Benefits Street star White Dee has been branded a “sell-out” by her neighbours for picking up a rumoured £100,000 fee for appearing in Celebrity Big Brother.
The single mum-of-two – real name Deirdre Kelly – took her place on the reality TV show on Monday and immediately became one of the favourites to win.
But the 42-year-old sparked fury from residents on James Turner Street in Winson, Green, Birmingham, when she donned robes on the show and paraded as the self-styled ‘Duchess of Solihull.’
Her former friend Black Dee yesterday blasted her neighbour, accusing her of being a “sell-out” and dragging the residents into the spotlight again.
The 32-year-old, whose real name is Samora Roberts, said: “She’ll be herself but won’t be herself because I don’t know her no more.
“She’s a sell-out. No hating on her, she can get as far as she pleases.
“Because she’s made her choice, we’re in the spotlight again.
“I wouldn’t want nothing from some people who stabbed us in our heart.
“I wouldn’t go on Big Brother.
“I hope she does the best for herself and her children. I’m still living the same normal life, with the same normal people, on the normal road.”
She went on to accuse the brainchild behind Benefits Street, Love Productions, of misleading the residents into appearing on the controversial Channel 4 show.
She stormed: “Love Productions is a lie. It was never about benefits, end of. It was about community, that’s why we participated (in the show).
“They (Love Productions) didn’t show you no community, they didn’t show you nothing constructive.
“This is James Turner Street, many people work. Benefits Street was a lie, it was manipulated, it was tarnished.
“Who’s going to go on the telly gloating about benefits?”
Miss Roberts will appear at Birmingham Crown next month to answer drugs and
ammunition charges.
Meanwhile fellow Benefits Street favourite, Fungi, real name James Clarke, yesterday revealed he was homeless and had not received any offers of celebrity work.
Despite having the same agent as White Dee, Barry Tomes, Fungi said: “I’m left out, I’m gutted.
“I’m moving house-to-house at the moment. I’m not jealous of her earning money, I’m jealous because I should be doing something.
“Good luck to her, she’ll get close to winning, I believe she will.”
White Dee’s neighbour Georgia-Mae Pearson, 20, said she confided to her that she was worried about leaving her two children seven-year-old Gerard and daughter Caitlin, 16, while she appeared in the show.
Georgia-Mae, who works as a pastry chef, said: “She (White Dee) was nervous because she’s never left her children before.
“She’s not some big-busted model trying to get five minutes of fame. She’s just going on there to prove normal people are still normal people.
“No matter where they’re going, they know where they came from.
“We’ve had a long discussion about it and I said, ‘If you we so famous wouldn’t you move one day?’ and she said ‘No’ because she is normal and people like normal people.”
Despite being inundated with celebrity work, including attending wild pub crawls in Magaluf, White Dee has no plans to quit James Turner Street.
Her manager Barry Tomes said: “She is definitely going to stay where she is. Her children love it there and she has lots of friends. She has no plans to move.
“Dee sees it (Celebrity Big Brother) as a chance to say her piece. She has been getting a lot of hatred – especially through Twitter – and this will be the chance to get her own back.
“She is very nervous about spending time locked away with people she doesn’t know but we are hopeful a lot of positives will come from this.”
White Dee has already been installed as second favourite to win the reality TV show by bookies, priced at 9/2.
Celebrity Big Brother is set to last around 22 days.
