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In 2016, Tanya Hennessy got a message from her school bully. It began with, 'I'm sorry."

 

Comedian and former radio host, Tanya Hennessy has earnt a reputation for her honest, candid and funny reflections on body positivity and mental health, and she’s continuing that conversation on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!.

Currently camping out in the South African jungle, the 34-year-old has reflected on a run-in with her former high school bully.

“I had this girl write in the toilets all of this stuff about me when I was in year nine, and drew this picture which was just a circle, a big fat stomach a little head and arms and I was just ‘fat, fat, fat, fat, fat!’” she told her campmates.

“It took forever for them to paint it down because every time I would sit to go to the toilet, I would see it. Because it was right where the toilet roll was.”

Watch this exclusive snippet from tonight’s episode of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here where Tanya talks about receiving a message from her former high school bully. Post continues below.

Video by Channel 10

However, roughly three years ago, long after both of them had finished high school, Tanya received a message from her former bully.

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“She messaged me about three Christmases ago and she’s into yoga now. And she was like ‘I just want to say I’m really really sorry, and I’m really proud of how you turned out and I hope that my actions have not affected you’,” she said.

“I wrote back ‘to be honest with you, you taught me resilience and you taught me to get over it and move on. So thank you, in a way,’” she said.

“I’ve made so many dumb decisions and I would hate for someone not to forgive me for something I did when I was a child.”

 

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This isn’t the first time the radio host has publicly spoken about bullying. In 2018, she told Stellar magazine about discovering someone had created an online hate page about her.

“I’d been talking very honestly about how hard it was moving cities, and how much social-media bullying affected me,” Hennessy told reporter Saskia Tillers.

“Then I found the hate page had been made in response to this.”

The messages she saw on the page trolled her both professionally and personally. Reading the comments she said: “It was so mean and vulgar and scary. It felt so aggressive and personal, and the whole thing was just awful.”

 

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After a nine-year career in radio hosting programs on HIT104.7 Canberra and 2DayFM Sydney Weekends, Tanya announced she would be leaving radio in an Instagram post on December 10.

“I have decided to hang up my headphones for a bit to focus on live shows, TV and some incredible overseas opportunities. I love radio passionately and I owe so much to it and I will return – but for now, it’s just a see you soon” she wrote.

“I made this decision six months ago so I’m happy to be able to let y’all know.”

Now taking a turn on reality TV, if Tanya is the last celeb standing not only will she be dubbed this year’s ‘Queen of the Jungle,’ she’ll also be able to donate $100,000 to her elected charity, R U OK?.

To watch tonight’s full episode of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, tune into Channel 10 at 7:30pm.

Feature image: Channel 10.

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