Something very odd has been happening since Katie Hopkins departed the confines of the Celebrity Big Brother house and returned to her family home in Exeter.
The postman, usually weighed down by a hefty pile of hate mail and even death threats, is now bringing a very different type of letter to Katie's door – fan mail.
No one could have predicted, not even Katie herself, that when she walked into the CBB house as its most hated contestant ever, she would leave as the runner up, and with a different public perception.
That's not to say that, by some miracle, Katie has suddenly become liked by the masses, but her softer and more vulnerable side aired on the show has certainly won over some former Katie-haters.
The just turned 40-year-old said: "I usually get hate mail or the odd death threat, but now I'm being sent fan mail and kind things. I never expected that.
"I went in as the most hated housemate of all time. That's the territory I own as I'm blunt.
"I thought I'd be evicted first and even had plans from mid-January to do other things. It was peculiar to find myself in the final.
"My poor mum and dad are very private people so that's quite hard for them as it's in their face. But as it turns out, I've come out of it not too badly.
"It's also been good for my friends who have said people say, 'How can you be friends with that Katie Hopkins?'. People have now seen a different side.
"My children haven't seen any of it. The language, for one, they would hear is just not my thing."
This year's show was one of the most explosive and expletive ever, and Katie certainly added fuel to the fire.
"I never knew a bunch of 'celebrities' could be so self-obsessed, self-absorbed, needy and complaining," she said. "They had all these vitamin tablets and 'specialist' needs. We had the doctor called to the house every other day for ridiculous things.
"I wanted to get hold of them and stick them on a night shift for 13 hours and see how they got on. I had no tolerance for them.
"In the house I was quite blunt and would just say 'stop it' or 'you're really p****** me off'. It was quite refreshing and I've had to check myself a couple of times since coming out when I've been that blunt again."
During her time in the house, Katie also made some friends, despite insisting that's what she wasn't there to do.
"I'm still in touch with Calum and Michelle," admits Katie. "I would never ask for some weird friendship, but I hope if we were in the same place we would meet up and fall back into having a laugh. I'm not after famous friends or celebrity friends; I've got my friends here and I'm happy with that."
One person she definitely won't be seeing again is Perez Hilton who she described as "a real piece of work", and compared living with him to having thrush in her exit interview.
Katie also doesn't have anything good to say about the show winner, Katie Price, who entered 10 days after everyone else.
"It was odd she won," admitted Katie, who hasn't watched any footage from the show or anything else she has ever been in. "She didn't do anything and even admitted she was boring."
Since leaving the CBB house, Katie has been thrust back into chat shows, interviews and writing her column for The Sun. It has barely left much time for her to enjoy being back at home in Exeter, but it seems Katie wouldn't have it any other way.
The mother-of-three children – India, 10, Poppy, nine, and Max, six – said: "Exeter is my escape from everything and it's a safe place for my children who live and go to school here.
"I've always said that work matters to me. I like the fact my children know that as a mum you can still do that. It's a good example to children you're working hard and they know there's a clear link that nice schools need to be paid for and where the money comes from."
Katie, who went to Exeter University and later joined the Met Office but was dismissed after being in series three of the reality TV show The Apprentice, has long debated going on CBB, but finally relented because of what she would earn.
"I've been asked maybe four or five times and have been putting it off or saying no," admitted Katie. "It came to the point where I recognised that my husband does a normal job and there was only so much time to earn what I'm earning, so I thought just get on with it, earn the money and that's paid for some school fees for the children or whatever.
"I suppose I'm glad I did do it as it worked out fine. If I had come out to boos it still would have been fine as it would have been the status quo.
"Looking back, at least I was fortunate the edit allowed me to be perceived as relatively funny. At the end of the day it's just reality TV; it's not life and death."
However, Katie has proven the old Katie we love to hate is very much still there, with recent headlines ranging from her commenting on actress Uma Thurman's face saying "the plastic surgeon lied", to the Loose Women panel being branded "bullies" and "unprofessional" over a televised row.
"They just went for it, but it hasn't gone so well for them" said Katie, referring to the Loose Women incident. "It's funny to see them in such a flap."
And Katie was at it again when she appeared on The Wright Stuff and saw a photograph of Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton in a newspaper and called her "chubby".
Katie said: "The picture was below a rubbish story, and all I said was they should have dropped the rubbish story and done a bigger spread about Atomic Kitten as they had got a bit chubbier of late, and they were not so much kittens but more fat cats. That's all I was saying.
"My sense of humour is not necessarily the same as everyone else's. Women do get awfully uptight about the weight thing. Offence is taken about so many things. People need to man up a bit and stop tippy-toeing around."
So what's in store for controversial Katie, and who will she upset next?
She said: "I also get lots of offers for different things. I don't have that much of a plan, but I'm definitely going to listen to ideas and see what seems the most attractive to me.
"What's important is, I would never, and have never, done anything just for the money. As long as it's true to what I think or believe in, I will do it. I couldn't pretend to be something I'm not."
I leave Katie to finish getting ready for her trip to Ireland for a chat show interview, and although I might not go so far as wanting to send her fan mail, I certainly have found myself in the 'like Katie' camp, and have to admit she is actually very funny, and even ever so slightly nice.
![Hate mail turns into fan mail for Exeter's Katie Hopkins]( "Hate mail turns into fan mail for Exeter's Katie Hopkins")
