'I could have died or at least been disabled': Gemma Collins says she's suing BBC over fall

Gemma Collins may have initially laughed off her fall at the Radio 1 Teen Awards, but the reality star believes the incident could have cost her her life and is now planning to take legal action.

The Towie star made headlines after suffering a nasty fall into a trapdoor at the annual event as she presented the best TV show prize to Love Island. She was helped to her feet by Kem Cetinay, Amber Davies and Marcel Somerville and reassured the crowd at the SSE Arena, Wembley, that she was fine.

Speaking to the Sun, she said that she watched her life "flash before her eyes" and claimed she was yet to receive an apology from the BBC.

"I'm in total shock. It is a miracle I am living to tell the tale," she told the publication.

"I could have died or at least been disabled at the end of it. I could have been legless."

"I didn't even know there was a hole there," she said. "No joke, my life did flash before my eyes. I thought I was dead."

The 36-year-old TV personality went on to claim that an unnamed staff member failed to brief her about the trapdoor before she took to the stage. She said the incident amounted to "negligence", recalling that "not at one point did she say, 'If you move to the right you are going to fall'".

Collins claimed that the employee feared she would lose her job if Collins revealed that she had not followed the necessary protocol and pleaded with her to stay silent. She said: "She had tears in her eyes, I'll never forget it, and she just went, 'If you tell anyone I didn't tell you to not move off your mark I'm going to get the sack and lose my job, I'm in the firing line.'"

Although she escaped serious injury, she now plans to consult a lawyer. "The BBC, they've not been in touch with any compensation or anything - or even an apology," she explained. "It's very important this gets sorted out because really you know what it is - it's negligence. The BBC hasn't sent any flowers. Nothing."

IBTimes UK had not received any comments from the BBC at the time of publication.