Jodie Marsh was left devastated after a fire at her animal sanctuary killed two marmosets over the weekend. Local fire crews were called to her Fripps Farm in Essex on Saturday after reports of a fire, which started accidentally on the first floor at around 5pm due to an electrical item.
The former glamour model, now 47, has devoted herself to the animal sanctuary since establishing it in 2020, swapping red carpet appearances for wellies at the farm. But her new life is a far cry from her privileged upbringing, in which she attended a £10,000-a-year private school.
Raised by millionaire parents John and Kristina Marsh, who made their fortune in scaffolding, Jodie grew up in a Tudor-style mansion near Brentwood. At Brentwood School she achieved 11 GCSEs at grades A and B and three A grades at A-level, with aspirations of becoming a vet or a lawyer.
However, she has spoken openly about the severe bullying she endured at school, due to thick glasses and a broken nose from a hockey accident. In her Channel 5 documentary Bullied: My Secret Past, she described how bullies kicked footballs at her head and forced her to hide in the library. On This Morning she revealed she contemplated suicide loads of times, and that her ordeal drove her to pursue modelling to prove she was not ugly.
After rising to fame on ITV's Essex Wives while working as a pole dancer at Stringfellows, she became a reality TV personality, feuding with Katie Price and appearing in lad's mags. She later took up competitive bodybuilding before founding Fripps Farm. Reflecting on her choices, she told the Guardian: "I could've been a lawyer by now, I could've gone to uni. But I've taken the quickest and easiest route to making as much money as I can, and having as much fun as I can, and I don't regret that."
