Gemma Collins joins The Mirror's crusade to ban UK fur sales as she asks for PM's help

Gemma Collins has become the latest celebrity to speak out in support of the Mirror’s crusade to ban fur sales in the UK.

The 40-year-old reality star, who became a household name in The Only Way Is Essex, called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “do the right thing” and let animals “keep their skins”.

Posing up with a “skinned fox” in an image for charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Gemma said: “Animals in the fur industry are kept in cramped cages before they’re killed in the most horrific ways, all for a coat or some trim on a jacket."

Gemma Collins has thrown support behind the Mirror’s crusade to ban fur sales in the UK (Instagram)

She went on: “I am so passionate about ending the fur trade because I think it’s absolutely horrific the way that animals are so barbarically treated.

“While fur farms no longer exist here in the UK, fur is still being imported from other countries and sold here. That’s not OK.

“We’re a nation of animal lovers, so it makes no sense for the UK to prop up the fur trade.”

Gemma has called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “do the right thing” and let animals “keep their skins” (PETA)

Addressing the PM directly, she said: “Take it from an icon, Boris. No one needs fur in their wardrobe. Do the right thing. Ban fur sales.

“Let’s wear our own skin and let the animals keep theirs.”

Gemma joins a long list of celebrities, including Dame Judi Dench, Dame Twiggy Lawson, Ricky Gervais, Gary Lineker, Brian May, Mark Rylance, Fearne Cotton, Joanna Lumley, and Simon Pegg, to support our Fur Free Britain campaign, in conjunction with Humane Society International/UK.

Millions of foxes are farmed in horrific conditions, trapped in tiny cages before being slaughtered in inhumane ways (PETA)

In 2013, TOWIE legend Gemma posed in the nude blowing a kiss for the camera for an “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” ad for PETA.

Millions of mink and foxes are farmed in horrific conditions, trapped in tiny cages before being slaughtered in inhumane ways.

In 2013, TOWIE legend Gemma posed in the nude blowing a kiss for the camera for an “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” ad for PETA (PETA/Supplied by INFphoto.com)

We revealed a warning from experts last month that fur farms packed full of sick, distressed and horrifically injured animals could be the source of new pandemics.

Investigators filmed at 13 farms in China, the largest fur producing country in the world, showing distressing footage of mentally ill animals being kept in small, barren, factory-farm style cages.

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@trinitymirror.com or call us direct 0207 29 33033