely made me more attractive to men. I don’t walk around looking like a bloke. I just look normal. Then when I tense, people are like: ‘Bloody hell!’.

“I feel strong and powerful having the muscle and I’m more confident than I’ve ever been before.”

Jodie Marsh – Bullied: My Secret Past, is on Channel 5 at 10pm tonight.

Her other show Jodie Marsh: Bodybuilder is repeated at 10pm tonight on DMAX Channel