Gareth Gates bullied by rowdy grannies while on cruise holiday

Gareth Gates was bullied by a group of rowdy women in their 60s during a trip on a cruise ship last week.

The former pop star was onboard P+O’s Arvia with his girlfriend Alanna Taylor when he realised the female travellers in the cabin next door were poking fun at his speech impediment by singing the stuttering chorus of David Bowie’s ‘Changes’ at him.

In a post on Instagram, he explained: “Every time we’ve been out on our balcony … it’s been constant verbal abuse. They started by [singing] the song ‘Changes’ by David Bowie and it progressed on to ‘G G G Gareth Gates’. It’s gotten worse and worse.

“I’m more than used to this and can handle it and at first I was like ‘Let’s just leave it’ but three days is relentless. It was three girls in that cabin, the same age as my mum.”

Gates went on to reveal the women stopped after they were confronted by Taylor over their behaviour and the couple were then moved to a new cabin by P O bosses who gave the group a warning.

He added: “I could hardly head round there myself as it was three women, so my other half said ‘Look, I’ve had enough of this’ and went round and politely asked them to stop and it actually worked … I’m the first person to take the Mick out of my speech but knowing the person that you’re taking the Mick out of can hear, takes a completely different person.

“If you are those three women in cabin 8206 on my ship then shame on you, we’ve heard your conversations. You obviously have kids and grandkids so what kind of example are you letting to your children? Let’s stand up to bullying.”

In a later post, Gates thanked Taylor for standing up for him. He wrote: “Thank you @allanataylor_ for standing up for me. Your courage has impacted more people than you know in the fight against Bullying; and hopefully these 3 women will think twice before engaging in such behaviour again.

“Thanks to Neil Oliver and his team onboard Arvia for dealing with the situation immediately. They moved us to another cabin straight away and the 3 women were pulled into the office and given a warning. Again, hopefully they’ve learnt their lesson.”