Tempting Fortune in bulling row as controversial contestant reveals ‘real reason’ she quit Channel 4 show

A TEMPTING Fortune contestant has broken her silence after appearing on Channel 4’s gruelling survival show.

Businesswoman, Vicki, 37, branded the experience “horrific” and revealed what really went down behind the scenes.

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The greeting cards entrepreneur exclusively told The Sun Online: “The level of aggression in my opinion wasn’t really shown on TV and wasn’t representative of what was truly going on.

“I only ever intended to take temptations that would help me get to the end of the experience but I felt bullied and ostracised by some of my camp mates.

“I’m a strong woman, I was a prison officer for 10 years but the level of aggression off camera from Sam in camp was worrying at times.

“She even threw a bag that skimmed past my head one day and I went to the producers and told them I don’t feel safe and that it wasn’t ok.

“I felt so bullied but I was determined not to lower myself and be aggressive back.”

Vicki explained that she felt she was being kicked when she was feeling down and that there was a real lack of empathy from some of the other contestants.

“My mental health completely plummeted as you can probably see on the show during my last episode.”

Vicki added that she took the temptations – like a bowl of cheesy chips – because she was continually vomiting when she forced herself to eat the rice on offer and therefore hadn’t eaten.

“There’s some people that are really naïve, that are thinking ‘Oh, Vicky took all these temptations – she’s so greedy and selfish’ but that’s not true.

“I said from day one I would only take what would get me to the end.

“I would not do anything just for the sake of having a laugh, it was purely to get me to the end, to show my daughter that you can push yourself out your limit.

“And on the second climb I only took the temptation because I was advised that it wasn’t safe for me to continue due to the difficulty of the trek – even though I said would.

“Honestly what you didn’t see on that one where I took the water taxi, I was actually projectile vomiting at the top of that hill and they cut it out – they didn’t show it to make me look weaker, I think.”

But Vicky was completely oblivious to the fact that some campmates wanted her to leave.

I vomited every time I tried to eat, so I stopped trying.”

“Now I realise that people who were supporting me and smiling to my face were actually stabbing me in the back and it wasn’t a butter knife it was a machete.”

She continued: “After I ate the chips I was called selfish and shameless and being screamed at from every angle.

“The shock for me was that before that they’d been telling me to take food if it was offered and then turned on me.

“I know it looks bad that I had three temptations in a row and had the cheesy chips but before but they had said ‘Vicky you haven’t eaten if there is a temptation take it.’

“But, I completely underestimated how I would struggle with the rice and beans because what you can’t tell is that the kidney beans literally stank.

“I vomited every time I tried to eat, so I stopped trying.”

“At home I am genuinely such a bubbly person. I walk into a room and I talk to everybody, but by the end I I didn’t even want to talk to anyone because I felt so bullied.”

Vicki said she eventually left the show after one of her cast mates secretly revealed the reason they were there was to pay for private health care for a sick family member.

“I had to leave the show because alongside the bullying, I couldn’t handle the guilt when Nathanial covered his microphone and told me why he wasn’t taking temptations.

Had I not been told that, I would’ve stayed but the thought of taking money away from people who needed it for such heart breaking reasons, was just too much for me.”

Vicki said she “couldn’t bare to take any more of the prize pot away” after that, and decided to quit.

But she added: “After I quit the cast mates were sat down and told they were not allowed to talk about the reasons they needed the money, as it amounts to emotional blackmail and is against the rules.

“Had I not been told that, I would’ve stayed but the thought of taking money away from people who needed it for such heart breaking reasons, was just too much for me.”

A spokesperson for Channel 4 told The Sun Online: “The safety and duty of care of contributors on our shows is of paramount importance, cast are chaperoned by crew at all times and have the ability to leave filming at any point.

“All broadcast scenes are a fair and accurate depiction of events that unfolded during filming.”

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Tempting Fortune airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4 and is available to stream.