Best of the Blogs: Calum Henderson: Has this fat shaming TV personality gone too far?

TV personality and columnist Katie Hopkins stuffs herself to gain 20kg in part one of Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story.

We’re looking back at our columnists most popular pieces from 2015. Today, has this TV personality gone too far? Asks Calum Henderson.

Opinion columnists - have they gone too far?

I mean, Mike Hosking: who does he think he is with his relentless, borderline-psychotic optimism? And that Rachel Smalley: why can't she just leave the poor old patriarchy alone?

Don't even start on Chris Rattue: obviously the man deserves to be bundled into a giant cannon and fired directly into the face of the sun for ever daring to doubt Dan Carter.

But if we think we've got it bad, it's nothing compared to the UK, whose columnists seem locked in a daily battle to get their readers as wound up as possible.

To paraphrase Stewart Lee, who was talking about Jeremy Clarkson, they're either idiots who actually believe all the poorly-researched nonsense they write, or geniuses who have worked out exactly the most accurate ways to annoy everyone.

The reigning queen of tabloid controversy is Katie Hopkins, who gained notoriety as a serial reality television contestant and has since become "Britain's most controversial columnist".

At least, that's how she's billed by The Sun, the paper for whom she writes. Other publications have described her more succinctly as a "professional troll".

In a survey last year - quite possibly also conducted by The Sun - she was voted the UK's second most hated person. First place went to Vladmir Putin.

This year she may well knock him off his loathsome perch ...

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