Paddy Doherty’s granddaughter, 8, reveals heart-breaking bullying she suffers at school because she’s a traveller
The youngster wants to leave school when she is just 11
PADDY Doherty’s eight-year-old granddaughter has revealed children at school say ‘evil’ things to her because she is a traveller.
Margaret, who lives on the Queensferry site in North Wales, is keen to leave school at the age of 11, something My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy is not happy about.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun Online ahead of Margaret’s TV debut in Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World, the pair have revealed just how tough it is being a traveller at school.
Paddy – who won Celebrity Big Brother in 2011 – believes not much has changed in terms of prejudice since he was at school.
He told us: “I went to school but when I went to school it was really racist at that time. All I used to do is stand in the corner all day and just get a hiding.
“I knew I was just going to school to get a beating. I left school when I was about 10/11 and I went straight into work.”
“Now days there’s a lot of prejudice against travelling kids,” he added.
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Agreeing Margaret said: “Sometimes I get bullied. I think I just go tell the teacher or I bully them back.
“They say evil things to me. I don’t like school because of that and I don’t like doing the work and getting up very early.”
The youngster is hoping to stick with tradition and leave school to just stay at home, play and do the cleaning – which she believes is a woman’s job.
She would however like to work with ‘nails’ when she grows up as a beautician.
Speaking about his granddaughter wanting to leave education at such a young age, Paddy told us: “It’s sad isn’t it? She’ll have to stay at school. She’s only a baby. She’s seen what’s happened to the older ones – I can’t read or write.
Aware of his opinions Margaret said he wants her to stay at school “because he thinks it is good for you to read and write and all that”.
Margaret, who is keen to follow in his reality TV footsteps, added: “I do think it is good to learn but I just don’t like school.”
Gypsy Kids 9pm, 1st September on Channel 5
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