Bobby Norris has endured his fair share of hardships over the years.
The TV personality, 38, earned praise from SAS: Who Dares Wins frontman Jason Fox, after he overcame a ‘useless’ start to the course to become one of the show’s toughest contestants.
Despite the radio presenter appearing as the ultimate tough cookie in later episodes, Bobby revealed that he appeared on the show because he let his ‘phobias and fears control his life for too long’.
SAS did appear to push Bobby to his limits but this challenge seemed to a drop in the water when compared to his real-life hardships.
While he’s best known for his outrageous antics with the cast of The Only Way Is Essex, Bobby has also endured hardships including violent death threats, saving his mother’s life, and witnessing his dog being savagely mauled.
But despite this, Bobby has overcome his struggles, and impressed viewers with his endurance on the SAS course.
MailOnline takes a look back at Bobby’s traumatising past which has influenced his brave and valiant approach to life…
Bobby Norris, 38, has had his fair share of hardships of the years, having overcome struggles including violent death threats and saving his mother’s life
The TV personality earned praise from SAS: Who Dares Wins frontman Jason Fox, after he overcame a ‘useless’ start to the course to become one of the show’s t oughest contestants
His fight to save his mother’s life
Just two years after Bobby joined the TOWIE cast, he revealed his mother, Kym, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and was searching for a bone marrow match.
As Kym battled the potentially fatal disease, she was unable to go home because her immune system was not strong enough during chemotherapy.
Aged just 28, Bobby, had to gather his friends and connections to help save his mother’s life and search for a donor.
Speaking on ITV show This Morning at the time, Bobby said: ‘I saw her briefly yesterday. She’s not been allowed home because she can’t fight off infections… her immune system is really low.
‘I just go in there and spend as many hours as I can during visiting hours, but it never feels like enough. You just feel so helpless.’
‘It was that quick that she became so ill… now she’s on intense chemotherapy twice a day and that in itself is quite hard to watch, because just three weeks ago she was living a normal life’, he added.
‘I don’t know how it has become this real so fast. I feel like it’s flipped my world upside down … and my way of thinking is quite different now.
‘I see people taking things for granted with their mums, I want to do those little things [with my mum] that I took for granted for 27 years. It’s the little things you miss when someone isn’t there.’
In 2015, Bobby was delighted to share the update that they found a stem cell donor – thanks to the help of blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan.
At the time he tweeted: ‘Somewhere there is an amazing person that registered with @AnthonyNolan and was a match for my mum, I will never be able to thank you enough.’
Now, Kym appears fit and well as Bobby shared a snap of the two of them enjoying a swanky lunch for her birthday on Friday.
Sharing an album of sweet moments to Instagram, he penned: ‘Happy Birthday Mummy Norris!!!’
Just two years after Bobby joined the TOWIE cast, he revealed his mother, Kym, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, and it was a lengthy wait to find a stem cell donor
Savage dog attack
Bobby fought tears when he revealed that his beloved dog, Beau, died after it was mauled to death in the street by another dog.
Appearing on Loose Women in July 2016, he revealed that after watching his two-year-old Yorkshire terrier was ‘shook like a toy’ during a walk in his local Essex park, he spiraled into a panic attack.
His brief state of panic allowed the stranger and their dog to run away before he could do anything and he was left in the street to tend to his little pup.
He told the panel at the time: ‘ This is what I can’t get my head around, it was a normal day, he had his normal food and we went on the same walk.
‘We got to a certain point, to this tree and from a gap in a hedge a big dog came over and he was on a very, very long lead.
‘I shouted to the owner ‘can you pull your dog back a little bit’ and at that time nothing had happened, it was still like a split second. Time just stopped.
‘And I saw him [the dog] get Beau in his mouth and I think in defence of the big dog, I think he thought Beau was a toy or a rabbit because of the way he shook him it was like a dog play with a toy.’
‘The owner had another dog on a lead – it was like a split lead I’ve never seen anything like it, because Beau was in the dog’s mouth there wasn’t anything – and it was so quick and the yelp’, he added.
‘The dog eventually dropped him… and I got the dog and I took a few steps to the side ’cause I was scared that the dog was gonna come and get me or get Beau and I just needed a few seconds.’
He admitted getting hysterical during the attack and couldn’t believe it when he found out the owner of the other dog had run off: ‘I think I had a panic attack and was trying to breathe.
‘By the time I came up from the ground, I’m in a field on my own.’
Due to the extent of Beau’s injuries, being euthanized was the ‘kindest thing’ for them and if he had kept him alive, it would have been for ‘all the wrong reasons.’
Bobby fought tears when he revealed that his beloved dog, Beau, died after he was mauled to death in the street by another dog in July 2016
More health woes for his mum
Kym suffered another health woe in May 2017 after she fell down the stairs and broke her ankle in two places
On Instagram at the time, Bobby posted a message reading: ‘Mum: A title just above queen’, with the caption: ‘Get well soon Mummy Norris.’
And on Twitter, now known as X, he explained: ‘Spending the day nursing Mummy Norris after falling down the stairs and breaking her ankle in 2 places.’
Being trolled over his sexuality
Opening up to Yazmin Oukhellou on an episode of TOWIE in April 2019, Bobby first detailed the horrific trolling he’s faced about his sexuality.
Aged 33, he revealed he was finding the violent and nasty comments on his social media hard to deal with.
Breaking down in tears, Bobby said he was struggling to cope with the abuse, and later he revealed people wished cancer on him and threatened to kill him, often because he was gay.
The true extent of his online trolling was unknown at the time, but Bobby gathered his pals and campaigned to stop homophobic bullying on social media.
He took his movement to Parliament to discuss his ideas with gay MP Angela Eagle, who told him that if he could get 100,000 signatures, she would help discuss his ideas in the Commons.
In the end, his petition gained over 150,000 signatures.
The petition ended on August, 12, 2019 with the government responding: ‘The Government recognises the harm that homophobic online messages can cause. We are working cross-Government to challenge inequality and make the UK’s online environment a safer place for everyone.’
While Bobby’s law was not made official, the Johnson Conservative government added new measures to the Online Safety Bill to combat anonymous abusers.
Opening up to Yazmin Oukhellou on an episode of TOWIE in April 2019, Bobby first detailed the horrific trolling he’s faced about his sexuality
Covid family tragedy
He shared his upset in a social media post as he paid tribute to his grandmother’s late partner on Instagram.
Bobby informed his fans of the news with a ‘heavy heart’ and said he remembered Ron for his ‘lovely’ nature and his ‘kindest heart’.
He urged his fans to stay home at the time as he begged everyone to follow the government’s guidelines during the outbreak.
Alongside his heartfelt update, she said a picture of Nanny Norris and her lost love Ron could be seen holding hands in their living room.
‘It is with a heavy heart that I write this message.. heartbreakingly today my Nanny Norris lost her partner Ron to the Coronavirus disease,’ he penned.
‘He was such a lovely man and had the biggest and kindest heart and I can’t quite believe we have all lost him.
‘It’s so important that we all follow the government’s guidelines and all stay at home during this pandemic.. it’s crucial that we all do our bit to help stop the spread of this evil virus. RIP Ron, see you on the other side mate..’
Bobby shared his devastation and heartache after his grandmother’s partner Ron died from coronavirus in April 2020
Daily death threats
During the pandemic, Bobby shared that the trolling he faced became increasingly worse, growing to be more abusive and violent.
After taking a break from social media in April 2020, he opened up to New magazine to share what happened during the pandemic.
He revealed everyday he was getting messages that trolls were ‘coming to kill him’ and was being told to hang himself.
Bobby told the magazine in May 2020: ‘It’s so violent. It’s not like one or two trolls – I was getting death threats daily.
‘I love my social media, but there is that dark side. I was getting comments like, ‘We’re coming to kill you,’ or, ‘Go and hang yourself after this Instagram Live,’ and, ‘Just kill yourself, the world would be a better place.’
I’ve become so immune to comments such as ‘faggot’ or ‘batty boy’. I’m comfortable in my sexuality, but I know 14-year-old Bobby wouldn’t be immune to it.’
During the pandemic, Bobby shared that the trolling he faced became increasingly worse, later sharing he received messages that trolls were ‘coming to kill him’
Radio host spat
LBC’s Steve Allen said Bobby had ‘aged beyond all shadow of a doubt’ and claimed that ‘nobody quite knows what he does for a living actually’ while speaking on the show in March 2021.
Bobby uploaded the video accompanied with the caption ‘Dear @lbc, please can you pass this on to the lovely Steve Allen…
‘In response to your apparent confusion @steveallenlbc, I am a radio host like yourself (@fubarradio ), however, I do not use my show to personally attack people for how they look.
‘I agree I am not looking my best right now but we have been in a global pandemic for the last 12 months. I have also had a cancer scare and COVID-19 in recent months so apologies for not looking like David Gandy.
‘In terms of what I do for a living, apart from being a radio host I am also a celebrity interviewer ( @new_magazine ), an Anti-Trolling campaigner ( @endthetrend2troll ) and during this third lockdown also become a Volunteer Vaccinator ( @stjohn_ambulance ).
‘Life is tough enough for people at the moment during this pandemic so may I suggest spreading kindness instead of negativity. Have a lovely weekend.. X’
Bobby became embroiled in a spat with LBC host Steve Allen, after he said he’d ‘aged beyond a shadow of a doubt’
Falling down the rabbit hole of cosmetic surgery
Bobby decided to step away from TOWIE in 2021 after nearly a decade on the show.
But during his time on the show, he slowly started to alter his appearance with the use of fillers and cosmetic procedures.
He frequented a clinic so often that it was only when he watched old episodes of TOWIE did he have his ‘epiphany’.
He said on FUBAR Radio’s Access All Areas: ‘When I fell down the rabbit hole of having fillers, I certainly didn’t realise how I looked.
‘I was getting told on social media how I looked, and I’d see photographs. The first time you get something done its light and minimal and then you’ll go for a top up.
‘So what becomes your ‘normal’ changes as you have things done. Going back to when I started TOWIE… people were reaching out to the cast saying, ‘Do you want this done? Come and have it done.’ So I was like, ‘Lovely!”
‘I was having things done gradually. I never meant to be extreme in any sense. It wasn’t until I had a bit of an epiphany.
‘In the early lockdown, ITV2 were churning out old-school TOWIE so I was looking at old-school photos. I saw myself joining the show at 24 and how I looked.
‘Every couple of hours or days when I’d flip through to the show, I could see a big change was happening, but when you’re in that you don’t know it’s happening.’
Later in the show, Bobby explained his decision to get his fillers dissolved: ‘I was getting called out on social media, I was getting called Kris Jenner and a human Ken doll.
‘That’s when I made the decision and thought in New Year, I’m going to have my fillers taken out.’
‘It’s a scary thing to do because when you’re keeping on top of the process of getting fillers and having top ups, you’re forgetting that, underneath your fillers, your body is still 10 years older’, he added.
‘There’s a scary moment when you’re thinking, ‘How am I actually going to look?’ Because when I started this 11 years ago, I was 11 years younger.’
Bobby decided to step away from TOWIE in 2021 after nearly a decade on the show. But during his time on the show, he started to alter his appearance with fillers and cosmetic procedures
Mystery illness
Bobby sparked concern among his fans in September 2023, after he revealed he’d been rushed to hospital.
The radio host revealed he had been hooked up to an IV drop over a mystery illness, and took to Instagram to share a snap of his medical emergency.
In the black-and-white picture, Bobby’s tattooed arm is show attached to a drip and secured with the a dressing.
‘Shout out to the nurse who knows I have a phobia of needles and took the time to bandage up and hide my cannula and venepuncture from me’, he penned.
Motorbike crash horror
Bobby was left suffering from ‘nasty head injuries’ in November 2023 after being struck down by a motorbike.
The star was reportedly mowed down by a motorist, ‘who was travelling at speed’, on Regent Street, according to The Sun.
He reportedly landed on his head after he was caught unaware after he crossed the road while recording a segment called Bobby on the Street for his Fubar radio show.
A source told The Sun: ‘Bobby was crossing the road when a motorbike came out of nowhere.
‘He was sent flying up in the air and landed on his head after being driven straight into at speed. It was a shocking sight for those who were close by when it happened.’
Bobby was rushed for a CT scan and underwent further tests after being transferred to Princess Alexandra Hospital from ULCH A&E.
Cancer scare
Bobby also sought urgent care after he found a lump in August 2024.
Taking to his social media to warn his following to check their bodies because he was on the way to hospital to have it checked out.
Bobby began: ‘I’m not even sure I’m going to post this video, but, if you’re watching it, I clearly have.’
He continued: ‘I wanted to jump on to say how important it is that we’re all checking ourselves. Like, guys out there? Check yourself. Girls, get the guys in your life, your partners, dads, brothers, whatever. To check themselves.
‘Because, I’m about to go to the hospital. Got an appointment for the first thing this morning… I don’t really know what to say, but I found a lump and had gone to my doctor about it.
‘He wasn’t really happy with it. So, I’ve been referred – which is today – to go for further tests. It’s a scary old thing, but the not knowing, it is going to be scarier.’
Bobby captioned the post: ‘I wasn’t sure if I was going to post this but ultimately I feel it is important.
‘If nothing else, just to remind people to check themselves, and if it encourages even one person to take a couple of minutes to do so then it was worth talking about..’
Bobby did not share a permanent post to his grid to update his fans on the results of his tests.
Five weeks earlier Bobby had underwent 360 liposuction and was still recovering.
Bobby also sought urgent care after he found a lump in August, and took to Instagram to urge his followers to check their bodies
In 2024, Bobby’s life looks very different to meeting The GC at Brentwood Kitchen for a game of one-liner ping pong.
He is now an award-winning TV presenter and hosts Access All Areas on Fubar Radio and he also captured the nation’s and Foxy’s heart during the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
During his time on the show he opened up about the impact years of internet trolling had on him: ‘People would take the time to superimpose my face onto people being beheaded, shot.’ he revealed.
‘Disturbing, dark s**t. I fell down a rabbit hole of filling my face with Botox because really it was like a mask. One day it didn’t feel like it suited me anymore.’
‘I wanted to just be happy in my own skin, being me.’
‘I’m not someone who walks away from anything,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing a quitter.’
And his grit and determination clearly had an impact on the military team.
The TV tough man revealed that Bobby managed to do the unthinkable and changed his viewpoint entirely, going from appearing ‘useless’ to leaving Jason ‘pretty impressed.’
Reflecting on the most recent season of the show, the former Royal Marine and SBS, 48, revealed he won him over and was ‘easily the most stand out person who made the biggest improvement on the show’.
While Bobby was forced to leave the show after a brutal challenge took a wrong turn, Jason named him as the contestant that left a lasting impact.
The reality star was discharged from the Channel 4 programme after sustaining an injury during a wrestling match.
During an SAS training event to raise awareness for the Armed Forces charity SSAFA, Jason revealed he did not have high hopes for Bobby to begin with but he now considers him a ‘tough guy’.
He said: ‘On the last one that has just been aired we had a guy called Bobby Norris on it and I didn’t know who Bobby was.
‘He turned up and for the first 24 hours he was useless. He cried for about 24 hours, and then I think he rapidly worked out, and also wanted to be there, he wanted to really push himself and test himself.
‘He’s not the best person we’ve had on it, but he’s easily the most standout person who’s made the biggest improvement.
‘I expected nothing from him. I found out he was from TOWIE . Now I’m like, he’s a tough, tough guy really.
Bobby now an award-winning presenter and hosts Access All Areas on Fubar Radio and he also captured the nation’s heart during the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins
‘It wasn’t one singular moment. It was just over the course of a few days. I was pretty impressed with the turnaround.’
Jason went on to reveal that when Bobby first joined the intense and brutal show, he had ‘a lot of fear and anxieties because of the way he was treated in the past’.
The author and TV personality said: ‘It was more the mental side of it that he was going to overcome his fears, because he had a lot of fears, and he had a lot of anxiety around lots of different things because of the way he’s been treated in the past.
‘He didn’t believe in himself. His lack of confidence was terrible and he just pushed through. It was awesome to watch.’
