Paris Smith has had quite the romantic journey on this series of Made in Chelsea - that did not end well when it was revealed that he'd also been texting Inga Valentiner{
But, in an important conversation with best friends Robbie Mullett and Liv Bentley last episode, Paris also took the opportunity to speak about her experiences of racism while dating. After Robbie and Liv asked if she'd met Cillian's family yet, when saying that she hadn't, Paris explained that she was hesitant - as, in the past - she's had problems with racism when meeting the family.
'For me meeting the family is the worst, worst part because I’ve had really bad experiences in the past with racism,' she said. 'There’s been situations where I can see that I’m being judged in a very different way…'
Paris later recalled one horrid experience, saying: 'I was dating this guy and he even came up to me and was like, "Do you know it’s so funny, my friend," he showed a photo of her with a black guy, "My friend’s got a Black one and I’ve got a Black one haha." I didn’t understand why it made me feel like shit. I remember I just stared at him and I took in what he said and thought, 'I don’t know what to say,' and walked out. I just left.'
Here, Paris speaks to Grazia about filming the latest series, the importance of these conversations, and what it's been like introducing Cillian to the King's Road.
How was filming this series of Made In Chelsea?
This season has been really, really good for talking about important topics and they've been able to give us this platform where a lot of us have now used that to speak about things that are really important to us.
You know, like my conversation about race that I had with Robbie and Liv. For me, being able to speak about that is therapeutic, in a sense. [On Chelsea], we're able to show people that we do live a great life - of course, no one can deny that - but we still have things that we go through as human beings.
What was your highest and lowest points of filming Made In Chelsea?
My highest point in this season is actually shown in the teaser episode for next week where I become a girlfriend, and my lowest point of the season was finding out that Angus had been texting Inga behind my back.
What was it like introducing Cillian to Made In Chelsea?
I think introducing Cillian to Chelsea was quite a special moment for me, at least because I feel like I've been quite unlucky with love recently. And you know, even on the show, we've seen that and so to finally bring somebody that has given me so much confidence and also someone that I was able to then put myself out there. It's shown me that I can put myself out there and good things can happen. Love is real!
How did it feel to discuss your experience of racism while dating on Made In Chelsea?
I felt confident in telling my story. I think, for me, I've come so far in terms of knowing my experiences are valid, and at this stage of my life, being able to have these conversations has made me a lot less tolerant to a lot of the BS that I've had to deal with - and a lot of women of colour - unfortunately have dealt with.
I'm lucky to have an amazing support system family around me, and friends, that have really helped me through those times. But I know that addressing an issue and talking about a problem is the way to start fixing a problem. It made me happy to be able to speak up for those that have experienced this. But although, things vary for all of us, people of colour, I think a Black woman, for example, my mum has a different experience dating - the same way I have in my life. And so there are those things to consider as well. I hope people do take a second to realise that this stuff does still happen, and it's not an isolated incident, but you can speak up about it and never feel like we're the problem.
What has the response been like to that conversation?
I think the response that I've had as a whole has been almost completely positive and that's from all kinds of races, not just people of colour, which I think is exciting to see. I don't know what it would be like talking on the subject 20/30 years ago, but clearly the conversations of Black Lives Matter have pushed everybody forward to be able to be accepting and validate the experiences of people of colour, and also to be able to sit there and have confidence to speak about it. So I'm very happy with the response thus far from the public.
Made In Chelsea continues next Monday at 9 on E4.
READ MORE: Made In Chelsea's Inga Valentiner: 'It Felt Necessary To Call Sam Out'