Gemma Collins’s authorities video backlash slapped down as ‘outright snobbery’
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said criticism of a government video featuring Gemma Collins has veered between being ‘outright snobbery and just downright unpleasant’
Reality TV star Gemma Collins demanded to know “what are we doing to help the children?” on a visit to the Department for Education(Image: Dept for Education)
A Cabinet minister has said criticism of a government video featuring Gemma Collins has veered between being “outright snobbery and just downright unpleasant”.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson defended a series of social media clips showing the reality TV star talking about the importance of education.
On a visit to the Department for Education (DfE), Collins, 45, walks through the offices with her hands on her hips demanding to know “what are we doing to help the children?” The former The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) star – who left school with minimal qualifications – then sits down for a chat with Ms Phillipson where they discuss V-levels and occupational pathways.
But it has faced a huge backlash on social media with people questioning Collins’s academic achievements or saying the DfE should be talking about other priorities. Collins was not paid to appear in the videos.
Ms Phillipson told BBC Radio 5 Live: “She has got an incredible reach in terms of the kinds of voters and the audience and the citizens that we want to reach. So it was a great opportunity.
“I think some of the discussion around this that I’ve seen has veered between outright snobbery and just downright unpleasant really and just a bit of killjoy attitude. There’s enough doom and gloom in the world. There’s enough bad things happening. A bit of joy and a bit of fun I think could do us all a good favour.”
She added: “She, in the discussion we had, was really keen to stress about how important it is that young people try hard at school, value education, at a time when I know that in lots of parts of the country, we’ve got a real challenge at the moment where people don’t see doing well at school or going on later on in life in education as being the route to a good life.
“And if she can get that message across to some of the young people that frankly don’t really care what the Secretary of State for Education has got to say about the topic, then I think that’s good for all of us.”
The clips were hailed as a success by officials in the DfE. The first teaser clip of Collins entering the building is the department’s highest viewed video since January 2024, before Labour was elected.
The video, set to music from The Devil Wears Prada, has more than 2.6million views on X alone. On Instagram, 86% of the people it has been seen by don’t follow the DfE’s account, while the reach with under 34s was over 30% more than its average on Facebook and 10% higher on Instagram, sources said.
In other videos, Collins talks about not being good at maths but having a love of reading. “Everyone’s got to remember there’s always an opportunity out there for everyone,” she said.
And Ms Phillipson used the opportunity to tout the Government’s efforts to increase vocational options for youngsters. She said: “Some of what we’ve been trying to do is to make sure we’ve got really great routes for young people who want to go down the technical, vocational route, want to get into a trade, as well as having really good academic options as well.”
Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, criticised a celebrity being brought into the department when teachers were suffering from poor pay. He wrote on social media: “An unfunded 3.3% pay award for support staff and 3.5% for teachers would leave mainstream schools £870m short. But don’t worry, the Department for Education have brought in TOWIE stars to save the day.”
Rosie Duffield, an independent MP who resigned from Labour in 2024, said the video would “be funny if SEND wasn’t an urgent daily issue” for “many desperate parents and pupils”.
One parent, Helen, told the BBC the video had made her really “cross” and questioned what Collins can bring to the conversation. She said: “I can think of far better social media stars who have more recent experience of education. Bridget should be speaking more to parents such as myself. My little boy is autistic and non-speaking. Actually, generally we’ve had a positive experience in the SEND system and he’s off to a really good resource base in September.
“I think it would be far more helpful for Bridget to be speaking to parents like me who are using the system, rather than Gemma, who hasn’t had any involvement for such a long time.”
Ms Phillipson, after listening to Helen’s comments while on the radio, said: “I recognise what Helen says about the importance of listening to parents, speaking with parents and people working in education. That is what I do every single day… It’s the bread and butter of what I do.”
