By Anna O'Donoghue
YouTuber Jack Maynard has broken his silence and apologised to fans for offensive tweets he sent in 2012.
The tweets, which prompted allegations of racism and homophobia, emerged while he was taking part in this year’s series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
The controversy led to him being removed from the TV show two days ago.
Yesterday, his 23rd birthday, he released a video titled “My Explanation” on his YouTube channel.
A video that shows him apologising to fans, thanking them for their incredible support and delivering an important message about online bullying.
“I’m so sorry to anyone I offended, anyone I upset and anyone I made feel uncomfortable,” he began.
"I've messed up, I've been really stupid in the past, I've tweeted some bad things some horrible things, some pretty disgusting things that I'm ashamed of."
Adding: “I was so careless and inconsiderate to other people, I was young, I was stupid, I was careless, I just wasn't thinking and this was back when I was in school.
“I was young back then, I had nothing, I wasn’t doing anything, and I know that’s not an excuse whatsoever.”
Jack went on to say that he hopes through his experience he can convince his millions of followers not to make the same mistake.
He said: "It's hard. Growing up online is hard and all I can do is beg and encourage that you guys don't make the same mistake."
"Don't put anything online you wouldn't say to your mum. Don’t write anything online that you wouldn’t write on a t-shirt”