- By Andre Rhoden-Paul
- BBC News
Nella Rose has ditched home comforts for a life in the jungle. Let’s take a look at the glamorous influencer who is the talk of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
The 26-year-old started posting videos to YouTube aged 18, while studying sociology at the University of Leicester. Uploading beauty reviews, debates and vlogs, she built up her subscribers to 800,000. She now focuses on Instagram and TikTok and has one million followers on each platform. Nella became a widely shared meme with her pronunciation of “embarrassed” and was awarded best media personality at the Mobo Awards 2022.
She is a presenter
Last year, Nella was announced as a new presenter on MTV’s Catfish UK, where she helps people track down online love interests. She has also presented online streams for the Brit Awards on the red carpet and co-hosted BBC Radio 1Xtra podcast alongside Mariam Musa and Adeola Patronne, before leaving for “personal reasons”.
She was born in Belgium
Image source, Getty Images
Nella, real name Ornella Rose Hollela, was born in Belgium, before moving to the UK where she grew up in London. Talking about her African heritage, she tweeted: “I’m so proud to be Congolese.”
She has apologised for ‘terrible’ tweets
The influencer said sorry for “unacceptable” tweets she made as a teenager which resurfaced in 2020, including posts about black girls and Somali people. “I use to hate black girls because I use to hate myself,” she explained in an apology video. “Those tweets were terrible especially to Somalian people.” Nella acknowledged people were right to be angry, but she said she was unhappy people were talking her dead mother during the backlash.
She lost both her parents
Nella’s father died in 2020. She described seeing her dad suffer as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life”.
Her mother also died in 2016 at the age of 46. Speaking about her death in a YouTube video, Nella said: “It’s something you don’t expect, it just happened. She literally died in my arms.”
She said she was later evicted from the council house she shared with her mother.
Nella’s parents’ death came up in the jungle, when First Date’s star Fred Sirieix told Nella: “I’m 51. I’m not 26 anymore am I? I could be your dad”. They had been discussing his bad eyesight. Nella said the comment, which Fred apologised for, made her feel “disrespected” and she no longer wanted to talk to him. Viewers took to social media in support of Fred, but others were sympathetic to how Nella felt and were angry at online abuse directed at her.
She hates bush tucker trials
In the jungle, Nella has screamed her way through creepy-crawly and snake-infested bush tucker trials. So far, she has stuck her head in a box with snakes, eaten pizza topped with scorpions and cow anus, and faced electric shocks while crawling through a tunnel. Before coming into the jungle, she said: “I am scared of everything from red ants, tarantulas to rats or ostriches.”
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
