Helen Flanagan has told how she was left feeling shaken after a man launched a foul-mouthed tirade at her on the London Underground.
The former Coronation Street star said the incident unfolded after she confronted the man for allegedly taking a photo of another woman on the Tube without her consent.
Recalling the confrontation in a video posted on social media, Helen said: “I was on the Tube and there was this man sat across from me, and there was this girl about my age sat across, and I noticed that the man took a picture of this woman on the Tube.
“Anyway, I probably – it's a bit embarrassing for me to say this. And like, he just ignored her and pretended that he couldn't hear her.
“And then, eventually he was really aggressive, and like, told her to 'eff off' and 'shut the eff up', and oh my God it was awful.”
Helen said she then stepped in to defend the woman, but was quickly targeted herself.
“So then obviously, like I'm a real like girl's girl and I just said, 'Don't effing speak to her like that. I saw you, you did take a picture of her. You're lying.'
“I should have said something but I actually felt a bit intimidated by the man, so I just thought, I felt like I couldn't say anything.
“Anyway the woman next to me was braver than me and she just said, 'Excuse me, did you take a picture of that woman? I just saw you take a picture of that woman.'
“He was really awful and I actually felt really intimidated, and I felt like I couldn't say much to him because I did feel really intimidated by him.”
The man then turned his aggression on Helen, making a bizarre comment about her appearance.
“He said to me – it was like the weirdest thing he could have said – 'You've got so much Botox in your forehead,' and I was sat there with an iced coffee, and he was like, 'I'm surprised you can even drink through a straw.'”
Trying to laugh off the experience, Helen added: “To be fair, I am dead soft. I don't get in arguments with people. I was only sticking up for this girl because of course, I would always stick up for other women.
“I didn't know what to say – this sounds tight – but like, he deserves it. He wasn't the most attractive of men.
“I couldn't say anything to him, so I said, 'I feel sorry for you.'
“It's not nice as a woman where you actually feel intimidated. He was just an absolute idiot.”
