Former Take Me Out contestant Bianca Maria has revealed the devastating online abuse she suffered after appearing on the ITV dating show, saying it made her 'not want to go out' and left her wearing a hood to hide from the world.
Behind the scenes of the dating show
Bianca Maria featured in series 10 of Take Me Out, which ran from 2010 to 2019 and was hosted by Paddy McGuinness. The show's format saw a single man try to win a date with one of 30 women, who switched off their lights if they were not interested. At the end of each round, the last woman with her light on would go on a romantic date with the bachelor.
Speaking exclusively at the National Film Awards, Bianca said: 'It was an amazing experience, filming the show was absolutely amazing, I had the best time, I can't fault the team for the care we had, I had the absolute best time. But the aftermath of it, in terms of the trolling and stuff, that ended up being quite an experience, shall we say.'
The impact of online trolling
Bianca revealed that the trolling affected her deeply, especially as she was unhappy with her appearance on the show. She said: 'If you're not happy with something and you get trolled for it, that's a bit upsetting.' She added: 'I didn't want to go out, I wore a hood, and that impacted me mentally, I think my mental health suffered. It felt like everybody hated me, it was horrible.'
Bianca had been bullied as a child, and a makeup artist on the show called her 'vulnerable', warning her not to listen to trolls. She reflected: 'I didn't think too much into it at the time, but coming off [the show], I thought, maybe it was the plan [for me] to be the joke act, and she was trying to train me up and let me know not to worry about what people say.'
Calls for better duty of care
In the years since Take Me Out aired, awareness around duty of care for reality TV contestants has grown, particularly for shows like Love Island and Strictly Come Dancing. Bianca believes more progress is needed. She said: 'There's a lot more that could be done in terms of reality shows, if they could have a programme to help people that come off the show, or help before they go on the show, and make sure that they know there's a lot of people out there who are going to troll you and maybe some training on how to deal with the trolls would be nice.'
She added: 'People have lost their lives going on reality shows, because it can ruin someone's life... it's not just a TV show, it's ok when you're on TV but once you come off TV, it's not a show anymore. People are trying to destroy you and I think that's the sad side of social media.'
Positive memories and praise for host
Despite the trolling, Bianca praised Take Me Out for the unforgettable memories and friends she made. She said: 'I had the best time, the filming was the best experience of my life and I'm so grateful I had the experience. But coming off the show, the aftermath and trolling and press, I just was not prepared for that at all.'
She also praised host Paddy McGuinness, calling him a 'really nice guy'. She said: 'He came to say hello to all the girls in the dressing room after one of the shows, and he took pictures with us and I thought that was really nice of him.'
Take Me Out was axed by ITV after 11 series. McGuinness said at the time: '10 years that's before Tinder, Snapchat, Twitter was a little baby, Instagram wasn't a thing and Whatsapp that were just witchcraft.' He added: 'What I am most proud of is the success of Take Me Out as it put dating show back on the TV map.'
ITV has been approached for comment.
