Roxanne Pallett said she fears she is “the most hated girl in Britain” following the Celebrity Big Brother “punch” drama.
The former Emmerdale star quit the Channel 5 show at the weekend after claiming Corrie actor Ryan Thomas had hurt her by punching her, which many viewers defended as play fighting.
She returned for a belated exit interview on Monday, and told host Emma Willis she had got the situation “massively wrong”.
“I’m the most hated girl in Britain right now, it’s a lot to deal with,” she said. “It’s the title I feel everyone has given me at the moment.
“All I can do is own it, accept it and apologise.”
This is the clip that Big Brother showed to Roxanne before her interview with @EmmaWillis, summarising what the viewers saw of the incident with @ryanjamesthomas. #CBB pic.twitter.com/LWFvMtuM6o
— Big Brother UK (@bbuk) September 3, 2018
Pallett said she watched the clip of herself and Thomas as soon as she left the house and immediately realised it was a “completely different scenario to how it felt at the time”.
The actress said she had thought Thomas did not like her and it was “almost like I convinced myself it was done with malice and it wasn’t, and I know it wasn’t now”.
When Willis suggested Pallett could have “ruined” Thomas, she replied: “I feel devastated, it cripples me with embarrassment and shame that I could have put somebody in that position.”
Earlier on Monday Pallett also told how sorry she was on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine.
During her chat with Willis, the presenter suggested many fans were not “buying” the apology.
Pallett said: “I fully agree and understand every single person’s reaction to that. If I’d have been at home watching that I would have been the same.
“I was wrong, massively wrong. I wish I had the words to say how gutted… hindsight is a wonderful thing, I got it wrong.
“Only I can go away now and figure out why I became that sensitive that I manufactured a different version in my mind.
“The fact that I used terminology like woman beater and words like assault and abuse, I can’t apologise enough.”
The actress said she misjudged the situation because of her “sensitivity, fragility, over-reaction”.
“I used to think they were character traits but they are character flaws and that’s what I need to go away and sort out.”
Struggling to hold back tears, Pallett said: “For Ryan and his family and his friends and his colleagues and everybody that I’ve affected by such an enormous reaction, it could have been devastating for him – all I can say is I’m devastated and I’m sorry.”
When Willis asked if she thought she could still have a career, Pallett said: “I am scared about the future, but to be honest, Emma, I just need to think about today.
“I’m human and I made a massive, massive, horrible mistake.”