Gemma Collins compares The GC to Lily Savage

Gemma Collins says her alter-ego The GC is like Lily Savage.

The reality TV star has opened up about The GC, and described the persona as a transformation in the same way as Paul O\'Grady\'s famous drag queen character.

She told The Guardian newspaper: "You get the wig on, you put the lipstick on, you get the big eyelashes on and that\'s the GC.

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"It\'s like Paul O\'Grady when he does Lily Savage. But when I\'m not working, I don\'t wear a scrap of makeup."

The 39-year-old star would rather take a step back from the public eye when she\'s not putting on a front, and her close friends are the ones who know the real her.

She explained: "I try not to bring any attention to myself. I like to cook, I like nature, I like to read. I do like to shop, don\'t get me wrong, every now and then.

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"I like a good day out in London, but, yeah, they are two very different people - massively. [My close friends] don\'t even ask about the GC. But when my best friend drops her kids at school, people in the playground ask her: \'What\'s she like?\'

"That\'s the million-dollar question that everyone wants to know. The truth is, in day-to-day life, I\'m just grinding like everyone else."

Gemma - who described her BBC podcast as her "one of [her] most proudest jobs" - recently claimed her phone is spying on her when she uses the toilet.

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She told her listeners: "I am not taking my phone into the toilet any more. You could be there relaxing on the toilet and the whole time someone is listening and watching. No. No. No.

"This is not a weather warning, this is a serious warning guys, do not take your phone into the toilet."