A former ITV reality TV contestant from High Wycombe believes she was used for ‘entertainment purposes’ and that her treatment with the corporation led her to attempt suicide.
Tia Latham, who identifies as an intersex transgender woman, appeared on the only edition of ‘Survival of the Fittest’, which aired on ITV 4 back in 2018, but she was eliminated after just three days.
Following her exit, she has since claimed that ITV ‘forced’ her into signing with a management team despite not feeling ‘comfortable’ to do so, and that she was made to delete her original social media platforms.
CW suicide, assault - The Mirror reports that trans Survival of the Fittest contestant Tia Latham says she tried to kill herself after a lack of support from ITV https://t.co/qnKP52aJz9
— Trans Media Watch (@TransMediaWatch) December 31, 2019
The alleged coercive behaviour from the TV giants, along with problems unrelated to show business, led the model to attempt to take her own life on Boxing Day 2019.
She exclusively told the Free Press: “Everything was great at the start as they really wanted me to be on board.
“They would constantly say, ‘welcome to the ITV family’ and were very warming, but the problems started when I noticed that they were not representing when I went on the show.
“There were lots of stuff I did in the that weren’t aired.
“I became very close to Warren Phillips and Ryan Cleary [two other contestants] as had that natural spark and none of this was shown.
“I really do believe I was used for entertainment purposes.
“They literally picked me up and dropped me like hot rocks.
“I was used for entertainment purposes as I wasn’t able to get my message across to people and show what I was about.”
After we initially spoke to the transgender TV personality in February 2020, ITV stated that they had ‘maintained contact with Tia since her appearance on Survival of the Fittest’ and ‘they will continue to offer support.’
READ MORE: High Wycombe's Tia Latham reveals the struggles of being a transgender woman
Survival Of The Fittest: Tia Latham is axed from The Lodge https://t.co/VZiOvP0HrL pic.twitter.com/zFiRhGkKUt
— Distinct Today (@DistinctToday) February 13, 2018
Additionally, the corporation has updated its recent ‘Duty of Care’ guidelines, with the most recent editions being updated this month.
A segment, which is available to read by clicking here, says: “ITV’s focus on the mental health of our programme participants is not new; many long-running ITV series have had processes in place for many years to assess and support participants’ mental health throughout production.
“But society is now more concerned and better informed about mental health issues, and about the increasing challenges to mental health that cultural developments such as social media have created, especially for younger people.
READ MORE: Wycombe's Tia Latham to protest outside the Qatar embassy in London
“The television industry is therefore now more focused on the mental as well as the physical health and safety of people who take part in our programmes.”
We have approached ITV for a comment regarding their alleged treatment of Ms Latham.
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