Holly Willoughby/InstagramHolly Willoughby admitted she was terrified about an ‘upskirt’ post she published on Instagram.
The television presenter spoke about the post she put on the social media site following the Brit Awards, back in February.
In it, she posted a collection of paparazzi attempts to ‘upskirt’ female celebrities getting out of cars.
The shameful and abhorrent practice is still going on for some reason, and shouldn’t be allowed – you know the ones, taken at low angles and you see them all over tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines.
Posting a photo of herself, Abbey Clancy, Louise Redknapp and Rita Ora, getting papped as they got out of cars, Holly made mention of the Times Up movement.
She wrote:
At the beginning of the night we held white roses and walked down a red carpet full of the hope and pride that comes with the #timesupcampaign… at the end of the night, cameras were held low to get a photo up our skirts… times apparently up on #timesup.
Despite her worries, it has gained more than 260,000 likes.
GettySpeaking to The Guardian, Holly said:
It happens every time you go out for a night, and has done since day dot.
She said she tells her friends:
‘Right, ready to run the gauntlet?’ And out you go. Actually, what a stupid phrase! The scariest thing about it is that you’re saying phrases like, ‘Ready to run the gauntlet?’ as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. That’s the worst bit.
It just suddenly wasn’t OK. And it never was OK. And it shouldn’t be OK.
GettyHolly says because she usually posts happy, bright photos of her outfits she wears on This Morning, she was worried about the reaction, saying:
That was a scary one for me. It took a lot, because I knew what the response was going to be. But that’s great. That was the whole reason for doing it.
The thing that terrified me was the comments. ‘Well you shouldn’t be wearing such a short skirt, then.’ My Instagram was full of it. Men and women. That’s when you go, we really do have a long way to go.
Comments were mixed, with some people actually shaming the celebrities for wearing ‘short skirts’.
I just want to step in here and say it’s not ok to lay blame on somebody for wearing a ‘short skirt’, people should be able to wear what they want without being judged, without being harassed and without having somebody stick a camera up their skirt.
Some people did understand this, thankfully.
One wrote: ‘Disgusting. How degrading! How dare people try and say our society is equal. You don’t see us holding a camera up a football players saggy footy shorts whilst they’re sat on bench. Appalled.’ [sic]
Another added:
Just read the Pool article and it led me here. This makes me so angry. This is deplorable behaviour from the paparazzi!
The rest of the UK need to follow Scotland and change the law! More talking and more debate needed around this to give it momentum so that things WILL change.
This is NOT ok. Completely unacceptable! Needs to stop. [sic]
One woman trying to get the laws on upskirting changed, is Gina Martin.
She spoke to UNILAD about her experience with being unskirted.
Gina was waiting for The Killers to come on stage at British Summer Time, in 30 degree heat, with her sister, when a man took a photograph up her skirt.
beaniegigi/InstagramSince the gross and ‘scary’ invasion of privacy, Gina tells UNILAD, her life has changed.
After feeling ‘angry’ and ‘humiliated’, the 26-year-old Londoner is now determined no more women will suffer the same injustice.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected].
