TV
'DanceX' star speaks about school bullies
Published Thursday, Aug 16 2007, 10:52 BST | By Daniel Kilkelly
DanceX star Emanuel Tabone has admitted that he was bullied at school for being a "geek".
The 23-year-old, who is part of Team Arlene on the BBC One reality series, has revealed that his fellow classmates would pick on him for his love of reading and because he wore glasses.
"I was a geek and because I wore specs I could never be in the cool gang," Emanuel told The Mirror. "All I wanted was to fit in and be accepted by everyone, but I never was. There was a lot of name-calling, like Four Eyes. I'd get pushed and shoved around a lot.
"They'd do everything they could to make me feel like an outsider. It hurt me so much and my schooldays weren't happy. I never wanted to go to school. I hated it."
Emanuel started to feel more confident about his looks when he turned 18 and went for laser eye surgery, allowing him to get rid of his glasses.
"I don't think of the bullies any more," he said. "I think what I've managed to achieve in such a short space of time has been my way of answering them. What I went through at school only made me stronger."
DanceX continues on Saturday night at 7.40pm on BBC One.
The 23-year-old, who is part of Team Arlene on the BBC One reality series, has revealed that his fellow classmates would pick on him for his love of reading and because he wore glasses.
"I was a geek and because I wore specs I could never be in the cool gang," Emanuel told The Mirror. "All I wanted was to fit in and be accepted by everyone, but I never was. There was a lot of name-calling, like Four Eyes. I'd get pushed and shoved around a lot.
"They'd do everything they could to make me feel like an outsider. It hurt me so much and my schooldays weren't happy. I never wanted to go to school. I hated it."
Emanuel started to feel more confident about his looks when he turned 18 and went for laser eye surgery, allowing him to get rid of his glasses.
"I don't think of the bullies any more," he said. "I think what I've managed to achieve in such a short space of time has been my way of answering them. What I went through at school only made me stronger."
DanceX continues on Saturday night at 7.40pm on BBC One.
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