A reality show based on the lives of rich people isn't always the most relatable, but last night’s episode of Made In Chelsea proved otherwise in an emotional conversation between Robbie Mullett, Joel Mignott and Liv Bentley.
Catching up about a recent holiday lovebirds Joel and Robbie had been on, the pair shared that they had experienced homophobic abuse at a bar that was deemed safe for LGBTQ+ people according to their research online. Opening up about the incident Joel shared that a group of ten straight men began taunting him and 'punching his bum from behind'.
‘In that moment, obviously I felt deeply uncomfortable, and I took my friend to the bathroom, and whilst we were in the bathroom… they literally got the big metal beer casks and stacked them in front of the toilet door,' Joel explained.
Eventually Robbie managed to get Joel out of the bathroom and his harassers were kicked out of the bar, but that didn’t put the couple at ease because they were afraid that as soon as they left the bar, the men would be out there and could freely attack them in the open.
Thankfully, Robbie and Joe made it home physically unscathed, but the revelation highlighted an important conversation about homophobic abuse. In October, Home Office figures revealed that sexuality-based hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales rose by 41% from March 2021 to 2022.
The mere fact that Robbie and Joel had to look up LGBTQ+ friendly bars on their holiday and still didn’t feel safe speaks to how prevalent homophobia continues to be around the world, a prevalent reminder as Qatar – which still deems homosexuality illegal – gears up to host the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup.
Fans took to social media to applaud the fact that Made in Chelsea aired this important conversation with one viewer commenting: ‘MIC have done really well with this. For a minute it stopped being just another reality show and it became a really important bit of television.’
Another viewer replied: ‘Totally and I’m glad they did this. Those poor guys, that’s absolutely shocking and MIC should do more like this as it’s actually real and does happen unfortunately.’
If you've experienced homophobic abuse and want to talk to someone, theLGBT Foundation offers advice and support on 0345 3 30 30 30