When Nella Rose emerged from the I’m a Celebrity jungle in December 2023, she was still defending an argument with a fellow campmate that received more than 800 Ofcom complaints. That conversation happened in the jungle, for viewers who may not have known who she was – but she had, in effect, been working up to that point for seven years, writing vlogs during her sociology degree at the University of Leicester and eventually hosting red carpets, presenting a reality format, winning a MOBO and taking part in a Prime Video series filmed in Rhodes. Here’s how she got here, the jungle row that went on for so long, and what she is doing now.
From Belgium to Leicester
Nella Rose’s real name is Ornella Rose Hollela. She was born on 20 July 1997 in Belgium to Congolese parents. She and her family moved to the UK when she was seven years old, and Nella has said she has a Belgian passport, not a British one.
University was not entirely her choice. She studied her sociology degree at Leicester, starting in 2015, and obtained a 2:1, but has said she didn’t want to go and would have preferred to go to work, but knew her family would never have dropped it.
Those were also the years of loss. She had her mother in 2016 and her father in 2020. She has spoken about both of these losses and the struggles she experienced in the first days of grief after losing her mother. It is important for what follows because it influenced how she behaved on TV.
YouTube first, then everything else
She began uploading to YouTube in 2016, primarily vlogs (including hair tutorials and hauls, which were trendy then). None of that was extraordinary for YouTube content creators in the mid-2010s. What is notable is how intentionally she transformed that hobby into a career: She has said YouTube was an avenue of opportunity that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible – interviewing celebrities, hosting events, traveling.
It didn’t go unnoticed by the industry. That same year, she was awarded YouTuber of the Year at the 2020 Pretty Little Thing Influencer Awards. And even radio; she began co-hosting the BBC Radio 1Xtra podcast Pressed with Adeola Patronne and Mariam Musa in 2021.
The 2022 and 2023 run
The transition from an online creator to a TV host happened suddenly. In February 2022, she co-hosted a live stream of the red carpet at the Brit Awards, as a digital host with Munya Chawawa. The following two months saw another guest appearance – this time on Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date podcast – and the news that she would succeed Julie Adenuga as a presenter on MTV’s Catfish UK alongside Oobah Butler.
The rest of her year was no less frantic. In June she released a 40-piece summer range with Pretty Little Thing and was crowned Best Media Personality at the MOBO Awards in November. A collection from a creator who had grown up online ticked the right boxes for the retailer’s customer and proved she could do a commercial project just as well as a camera.
In 2023 she returned to the Brits red carpet, this time with Michelle Visage, and in May she began fronting Channel 4’s digital series Tapped Out, a prank format featuring her Pressed co-hosts and Chloe Burrows. Channel 4 had also started its youth-focused Channel 4.0 brand, and named her among the creators it signed up to host new series. It was a significant bet on the kind of audience she had spent years building.
The jungle, and the row people still bring up.
She entered the I’m a Celebrity camp in November 2023 promising to keep morale and humour high. The first week was harder than that.
Fred Sirieix, 51, told her he was old enough to be her father. She said nothing in the moment but confronted him later, bringing up the fact that she had lost both parents. Opinion split sharply. Some viewers sympathised with her. Others felt Sirieix had meant no harm, and that is the side the complaints and online criticism came from. When she left the show, she stood by her position while still calling him an “amazing person”. She also had a separate, heated exchange with Nigel Farage during her time in camp.
What is often omitted from the recount is that she was not defined by the row. She did eight bush tucker trials; she was made camp leader by her campmates. She was voted out second on 4 December 2023, behind Frankie Dettori. She was subsequently branded as “divisive” by the press, which feels pretty accurate. Almost nobody was ambivalent about her after that series.
Where Nella Rose is now
Her latest venture was Would You Rather: Decide to Survive, a Prime Video series hosted by Romesh Ranganathan featuring contestants drawn from the UK creator and reality stars, including Chunkz, Max Fosh, Chloe Burrows and Stephen Tries. Set in Rhodes, the series involved contestants completing tasks based around “would you rather” scenarios that also affect choices such as who is eliminated. Its release date was scheduled for 26 June 2026.
Another project is on the horizon, but it is uncertain if it is under way. During a creator event, she revealed she had a new programme, The Nella Rose Show, commissioned by and to be made by After Party Studios and pitched to broadcast and streaming platforms, although we don’t yet know if this has been commissioned. As of now, it should be considered a new announcement.
Her digital work in conjunction continues at the same time, and credits include the series Love Lessons and The Pink Courtroom. Rumors that go viral on social media about her channel and presence online are coming and going, but then again, none of it has had a trustworthy source, so it is not included here.
Why people keep searching for Nella Rose
There are a few reasons. Some want to know about the jungle row; some followed her from YouTube and want to know what she’s been up to, while plenty just want to put a face to the name they have seen on Catfish UK, The Brits, Prime Video.
This is what is interesting, from an editorial point of view, about her route. She didn’t stumble into it by way of a casting agency. She made videos, played the game on radio and for brands, then was given jobs by major broadcasters who needed precisely that demographic. It now happens constantly in the UK’s TV industry, but she was one of the first to leap so seamlessly.
Conclusion
Nella Rose’s career is easy to reduce to one famous disagreement in the Australian jungle, and that undersells it. The record shows a decade of consistent work: university vlogs, a radio podcast, award wins, presenting jobs and now a streaming series. Her time on I’m a Celebrity split opinion, and it is reasonable that it still does. But the more useful story is how steadily she has moved between platforms, and whether The Nella Rose Show finds a broadcaster will be the next thing worth watching.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
How old is Nella Rose?
Her date of birth is 20 July 1997. She is 29 years old as of October 2026. She was 26 during her time on I’m a Celebrity at the end of 2023.
Where is Nella Rose from?
Nella was born in Belgium to Congolese parents and moved to the UK when she was seven. She has revealed that she has a Belgian passport and completed a degree in sociology at Leicester University.
What happened between Nella Rose and Fred Sirieix?
Sirieix told her he was old enough to be her father. When she later confronted him about this statement, he responded: ‘That’s a bit of a stupid comment to make, as I’ve just found out she’s lost her parents.’ More than 800 Ofcom complaints were made.
What has Nella Rose presented?
Her credits include MTV’s Catfish UK, digital hosting for the Brit Awards red carpet in 2022 and 2023, Channel 4’s Tapped Out, and the BBC Radio 1Xtra podcast Pressed. She also appears in Prime Video’s Would You Rather: Decide to Survive.
What is Nella Rose’s net worth?
Unproven! There are some estimates on so-called celebrity websites, but this kind of data is often untraceable. So unless solid reporting is done by good outlets, her income remains unconfirmed.
