Survival of the Fittest’s Tia Latham opens up about bullying over her gender

Survival of the Fittest’s Tia Latham reveals how she was bullied over her gender in tonight’s show.

Tia is a 28-year-old model from Buckinghamshie.

In tonight’s opening episode, as the Survival Of The Fittest cast enter The Lodge, Tia opens up about her her childhood.

As night falls, Jenny West and Tia cross the bridge and head to The Lookout to have a chat.

They talk about settling into The Lodge and being themselves. Tia opens up to Jenny: “I’m trying to settle in, relax and be myself. I need to be 100 per cent me and be open because my story is completely different to everyone else’s.

“Between you and me, just for now, basically me growing up, my parents assumed that I was one way and then basically my body decided to go in a different direction naturally on its own.

“I didn’t develop like everybody else so I had to take matters into own hands and seek medical advice and then there was this whole mix up…”

She continued: “Going through school and going through puberty, kids would bully me… So through me seeking medical advice, they said, ‘Your chromosomes are xx’ so you would be xx and one of the boys would be xy… I hid it for so long until now, and I am like ‘no more.’ I’m tired of speculation. It is in my genetics.”

Later in The Treehouse, Jenny says: “It’s really nice that she chose to talk to me. It’s so sweet. Be who you need to be, be who you want to be. It’s amazing that she’s gone through all this and she is the person that she is today.

“Nice people will have no problem with it and there’s nothing to have a problem with anyway.”

Following her heart to heart with Jenny, Tia opens up in The Treehouse: “There is something about Jenny that I really like. I couldn’t have hoped for a better reaction. I was just amazed.

“This is a journey for me as well because I want to be at peace with myself. Everyone has their story and whatever else, so I’m going to tell mine.”

Survival of the Fittest starts tonight at 9pm on ITV2