Lauren Pope felt "pushed out" of 'The Only Way Is Essex' by the female cast.
Lauren Pope
The 33-year-old DJ - who quit the ITVBe show after five years just a few weeks ago - has revealed she was picked on during shooting of the last series of the reality programme by many of the girls who would mock her looks and freeze her out of things.
The blonde beauty told Mirror Online: "They took the mick out of the way I look and did impressions of my face - stuff like that. I'd rather they picked on my personality because you can't change the way you look.
"There was a small group of girls and they all followed one another by sharing one common dislike - me. I suppose it's easy when you're in a group to just find one girl to pick on and make her your target.
"I didn't feel bullied as such but they did make me feel really uncomfortable. It was like being back at school. I felt pushed out, particularly last series. I didn't feel part of that social circuit."
Lauren had to keep her exit from 'TOWIE' a secret for several weeks and admits it was hard not to share her news with her fans.
She said: "It's been really hard because 'TOWIE' has some hardcore fans. They've been tweeting me and I haven't been able to respond."
But Lauren - who recently hired a new management team and has launched Hair Rehab London Academy, a project to train hairdressers across the country to correctly apply her line of hair extensions - has no regrets about leaving and is ready for the next challenge in her life.
She explained: "I had been thinking about it for a while ... I felt really anxious when it came to telling the producers but something clicked and it just all made sense. 'TOWIE' was a huge part of my life and leaving was a scary decision but I wanted to take a step back and work on my business because all of this could end at any minute."
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