Daily Star Sunday, December 2 2007

Millionaire Girl’s Hell

A single mum of three says reality show The Secret Millionaire turned her into a hate figure and ruined her life.

Kerry Blockley got £8000 from night club tycoon Terry George for her compassion in looking after the elderly at the care home where she worked. But she says:

* A family member nicked her bank card and raided her account
* Strangers rammed her with supermarket trolleys as she shopped
* Jealous workmates turned on her
* She was forced to quit the job she lovel.

Kerry, 23, said: “A lot of the staff had been working there for years and when Terry gave me the money they were jealous.

“People I had got on well with started being really off, looking at me as though I was dirt, even though Terry made a donation to the car home of £12,000.”

“The tension was awful, people stopped speaking to me, I absolutely loved my job and was really cut up about losing it but I just felt I had no choice. Now I really miss the patients.”

Kerry had struggled with long shifts on the minimum wage, bringing up three young children with high debts and a broken cooker. Then the C4 series came along.

It follows an undercover millionaire for a week in a deprived area before dishing cash out to deserving people. A condition was that Kerry, of Hayle, Cornwall, used the money to improve her life.

Before the show she had been part of a community group that was raising money for a new park on her estate.

But they too started to shun her. Kerry said: “I think they were expecting me to make a donation. It’s got so bad now that I am thinking of moving home because I just don’t feel as though I can live a normal life.”

She also claims a relative withdrew £350 with her bank card. And she split with boyfriend Lee after a series of rows and they only got back together a few weeks ago.

“I do regret the show in many ways,” she said. “I am glad I met Terry and I hope we keep in touch but I hate all the trouble it caused me.”