Carla from Bankstown has a “love-hate” relationship with TikTok. Despite having over 45k followers and over 700k likes, the Celebrity Apprentice Australia star has been banned from posting TikTok lives – and the reason why is nonsensical.
12 months ago, Benjamin James – the 28-year-old behind Carla, decided to take action against the endless bullying they received online. Taking to TikTok Live, she began reading out the mean comments, one by one.
Carla used to get upset about the hate comments.
(Image: Instagram)“I’ve always been that person to fight back,” Carla explains to WHO, “because no one deserves to be treated like that – especially by people behind a keyboard and a screen who have no clue who I am.”
TikTok took swift and brutal action, banning Carla’s TikTok account and claiming that it violated community guidelines.
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While the account can still post normal videos, the ability to go live is still locked almost a year later.
TikTok banned Carla’s account.
(Image: Instagram)Although Carla admits that ignoring the hate comments is “always a good thing,” the decision to call bullies out was felt necessary.
“There comes a time when these gronks need to be called out and told it’s not right,” she explains.
The road to notability hasn’t been easy for Carla, whose body shape has often been the target of trolls online.
“First thing I did when I started to get some notability was to stop reading the comments” she explains to WHO. “Being who I am… I never stopped reading them.”
“I’m big, but I’m beautiful”.
(Image: Instagram)And whilst the comments used to upset Carla, maturity has brought a new perspective.
“As I’ve grown as a comedian and a drag queen I’ve realised that these people are just looking for attention and looking for me to fight back, so now I just call them out… and I love it.”
“If you can write horrible comments on someone’s page, then you can deal with being called out for it.”
“Growing up I’ve always been a bigger person,” Carla explains, sharing that she has struggled with her weight for “such a long time.”
“Especially when you’re on social media and people know who you are, it gets harder. I got to a point where I felt like people can take it or leave it. Yes, I’m big, but I’m beautiful and no one can take that away from me. It’s all about self-love and having that confidence.”
Joining Are Media this week for BodFest, a celebration of body positivity and body confidence, Carla understands the importance of self-love and self-care.
Her figure was often the target for trolls.
(Image: Instagram)“It’s changed for me over time. I went through a huge dark time where I was not looking after myself, I was depressed, not leaving the house, emotional eating and just not looking after myself.”
“Once I started to realise that at the end of the day, the only person you can rely on is yourself, I started to work on being a better version of myself.”
“Now I like to take time in the mornings and sit in the sun with a coffee and just sit with no social media and nothing to distract me and just focus on what my goals are and manifest what I want out of my day,” Carla explained.
And Carla’s advice for anyone who is struggling with self-esteem? A quote from the 2011 film, The Help: “You is smart. You is kind. You is important. I remember reading this and thinking, you know what? I am!”
Self-care is very important to Carla!
(Image: Instagram)“It took me a while to get to a good place with my self-esteem and I just want everyone out there to know that you are beautiful no matter who you are.”
“If you are happy and you love what you’re doing, that’s all that matters.”
Presented by OGX, BODFest is taking place on October 8 and will also include the likes of Emily Ratajkowsi (virtual), Remi Bader (virtual), Maria Thattil and Brooke Blurton to name a few.
