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A SCOTS TV star has opened up about her experience of life as a small person in a world where some people are afraid of her.
Meryl Williams was born in South Africa being moving to Scotland as a child and became a household name last year when she won the smash hit reality game show ‘The Traitors’ on BBC television.
However, despite winning the show and receiving a lot of positivity for her representation of small people Meryl was stunned when she later found people on social media who claim to have a phobia.
The 27-year-old who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland was left unable to sleep and revealed that she spent a night reading all of the comments posted underneath the video.
Meryl has told that she often feels that people ‘take the p**s’ out of her disability when compared to other disabilities.
She also spoke of how people don’t believe that she lives a normal life with a house that is not adapted or the fact that she is a dog owner.
The star feels that she wants to raise awareness of her condition as there have been several occasions where people have been grossly offensive towards her.
She told of how one elderly women even said they were scared to meet her as they had never ‘seen someone with your condition.’
Speaking today, Meryl said: “I didn’t even realise that it was such a thing until I was actually on TikTok a couple of years ago and it was someone who did a TikTok.
“She said that her daughter wrote things about her at school.
“She said, ‘My mummy is scared of midgets’ and the lady put up a video that said, ‘Oh my god, my daughter knows me so well.’
“There were hundreds of comments and I sat and read them all night. It was completely mind-blowing that this is such a fear people have.
“I didn’t realise there’s such a big fear, even walking to a shop I’ll hear people talking about me, simple things like walking the dogs.
“I was at my workplace a couple of years ago and a lady came up to me.
“She must have been around 60 years old and she said ‘I was scared to meet you. I’ve never seen someone with your condition’.
“‘I was scared of people like you and I was scared to meet you.’
“I was just so baffled.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just little.’ I was just confused about what this fear is.”
“I’ve had people that have said they were going to come up and give me a hug because their friend’s got a phobia of dwarves, so they can show that there’s nothing to be scared of.
“People say things without thinking – if that was said to them, how would they feel?
“Winning the The Traitors definitely has helped. The show has painted me in a good light. It’s been amazing and it’s shown awareness.
“It’s shown people who discriminate or who think small people can’t do the same thing – they are able to watch people like myself in the show and say ‘Oh, she’s able to do the same thing as everyone else.’
“Dwarfism has been painted in a bad light in the media. So, it’s good that shows like The Traitors are showing us as who we really are.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to judge if people recognise me from the show or if they’re just staring because I’m a dwarf.
“It’s hard to not let it get to you and regardless of the show, they could not have recognised me at all and they would have reacted the same way.
“When you put your life out there, you do experience trolling but some of the comments that people have been putting online are things I would never say.
“I started screenshotting comments. It was just horrible things like, ‘Why is she built like that?’
“A lot of people refer back to if they’ve seen someone with my condition in a horror film or someone taking the p**s out of themselves in a pantomime or a show.
“I said, ‘That’s not me. I’m Meryl Williams.’
“There’s a hilarity aspect of this condition. You don’t see someone else with another disability and people burst out laughing.
“Even on the relationship side of things, we’re not looked at like we have normal lives. When people see me doing something relatable, like driving, they [ask me] how.
“I have dogs. I have my own house and it’s like we’re just not meant to live ‘normal lives. [It’s almost] like we’re mythical creatures.
“But I’m trying to use this platform that I have, just to build up more awareness and to show people that they can watch me do my day-to-day life and there’s nothing to be scared of.
“I’m not different.
“My house is all average height, nothing’s been adapted to me.
“I have to use steps, I have to constantly adapt to a world that’s not made for me.
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