Latest news with #Kirsty
Glasgow Times
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Viral Glasgow Oompa Loompa calls for change after abuse
Kirsty Paterson from Bishopbriggs was thrust into the global spotlight last year when a photo of her dressed as the iconic character at the failed Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow went viral. She said the experience led to abuse, ridicule, and a mental health crisis that nearly cost her her life. (Image: Newsquest) READ MORE: Call for unseen footage from Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience In an interview on the Go Doxx Yourself podcast, she said: "I think there needs to be definitely, 110 per cent more legislation on this because the result of this could be death and suicide." She was working as an entertainer at the children's event in February 2024 and had hoped it would be a stepping stone in her acting career. Instead, she found herself the target of relentless online abuse after the event—marketed as an immersive Willy Wonka experience—was exposed as a poorly executed tour of a mostly empty warehouse. Following the fallout, Kirsty was forced to turn off her phone and stay with a friend in Edinburgh to escape the torrent of negativity. She shared: "I just couldn't mentally deal with it. I had to switch off, and even when my phone was switched off, I couldn't switch off. "For me, it was the horrible comments; it was putting me down a really dark hole at the time." READ MORE: Man behind viral Glasgow Willy Wonka experience accused of rape She described feeling "completely dehumanised" as her image was used in advertisements and merchandise without her consent. Kirsty said: "This was all within four days. "I turned my phone off because I actually mentally couldn't cope with it." She believes copyright laws need to change to give people more control over how their images are used, especially in commercial contexts. She said individuals should be able to give consent or receive compensation if their image is used for profit. The public narrative only began to shift after parents of children at the event shared positive stories about the entertainers' efforts under challenging circumstances. She said: 'I'm forever grateful to the parents for doing that. And they kind of saved my life. I'm not being dramatic when I say that." (Image: Newsquest) READ MORE: Actress has looked back on botched Glasgow Willy Wonka event Since then, she has appeared on television chat shows, been interviewed by the New York Times, and even featured in an Edinburgh Fringe show based on her experience. Kirsty added: "Going viral isn't all positive, but it's also been an amazing experience as well." Her full story was shared on the podcast Go Doxx Yourself, which explores the human stories behind online controversies. For anyone struggling with their mental health, support is available through the Samaritans at or by calling 116 123.
Daily Record
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Viral Glasgow Oompa Loompa calls for better protection from memes after trolls drove her to brink of death
Kirsty Paterson was targeted by trolls who mocked her appreance after she was pictured at the Willy Wonka Experience. A woman who went viral after a picture of her dressed as an Oompa Loompa was shared millions of times on the internet has called for better laws to protect people from having images of them posted without their consent. Kirsty Paterson, 31, was mocked and trolled online after a picture of her at the infamous event Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow was shared across the world. She says the trauma of the experience almost led to her death. The picture of her, dressed as a sad Oompa Loompa, went viral after event bosses pulled the plug on the show when punters queued up to demand refunds after paying £35 for a tour of an almost empty warehouse. Kirsty was looking for her big break in acting when she took a job as an entertainer at the children's event in February 2024. However, days afterwards Kirsty had been forced to switch off her phone and go to stay with a friend in Edinburgh due to the online abuse. Even when seeking escapism by turning on the TV, she found her image was the butt of jokes from chat shows discussing the image. In an an interview with the Go Doxx Yourself podcast, she said: "I think there needs to be definitely 110% more legislation on this because the result of this could be death and suicide. "I just couldn't mentally deal with it, I had to switch off and even when my phone was switched off I couldn't switch off and for me it was the horrible comments it was putting me down a really dark hole at the time. "I just got completely dehumanised. I was just getting used for advertisements everywhere. Merchandise was getting made about me. This was all within four days. "And I turned my phone off because I actually mentally couldn't cope with it." Kirsty said that the picture continued to be shared widely afterwards and her mental health plummeted. She believes that copyright should change to mean that if an image of a person is being used commercially, that person should be able to give consent or see some benefit. It was only when parents shared a series of images to show how the entertainers had pulled out all the stops in difficult circumstances that the narrative started to change. Kirsty was later invited as a guest on TV chat shows, was featured by the New York Times and even starred in an Edinburgh Fringe Show based on the disastrous experience and its aftermath. She said: 'I'm forever grateful to the parents for doing that. And they kind of saved my life. I'm not being dramatic when I say that. "Going viral isn't all positive, but it's also been an amazing experience as well." To hear the full interview with Kirsty and for tips on what to do if your image goes viral, listen to Go Doxx Yourself, a podcast that unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares. For support if you are feeling overwhelmed or struggling to cope, contact the Samaritans at or by calling 116 123.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- General
- The Herald Scotland
Kirsty Wark asked me to fetch her a cup of tea and a Penguin biscuit
Certainly, she can appear regal to the journalistic peasantry. I remember a packed press conference where she breenged in with her crew. Suddenly we – self-important, like everyone in our trade – all felt like minions. She asked me to fetch her a cup of tea and a Penguin biscuit ('one with a green wrapper'). Wow. What ingredients went into creating such an imperious personage? Well, being born was a useful start. This auspicious event occurred on 3 February 1955 in Dumfries. Kirsty's father, who earned a Military Cross for heroism at Normandy, was a solicitor. A convivial raconteur, he also liked spending time on his own fly-fishing. 'I'm sure he was reflecting on the horrors of war, ' Kirsty told the I newspaper recently. Her mother was a teacher who, after one early Newsnight interview, phoned to complain that she'd split an infinitive. Poor Kirsty must have been tempted to tell her mother where to boldly go. She spent her early years in Castle Douglas before moving to Kilmarnock. After attending all-girl, 'independent' Wellington School in Ayr, she studied history, specifically Scottish Studies, at Embra Yoonie. In 1976, aged 21, Wark joined the BBC as a graduate researcher and soon became a producer for Radio Scotland, displaying enthusiasm and a willingness to make things happen. Wish I'd tried that. (Image: Jamie Simpson) BOXING CLEVER WARK switched to television in 1982, producing Reporting Scotland, Agenda and Current Account. She then moved into presenting various Scottish political programmes before moving to UK network television as part of the Breakfast Time brigade. In 1988, she reported on the Lockerbie bombing and, in 1990, made her mark as an interviewer when she confronted, so to say, Margaret Thatcher. The Iron Lady was incensed with her abrasive questions about the poll tax, and complained afterwards that she'd 'interrupted me more than I've ever been interrupted'. Later, it emerged that Wark had just learned she was pregnant with her first baby, and so was determined to remain 'preternaturally calm' for both their sakes. In 1993, she joined Newsnight, BBC 2's mumphing aboot politics show, in a role that was to last three decades. She stood down last summer, a week after the General Election. In her time, she has faced accusations of being too close to Labour. Donald Dewar, former Labour First Minister and a close friend, appointed her to a panel choosing the design for the new Scottish Parliament – with hilarious consequences! Later, the independent production company she co-owned was an awarded a BBC contract to make programmes about … construction of the Scottish Parliament building. Whoopsie. In 2005, she invited another Labour First Minister and long-time friend, Jack McConnell, now Lord McConnell of Proletariat, and his family to stay at her Majorcan holiday home over New Year. Doubt was cast on Wark's neutrality and suitability to anchor political programmes, with respected quality newspaper the Daily Mail dubbing the episode 'Villagate'. Importantly, it added that she had a 'big, almost masculine voice that belies a worked-on slim figure and good legs often hidden by trousers'. Trousers, ye say? However, several observers considered the 'scandal' overblown, with Newsnight's editor pointing out that many media peeps had old pals who went on to hold office. 'The important issue is your ability to ask tough questions and that is not a problem with Kirsty Wark …' READ MORE Rab McNeil: Get your Boots on, we're going shopping for unicorn hair gel Rab McNeil: No wonder the whole Scottish nation loves Nicola (no, not that one) Scottish Icons: William McGonagall - The poet who right bad verses wrote still floats some folk's vessel or boat Scottish Icons: There is a lot of tripe talked about haggis – so here's the truth ECK OF AN ATTITUDE ALEX Salmond was a problem for Kirsty Wark. In 2007, after an interview with then First Mniister, the BBC received 120 complaints from entirely disinterested individuals, and issued a public apology regretting Wark's 'rude and dismissive' tone. In 2020, after she presented a programme about Salmond's sexual assault trial – in which he was acquitted – more than 900 complaints of bias were made. Wark responded: 'Alex Salmond was found innocent, not guilty, there is no disputing that in any way. What we were doing was giving background to the whole thing, and we did that fairly.' Politically, she has described herself as 'soft left', with pals in all parties. Late Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy called her a 'fierce foe when the studio lights go on, great fun in the bar'. Late Labour MP Robin Cook MP said at least she let folk answer the question, 'unlike those from the Paxman and Humphrys school'. She herself describes her approach as 'forensic' – certainly leaves blood on the floor sometimes – and contends that she's professional enough to 'leave my own views at the door when I come to work'. Forby politics, she's right arty and, indeed, has written two novels. She presented BBC Two's Late Show from 1990 to 1993 and, in 2006, interviewed playwright Harold Pinter, resisting the temptation to get back at the old scrote by leaving long silences. She made cameo appearances in Doctor Who and Absolutely Fabulous. In 2013, she appeared on the inexplicably popular Great British Bake Off, but has resisted 'many times' invitations to do Strictly Come Dancing, another programme that has sapped the nation's morale. More consequentially, she has highlighted problems of the menopause, believing people are reluctant to discuss it. Moving swiftly on, two months ago she bagged a BAFTA Fellowship, with BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip praising her 'enormous charm and wit'. GA-GA FOR RADIO ALWAYS based in Glasgow, Wark has lately been appearing in BBC Scotland's Good For Her, in a running sketch that follows a woman who can't stop speaking as if she's delivering the news. Kirsty Wark misses the buzz of Newsnight, but is content for the moment presenting arts magazine show Front Row and history series The Reunion on BBC Radio 4. She likes claes and, in 2013, was deemed one of the 50 best-dressed over-50s by fashion magazine, the Guardian. In other news, we can reveal she loves gardening and homemade jam, having spent several years in recovery from an addiction to banana cake. Meanwhile, in the interests of truth, that currently under-rated concept in which she takes such a great interest, I should clarify that, at the start of this authoritative exposé, I was only joking about the cup of tea and a Penguin. It was a Twix.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘The place is empty, a lot have left': Ballymena weighs up impact of anti-migrant riots
Since Ballymena erupted in three nights of anti-migrant riots last month, tranquility has returned to the County Antrim town. The rioters, after all, got what they wanted. They won. Dozens of Roma families that fled have not returned and those that remain keep a low profile – they do not linger on the streets and are scarcely visible. The mobs who smashed windows, burned houses and battled police in order to expel Roma – and some other foreigners – from this corner of Northern Ireland see it as a victory. 'That's them away back home. Everybody is relieved,' said Leanne Williamson, 42, who witnessed, and endorsed, the unrest. 'It was madness but it was long overdue. The Romanians were ignorant and cheeky. Everyone now is at peace.' In the main flashpoint – Clonavon Terrace and adjoining streets – houses that were torched remain gutted and boarded up. Of the Roma families who inhabited them there is no sign. There are no official figures but one informed source with ties to the community estimated that of the approximate pre-riot population of 1,200, two-thirds are gone – or, to use a loaded term, ethnically cleansed. 'The place is empty, a lot have left,' said Kirsty, 35, a Clonavon Road resident who withheld her surname. She did not miss her former neighbours, or what she said had been a transient flux. 'You didn't know who was coming and going. Now it's a lot calmer. You can let your weans [children] out on the street a bit further.' Did the riots achieve their goal? 'Yes.' Another local person, who did not want his name published and did not endorse the riots, said the aftermath was striking. 'Ballymena was like a whole new town, there was an amazing atmosphere. It was like something out of a movie where the bad gang has been kicked out and people come out to celebrate.' The sentiment this week felt closer to quiet satisfaction, not jubilation, but it was still a counterpoint to the condemnation last month – from Keir Starmer and politicians across Northern Ireland – of mayhem that left dozens of police officers injured. The Police Federation likened the outbreak to an attempted pogrom. Violence abated as quickly as it started and apart from reports of prosecutions the story disappeared from headlines. Plenty in Ballymena, a largely working-class Protestant town 25 miles north of Belfast, feel shame at what happened. 'They were wrecking places and causing harm to people,' said Padraig, a teenager. 'It was racist,' said his friend Robert. 'I don't think it was the right thing to do.' Their reluctance to be fully identified reflected the fact that for others in Ballymena, it was mission accomplished. Filipinos and people from central and eastern Europe, drawn by factory work, have increased in number in the past decade, mostly without incident, but the Roma people were singled out for allegations of antisocial behaviour and criminality. An alleged sexual assault on a teenage girl by two 14-year-old boys, who appeared in court with a Romanian interpreter, triggered the riots. A third suspect fled to Romania. 'Where are the foreigners?' the mob shouted during a free-for-all against anyone deemed non-local – a scene that echoed anti-immigrant riots in Belfast and England last summer, and fuelled warnings that the UK is a 'powder keg' of social tension. However, rioters and sympathisers later apologised to non-Roma families who were 'accidentally' targeted. Posters that declared 'Filipino lives here', and loyalist bunting, sprouted on doors and windows to deflect attack. In a sign of reduced tension the stickers have gone and Filipinos said they felt safe. 'We are staying, we are OK. Our dreams will not stop with the trauma,' said Karen Estrella, 35, a care home worker. Posters that declare 'Locals live here' have also dwindled. Fero, a 45-year-old from Slovakia, said he liked Ballymena and blamed the riots on misbehaviour by Roma and Bulgarians. 'I'm happy with what happened. Now they're gone.' Authorities are unable to say how many people fled or have since returned, and appear reluctant to comment on the riots' aftermath. Ballymena's mayor, deputy mayor, constituency MP and several other public representatives declined or did not respond to interview requests. The Department for Communities referred questions about the vanished Roma to the Housing Executive, which said it did not hold such information but that 74 households – not necessarily Roma – sought assistance during the disorder. Of these households, 21 were placed in temporary accommodation and others made their own arrangements, said a spokesperson. Critics have accused unionist parties of turning a blind eye to racism – such as a loyalist bonfire in County Tyrone that burned an effigy of migrants – to avoid losing votes. In Ballymena reticence extends to some civic society organisations that declined to be interviewed or quoted. A paradox underpins the vigilantism. Some local people accuse the Roma of peddling cannabis and vapes, and credit paramilitaries with leading the expulsions, yet they acknowledge that paramilitaries sell drugs. 'Aye,' said one, with a shrug. 'That's it.' During the Guardian's visit this week, the only visible Roma presence was a family at a fast-food restaurant. It was raining yet they sat at an outside bench, getting wet, rather than inside.
STV News
6 days ago
- STV News
Teacher handed two-year ban after parents discover explicit OnlyFans account
A Glasgow teacher has been banned from the profession for two years after creating an OnlyFans account and posting explicit pictures. Kirsty Buchan received numerous complaints from parents and resigned from her position as a physics teacher at Bannerman High School in Baillieston in December 2022. A General Teaching Council hearing took place between June 9 and June 12, which the former teacher did not attend. It is alleged that between 2022 and 2023, she set up an OnlyFans page. She is also accused of failing to ensure that her profile could not be accessed by any member of the public, including those under 18, without them needing to log in or subscribe to OnlyFans. The regulatory body stated that Ms Buchan failed to take 'steps to prevent herself being identifiable' and she made references to her career as a teacher in her account bio. The GTC determined her actions brought 'the teaching profession into disrepute.' The physics teacher, who claimed to have made £60,000 in one month on the site, admitted she 'knew the risks' but joined the site as her 'son and bills come first'. 'We all need to take responsibility,' Kirsty previously told GMB. 'Of course I knew the risks, I'm a mum at the end of the day – my son comes first, my bills come first. 'I spoke to my son before doing it. He's 14 now, going on 30, so I knew there was a risk involved. 'I used a different name, I've got my moniker Jessica Jackrabbit, I put a wig on and loads of make-up that didn't look like me. 'I didn't think I would be caught, I didn't think I would be famous.' The head teacher of Bannerman High stated she was approached at the school gates by S5 and S6 pupils who told her to 'look out for Jessica Jackrabbit'. Staff also approached the head teacher. The next day, a pupil's parent sent an email with photos from the OnlyFans site of Ms Buchan in lingerie and topless. Kirsty, who had taught at Bannerman High for six years, said the pupils never made rude comments or jokes to her face when her pictures were exposed. She added: 'I worked hard to get respect from them and build a positive relationship. 'It would be harder to build a good relationship with new pupils but the ones I already worked hard to build a relationship with, I've still got that bond with them to this day.' When she was asked by GMB presenter Richard Madley what the reaction was throughout the school, she added: 'All support. I've had messages even this morning from all my old colleagues, and all the school kids still support me to this day.' A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: 'This teacher is no longer an employee of Glasgow City Council. 'The teacher was under investigation prior to resigning following the widespread distribution of wholly inappropriate and pornographic images. 'The council has a code of conduct that all employees should adhere to and a teacher who has actively pursued a second income on this type of website brings their school, the council and their profession into disrepute. 'We referred the details of our investigation to the General Teaching Council (GTC).' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
