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CELEBRITY<br />
received a barrage of online abuse<br />
and considered giving up.<br />
“It was horrible,” she says. “I worked<br />
really hard on the book and it was all<br />
me – the characters, the story. I felt as<br />
if I was being attacked and I was like,<br />
‘I’m going to shut my laptop, I can’t<br />
be bothered with all this.’ It knocked<br />
my confidence massively. When it<br />
came round to the second book, I felt<br />
I couldn’t and that it had all been<br />
ruined. It took a lot for me to put<br />
that behind me and move forward.”<br />
Having a boyfriend who works in<br />
the same industry has definitely<br />
helped. Three years ago, she started<br />
dating vlogger Alfie Deyes of<br />
PointlessBlog (five million<br />
subscribers), and they recently<br />
bought a £1 million home together<br />
in Hove. On several occasions<br />
I suggested I interview her there so<br />
I could meet Deyes and see where<br />
she works, but she declined. (She<br />
recently admitted in a video, Periods<br />
& One Direction, that she no longer<br />
invites journalists into her home,<br />
after one asked to look through her<br />
wardrobe and demanded to know<br />
when she lost her virginity.)<br />
When she talks about Alfie, 22, she<br />
beams. “He’s the first person to say, ‘I’m<br />
so proud of you.’ If I’m ever like, ‘I can’t<br />
do this,’ he’s like, ‘I can help you.’”<br />
Like any self-respecting power<br />
couple, they are known to fans by<br />
a combined moniker, ‘Zalfie’, and<br />
regularly film videos together, as well<br />
as with close friends and fellow<br />
vloggers Tanya Burr, Jim Chapman<br />
and Louise Pentland.<br />
Zoe admits that she and Alfie<br />
have both experienced<br />
negativity along the way<br />
from rivals. “There are<br />
a lot of people that get<br />
quite catty,” she says.<br />
“There are always people<br />
that try and tear you<br />
down and don’t like that<br />
you’ve become successful.<br />
That’s just human nature,<br />
but I’ve grown a thick<br />
“You get<br />
bitchy tweets...<br />
I just smile<br />
and carry on”<br />
skin. It’s a number of things, like<br />
bitchy tweets, people writing blog<br />
posts about it, comments… I’m<br />
not a confrontational person. It really<br />
goes against my nature. I just smile<br />
and carry on.”<br />
Our time is nearly up, which can<br />
mean only one thing: ice cream. We<br />
head next door. Zoe orders a one-litre<br />
tub to take home with<br />
her, as well as a small<br />
carton to eat on the<br />
way. As we’re preparing<br />
to leave, a teenage boy<br />
who has been standing<br />
in the corner of the<br />
shop with his father<br />
approaches timidly.<br />
“Would you mind if<br />
I got a photo?” he asks.<br />
Zoe beams. “Of course!” He is quickly<br />
followed by a teenage girl and her<br />
mother. The girl is wide-eyed and mute<br />
with excitement. The mother gabbles,<br />
“We knew you sometimes come here<br />
and we hoped we might bump into<br />
you and here you are! She loves you<br />
– you’re on in my house every day.”<br />
She poses for another photograph.<br />
We make a move outside before<br />
anyone else can approach her and<br />
say our goodbyes. It feels like I’m<br />
leaving an old friend behind. But it’s<br />
OK because I know I’ll see her again<br />
very soon. If I miss her, I can just<br />
tune in to YouTube. Along with her<br />
11 million other fans. And there lies<br />
the beauty of Zoella. ◆<br />
Girl Online: Going Solo is out on<br />
17th <strong>November</strong><br />
SHIRT AND RINGS, BOTH AS BEFORE. FASHION DIRECTOR AMY BANNERMAN. HAIR DAYARUCI AT ONE REPRESENTS, USING REDKEN.<br />
MAKE UP CASSIE LOMAS AT CREATIVES AGENCY, USING NARS. FASHION ASSISTANT MADDY ALFORD<br />
42 · COSMOPOLITAN
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