Georgia Toffolo: I had to get portrayal of disability right in my book

Georgia Toffolo has said she feels a “massive responsibility” to portray disability correctly in her latest novel which features a protagonist in a wheelchair.

Ms Toffolo - known as Toff - found fame on Channel 4’s Made in Chelsea before going on to win I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here.

The star-turned-author is releasing her third book - Meet Me In Tahiti - with romance publisher Mills & Boon next month.

Her story follows lead character Zoe who has been a wheelchair user since her teenage years.

Speaking about the book, she said she wanted to “shine a light on people who are wheelchair users” through her romantic fiction but she admitted as she was “addressing things that are a reality to so many people, I had to get it right.”

Toff said she had put a “lot” of research into the book, including working with mobility charity Whizz-Kidz, to ensure it was accurate.

The 26-year-old has dedicated the book - which is out in September - to the children she met through the charity.

She said: “I am so nervously excited about this one. I was very strong with the publishers and they agreed with me that I didn’t want to shy away from the disability. It is documenting every part of her life, from love to the loss of things she can and can’t do.

“Whizz-Kidz really helped us nail down this story and made sure that we are really telling Zoe’s story correctly. Without their help my book wouldn’t be - in my opinion - as powerful as it is. I hope we have got it right. It is a massive responsibility, when you are an author - this is my third venture into fiction but when you are addressing things that are a reality to so many people, I had to get it right. I really hope people love it. It is a very important book.”

In 2020, Toff revealed she was writing a four-part series for British romance publisher Mills & Boon.

Her first, Meet Me In London, was published in October last year and her second, Meet Me in Hawaii, earlier this year.

Toff said she was on a “crusade” to eliminate the “snobbery” surrounding romantic fiction.

“There is a snobbery surrounding chic lit,” she said. “But I think, particularly after the 18 months we have had, it is ok to say: ‘I found refuge in a really easy read. Where there is a happy ending at the end.’

“I feel very blessed to be a Mills & Boon author. Every one of my books has a naughty scene in it. You can spice it up a bit, I am not talking 50 Shades of Grey - but if you want to go into the world of love, I think it would be a travesty if there wasn’t a big chrescendo towards that.”

However, she admitted recording audiobooks for her work could be a bit awkward when she got to the “naughty scenes”.

“It is a nightmare when I do my audiobooks. I die inside,” she joked.

According to the Publishers Association, UK consumer book sales climbed 7per cent to £2.1bn in 2020 as people "rediscovered their love of reading" in lockdown.

Meet Me in Tahiti by Georgia Toffolo is published on 2 September in paperback, eBook and audiobook, by Mills & Boon, priced £7.99.

Read More

Researchers working towards one vaccine for many variants

OnlyFans founder blames ‘unfair’ banks for ban on explicit sexual content

Little girl, two, dies in caravan park fire as four others escape