10-05-2025
Angellica Bell's VERY barbed comment to Martin Lewis after ‘secret sacking' & sad reason hubby Michael Underwood quit TV
THERE'S no denying Angellica Bell is made of strong stuff – after all, you have to be pretty resilient to survive 25 years in the often-brutal TV business.
But she's not afraid to reveal her more vulnerable side either, as anyone who watched her on the recent series of Celebrity Big Brother can attest.
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The TV presenter and mum of two – who never names her children to protect their privacy – broke down in the Diary Room as she spoke about her 'secret sacking' from The Martin Lewis Money Show in 2023.
Producers claimed an appearance by Angellica on Channel 5's The Gadget Show, which was rebranded as Shop Smart, Save Money, represented a conflict of interest.
She was told just a few days before filming was due to begin on Martin Lewis' show that she was no longer required.
Opening up for the first time about that period, she says: 'I think I was hurt because it wasn't my fault. You work with people, you go through so much and build up bonds, and when that's gone, with no card, no thanks, it's really hard.
'I'm a nobody in this business – I'm at the bottom of the food chain, so when it changed, it changed a lot for me, not just emotionally, but financially, too. When you love something – you love the show, the audience and the people who work on it – and then it's gone. . . I was sad.'
Despite it clearly knocking her confidence, Angellica, 49, is pragmatic about the situation and holds no grudges.
'Things happen, things change. I respect the decision, but I think the way it was handled. . . People need to take care of people's feelings,' she says.
'I always try to treat people how I want to be treated. Sometimes, I put other people's feelings above mine.
'But not everyone works the same way. It is what it is.'
Doing CBB seemed the perfect way for Angellica to move on and show audiences what she's really like.
New CBB feud as housemate takes savage swipe at Chris Hughes and says he knows how to 'influence people'
'I've never been offered a reality show before,' she explains. 'When I was approached by Celebrity Big Brother, I was like: 'Why would anyone want me in there?' I would never class myself as a celebrity. I'm just Angellica. But I am a Big Brother fan and I've watched the shows over the years.
'There was a fear of the unknown, because I haven't been seen in that light before, and the last couple of years have been a bit tricky.
'I wanted to find and reconnect with myself, and I thought: 'Maybe this is the time that I need to just be me.' I've done a lot of growing up in this business and I thought this would be a chance to have fun and to relinquish control.
'I'm so chuffed I did it, I had the best time. I lasted longer than I thought I would, and I made some connections with people I never expected.'
One of the biggest talking points of the series – which also featured Patsy Palmer, Chesney Hawkes and eventual winner Jack P Shepherd – was Love Island's Chris Hughes' friendship with Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa.
Does Angellica think it could go beyond being platonic?
'They have the same sense of humour. They like to mess around and have fun. What she said on This Morning about them being soulmates is exactly what she said to me,' she explains.
'They were a source of support for each other. JoJo is open to everything, and she's young and the world is her oyster, so let's see what the future holds. It seemed genuine to me.
'I had a daily dance lesson with JoJo, she taught me to jive! She'd get up and go: 'Babe, you ready? Let's do this.' I had a great time with them both.'
Of course, the Big Brother house is never short on drama, and Angellica found herself at the centre of it when comedian Donna Preston nominated her for being too 'loud'. Angellica promptly retaliated by banging a pan in the bedroom to wake the housemates, much to Donna's annoyance.
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'I was just having a laugh,' she says. 'I thought because she's into comedy, she'd think it's funny. Maybe I read that wrong!
'JoJo got the pan for me, Chris was saying: 'You've got to do it'. Even Chesney was encouraging me, so we just thought it would be fun. But bless Donna, she made it clear she was not happy.'
The other big drama of the series was Mickey Rourke, who was removed for 'unacceptable behaviour' and 'inappropriate language', after run-ins with Chris, and making a 'sexual remark' to TOWIE's Ella Rae Wise. But Angellica says she got on well with the Hollywood star.
'Mickey was very nice to me, he even gave me one of his jumpers,' she says. 'He would talk to me and open up. [When he was un-PC or wouldn't get involved in the tasks], I would say: 'Dude, that's not cool. You can't do that.'
'I don't know whether that's because he didn't see me as a threat or he wasn't interested in me. You don't want him to feel excluded, but at the same time you have to be respectful of other people's feelings. But it did feel lighter when he left, people relaxed.'
'I once skinny-dipped in Rylan's pool with Alan Carr!'
She says: 'There were people who felt uncomfortable and I think that, at the end of the day, there are rules of behaviour and we have to adhere to them. When you're with other people from different backgrounds, who have different moral codes and are comfortable with different things, you have to adapt. It was interesting to see who could adapt and who couldn't.'
There was much discussion this year over game plans – did she have a strategy?
'Jack P Shepherd knew loads about it from Colson [Smith, his Corrie co-star, who was runner-up last year]. I didn't have a plan, I just surrendered. And that's what I loved about it. Being in the Diary Room was really iconic for me.
'I've been to Rylan's house. He's a good friend and a proper Big Brother fan – he's got some of the chairs – but he didn't give me any advice. I once skinny-dipped in his pool with Alan Carr!'
Naked swimming with two comedy legends sounds like quite the story. . .
'I have a wild side,' she says. 'A lot of people know me from my job on TV, but in my day-to-day life, people say: 'You are so different.' I think there's nothing wrong with having many facets to your character.'
During her spell in the CBB house, Angellica was being supported on social media by her husband of nearly 15 years, former TV presenter Michael Underwood, 49.
Once the host of ITV's Let Me Entertain You, he quit the industry in 2020 after struggling to find work, and instead became a teacher.
WORK DRIED UP
At the time, Michael spoke about feeling like a 'failure' for not being able to make his career work or 'provide for his family.'
'There is a shift – a lot of women now are taking on those roles with their earnings,' says Angellica.
'And I know a lot of amazing men who are staying at home and looking after the family and doing a fantastic job. Sometimes men who do that don't get enough credit.
'At that time, I used to think: 'Gosh, I'm the worst wife he could have'. Not because there wasn't love, but because Michael really wanted to be a TV presenter while I sort of fell into it. I'm easy-come, easy-go. If my career goes tomorrow, I'll go and find work somewhere else. I'm a grafter.'
People didn't even realise Michael and I were still together until CBB.
Angellica continues: 'But for him, it was a goal, and when you really want something and it doesn't work, it can feel like your world is crumbling.
'I remember, we were nearly selling our house. I'll be honest, we were broke. That's not being a defeatist, that's real life. He said: 'No, we're not going to give up.'
'I was up for a job, and I remember them ringing me and saying: 'You didn't get it.' I cried on the phone, but the person they gave the job to was brilliant. They had another show, so I said: 'No, I get it. You need to build them up. I don't want them to fail. If I was a producer I'd do the same.'
'The BBC boss got off the phone to me and went to the commissioner at the BBC and said: 'You need to give Angellica a job,' because of the way I was about it. And the list for 2017's Celebrity MasterChef was on that person's desk. He remembered I used to bake cakes when I was on The One Show, so I did MasterChef and I won! That changed everything.
'Michael had a teaching degree, so he went back to that. It's weird, because some people didn't even think we were still together until CBB. He took a back seat while he carved out his new career, because he did feel like he had failed and he was embarrassed. But we've had so many amazing people support us behind the scenes.
'Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes were always there for us, just supportive little texts telling us to keep going. Then Chris Evans came to our little house after work when Black Lives Matter happened, and we were so moved by that.'
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Could we see Michael make a return to TV, we wonder?
'His TikTok videos got a great reaction,' she says. 'It's been great for him to remember all the great stuff he's done, but he's like: 'Right I've done that, and now I'm back to teaching.'
'But I would love to see him do the jungle [I'm A Celebrity. . . Get Me Out Of Here!]. He'd be so good – he's got some fears, though, so I'd vote for him to be covered in spiders! Plus, he's interviewed all the big stars, so he's got such good stories.'
Starting off as a roving reporter on The Big Breakfast in the '90s, before moving into children's telly and CBBC, where she met her husband-to-be, Angellica has been a true trailblazer, forging a path for young black women in the entertainment industry. Did she ever struggle because of her race?
'When I was on CBBC, I didn't walk into the studio and think: 'I'm female, I'm black, I'm this, I'm that.' I just thought: 'I'm Angellica and I want you to love me for being me.'
'On CBBC, there were so many different people from different races and backgrounds. But then I was told to enjoy kids' TV – because they will never put a black person on prime time. I remember filming once and the producer said to me: 'Can you do that again, but be less urban?' she says.
'And I want to thank anyone who said anything negative or tried to push me down – because they gave me the drive to keep going.'
