I was going to say he can barely read, but he wasn't quite that bad.

Still, it's not all that obscure a word, and it's not one that's weirdly spelled.

(I'd use the cute little "confused" smiley, if we still had it. I don't like the yellow ones.)

People have said his schooling was disrupted by the death of his mother. He seems quite bright, but obviously not a very fluent reader.

It wouldn't be the same if he didn't include at least one minor glip

My husband has dyslexia and he often gets names and words muddled up. I would expect a word like glimpses would come out all wrong if he was reading it.

I know that Joey exaggerates or sends up his persona, but I wouldn't like to think he was attention-seeking at the expense of someone else's much waited for message from home.

Yep He knew the cameras were rolling and realised it was time for another Joeyism

Dyslexia is a real possibility. Here's the Mirror quoting his sister Frankie:


I'm A Celebrity's Joey Essex is a fighter who overcame the death of our mum says sister Frankie

Note BTW that she says "reem" is a new word. (Something people were discussing in another thread.)

It's a multi-answer poll, BTW.

I taught both my children to read and write before they went to school ...But if Joey has dyslexia that will of been difficult

He suffers from dsylexia, so this might affect his ability to read.
I like Joey, seems like a top guy (he's alright on Towie but it's good to see him in a different environment) his letter was soo sad.

I really hope it's an act

Exactly, and no thought of who he was reading the message for! He really is so focussed on how he will be viewd he really couldn't care less about anyone else!

As much as I've criticised Joey on these forums, it's been said he has dyslexia and I'm not inclined to doubt it. There's no denying he lays on the thick act from time to time, but I doubt Joey would hijack a moment like the letters from home to play it up. Even he's not that fame hungry and ruthless re getting airtime.

I've been a critic of Joey due to the thick act, but that still doesn't take away from him being a very nice guy. He hasn't done anything mean, and he seems like a genuinely good lad.

I agree with you and said very much the same.

Joey gets a lot of dislike. He is not the brightest but he is harmless.

He has dyslexia and his Mums death occurred when he was in school. The combination of the two would not have been easy. I am happy he has made something of himself for his family. People posting, "he just wants to further his career, he cares about only himself". Far from the truth, his family have benefited greatly from TOWIE and so has he, good on him!

This ^^^^

Steve said that Joey doesn't have a bad bone in his body and I think that Steve was one of the most astute campmates in there. I found Joey's letter very sad as he is still so influenced by his mother's untimely death. He annoys the hell out of me with his "reem" and "sick" but I do agree with Steve that he's totally without malice.

I'm inclined to agree.

The "Dyslexia" item in the poll was originally an afterthought, almost a joke; but then I thought "Hmm. His problem with 'glimpses' is the sort of thing dyslexia might cause. I'd better have a look on the internet to see if it's said he has it."

From what I've read..Joey only recently found out his mother killed herself and this has affected him badly

but he spelt out g.l.i.m.p.s. before someone interrupted *confused*

I hadn't realised that. Losing his mother at such an early age must have devastated him and then if he's recently found out the truth then it must be even worse for him to cope with now. How incredibly sad and it makes his positivity all the more touching.

Thick as pig muck

I feel the same. Although I had heard of Joey Essex, I had never seen him on tv before this, and I've got to say, I think he's really quite a sweet guy, consistently good natured.

I don't think for one minute he mispronounced the letter deliberately, he obviously has a bit of a problem with reading, and he doesn't know some stuff, but in my opinion, he isn't thick at all.

I don't think he is. He had too much going on in his young life. He is catching up with it now.

I had only watched a couple of episodes of TOWIE (and decided that it was better entertainment chewing aluminium foil) so I didn't really know him but he has come across as a really decent chap. I agree that he isn't really "thick" but has had a disrupted education, complicated by dyslexia apparently, and an emotional rollercoaster. He is certainly emotionally intelligent judging from how he interacts with other campmates.

The fourth one down.

Joey is to blame for Joey's lack of education.

I said it before I believe he's quite intelligent, just one of those people who couldn't be bothered to learn when at school.