Gemma Collins thanked fans after announcing that Joan died following pneumonia. The The Only Way Is Essex star said she is reading every message and getting back to people slowly, a detail that turns private grief into a public conversation about how support arrives in the first days after a loss.
On Thursday, Collins said her heart was “shattered into a million pieces” when she announced that Joan had “passed away peacefully surrounded by LOVE.” In the same announcement, she wrote, “No words will ever be enough to thank you for loving me, guiding me, and being my mum,” a line that places the bereavement at the center of the story rather than the surrounding noise.
Joan, Thursday, and the first response
A few days later, Collins returned with a thank-you post that did more than acknowledge sympathy. She wrote, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for every message, every prayer, every kind word,” then added, “I’m reading them all and getting back to everyone slowly. Please bear with me. Some moments I feel okay, and then it comes in waves.” For readers following her post on Instagram, that is the practical update: she is not stepping back from contact, but she is doing it in stages.
She also shared an image of a small shrine she had made with a photograph of her and Joan, flowers, candles and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Gemma Collins's Mum sits behind the public grief here: a daughter building a private space to answer messages, manage condolences, and keep one foot in routine while the other is still in shock.
Jess Wright and Carol Wright
Jess Wright and Carol Wright moved quickly into the comments, giving the post a smaller but important signal of support from people close to Collins’ television world. Wright wrote, “Love you.” Carol Wright added, “Thinking of you, your mum will be with you all the time. Never forget the love you had between you and your mummy.” Those replies matter because they show the response is not just broad sympathy; it is also immediate, named, and visible on the same feed where the news was broken.
Collins added a more unusual detail when she said, “A butterfly has been with me constantly, appearing wherever I go. It brings me a sense of peace, and in my heart I truly feel it’s my mum letting me know she’s close, watching over me, and reminding me that love never really leaves us.” She also said, “Thank you all for holding me up with your kindness. It means more than you’ll ever know. She loved @paulmccartney and the @thebeatles I’m finding lots of healing listening to the music.” The contradiction is plain: she describes grief arriving in waves, yet she also treats the butterfly as a reassuring sign that Joan is still near.
At 45, Collins is dealing with a public loss while still controlling the pace of her replies, and that is the most useful thing for readers to take from the post. She is answering messages slowly, not closing the door on them, and the thread around Joan now sits between mourning, memory and a small, deliberate routine of responding to people one message at a time.
