Trisha Goddard stuffed tissues in her mouth so bullies chanting N-word couldn’t hear her crying

Trisha Goddard has opened up about the horrific racist abuse she suffered at the hands of school bullies on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.

The 63-year-old television presenter is the latest guest on the Good Morning Britain star’s show, following the likes of Chris Eubank, who called Piers out for cutting him off, and Gemma Collins.

Reflecting on the cruel taunts she was targeted with during her younger years, Trisha shared that she was called Golliwog and the N-word.

‘I got really good at my primary school going in the loo, you get toilet paper and you stuff it in your mouth so they don’t hear you crying,’ she recalled.

‘Because if they hear you crying while they’re chanting the N-word outside, then you’ll get it worse.’

‘I mean, this is really tough for any young girl, wasn’t it?’ Piers probed.

‘I remember the worst time was in the canteen and a boy – we used to get our meals on a tray – and he went like that with his fists [hits the underside of the tray in the air],’ Trisha continued.

‘So all the food flew off the tray and everybody laughed. And I was so embarrassed and I picked up everything and I did the Oliver Twist thing. And I went back to the dinner lady and said, “Excuse me…”

‘And she said, “You’ve had”. And everyone was laughing. So I got up. I ran out and I sat on a step and I was crying and crying. I must have been nine or 10 crying and crying.

‘And I can see this teacher now, blonde hair, goofy teeth. He sat down next to me and he said, “You’ve got to understand. You’ve got to toughen up. You’ve got to toughen up. We people in this country, we don’t want people like you here. So if you’re going to stay here, you’re going to have to toughen up”.’

Remembering another time in her life she was subjected to racism, Trisha said: ‘When I was nine-years-old and my teacher, who watched me get hit, was telling me this was my life.

‘I thought I’d failed. I thought I wasn’t being English enough, you know, and I remember that distinct moment because I thought, no one’s going to look out for you for the rest of your life.

‘You are in charge of you. I never told my parents because I thought I would be letting mum down.’

Piers Morgan’s Life Stories airs tonight at 9pm on ITV.

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