TOWIE’s Vas J Morgan becomes the first British reality star to be in Forbes magazine

Vas J Morgan has become the first British reality star to feature in Forbes magazine. 

The former TOWIE star, 31, spoke to the publication about how he overcame addiction, depression and a suicide attempt after struggling to deal with racist abuse and being the only gay black man on the reality TV show. 

In light of the Black Lives Matters movement and the senseless death of George Floyd, Vas set up the I Am Enough campaign to help mental health in black communities. 

Vas told Forbes: ‘I have been subject to rejection and abuse my entire life, whether it was coming out and dealing with my family’s acceptance of my sexuality, from systemic racism in school, on television, or blatant racism on social media. 

‘At the time, my way of dealing with this was self-harm, through substance abuse, bad decision making and really internalizing all of this stuff.’

As Vas rose to fame on TOWIE, he was targeted by trolls on social media. 

‘My policy has always been to ignore, block and delete but when thousands of people are calling me a monkey, telling me to go back to my country and to kill myself, I couldn’t help but internalize that hate,’ Vas said.

The television personality said he would search for his name on Twitter and read all the vitriolic messages ‘as a way of self-harming’.

Vas said he dealt with the hate by drinking himself into oblivion and partying every night and didn’t realise he had a problem until he developed suicidal thoughts three years ago. 

After an attempt to take his own life, Vas sought treatment at rehab in Thailand. 

Following a four month stint, the reality star developed a new positive outlook on life and learned to finally accept himself and be proud of who he is. 

Now, Vas aims to help other members of the black community have better access to mental health facilities they might need with his I Am Enough campaign. 

The former TOWIE star launched the initiative I Am Enough on Go Fund Me earlier this month, with the likes of Paris Hilton, Joan Smalls, Nadia Essex and football player Ben Chilwell all donating.

He raised a staggering £20,000 in just 12 hours and has had more than £47,000 in donations at the time of publication. 

Vas said he hopes in the future to build a centre that will be a ‘space safe for people to meet without stigma or judgement’. 

To donate visit: www.gofundme.com/f/i-am-enough-fund .