Simon Hoggart Quotes

I was called such names as a kid. Being the smallest boy in the class with a name like Caroll. I remember going home and saying to my mom, 'What were you thinking?'

I was big and fat and had weird parents.

To my embarrassment I was born in bed with a lady.

No one can pronounce my name. My name is 'The Black Guy From 40-Year-Old Virgin'.

My upbringing as a child was very atypical.

When I was three or four, only football was in my head. I went 10 years, and nothing changed - only football, football, football. The strange thing is, nobody played football in my family before.

I wasn't really big enough when I was filming at school for it to affect anyone too much, but I think my friends that were consistently in my videos during that time definitely got attention that they weren't anticipating. I'm not quite sure how they felt about it to be honest.

No one forgets the presence of the camera, no matter how long it's there.

I had a bit of a strange childhood, to be honest.

I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, as the youngest of four children and the only girl. My father died when I was only a year and a half. He was killed in a car accident when he was 26.

Growing up, my aunts would always put in hair ties and bows and all kinds of stuff, and I always hated it.

Thrumpton Hall can be thought of as a venerable old lady, ageing gracefully. But I didn't always feel this way. Children want more than anything to be very conventional and very normal, so it was excruciating and, at times, very upsetting to grow up in a house like this.

I have huge sympathy for Prince William. He was born into a deeply unenviable life that most of us would abhor, and what's more, he lost his mother at an early age.

I've had an incredible upbringing, but it was quite chaotic.

Everything that happened to me as a child was the perfect breeding ground for a rock n' roll singer. It toughened me up. I was on edge; I was needy. I needed people to like me 'cause it made me feel safe... and that gave me confidence.

The worst nickname I ever had was Tim Pig-ears-Smith. I had big ears. When I was younger, it was more pronounced. So I felt huge sympathy towards Prince Charles over that.

Sometimes I introduce myself to people, and their reaction reminds me that it's insane that my name is Beanie.

There were boys in my class who would stick pencils in my curls, and say 'oh it's like a cushion' and laugh at me. Even my body type was very different from the other girls in my school. So I grew up thinking that I don't look good enough.

As a child, I was a victim of bullying because of my cultural background. I didn't look like all the other kids. I had a funny name.

'Awkward' is a ubiquitous teen word to denote socially unsanctioned behavior. It usually implies first- or secondhand embarrassment when you or a friend step outside the rules. Awkward doesn't sound overtly judgmental or negative; it's deliberately vague.

Naming me 'Twinkle' was a foolproof way of making sure that I would get teased throughout my life, have immigration officers at various airports stare at my passport and shake with hysterical laughter, and strangers stalk me with WhatsApp messages like, 'Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, I hope you get hit by a car!'

I was small growing up, and to make matters worse, I wore glasses, and my mother dressed me in attention-getting outfits. I was a target of bullies.

What I loved about 'Strictly' as a viewer and contestant was that it was warm, family entertainment. So it is a shame for the show when controversy surrounds it. That is not what we like about 'Strictly.'

I remember very vividly going to school, being very happy, and then just having guys there who were just out to make my life miserable.

I do have a somewhat unique upbringing.