Siobhan Curham, the children's author who it was revealed helped YouTube star Zoe Sugg write her first novel Girl Online, has spoken out for the first time after fans reacted angrily on Twitter.

Zoe SuggZoe Sugg's book broke records for first week sales

Last week, Penguin and Sugg clarified earlier this week that Sugg, a beauty blogger and vlogger known as Zoella, had written her monumentally successful debut with the help of Curham. 

"For the doubters out there, of course I was going to have help from Penguin's editorial team in telling my story, which I talked about from the beginning," said Sugg on Sunday.

'Zoella' had been attacked online for failing to explicitly state that she had not written the book alone. On Monday, she announced to fans that she would be "taking a few days out and off the internet because it's clouding up my brain", adding that: "I AM NOT QUITTING YOUTUBE. Yet again, twisting stuff to gain views. Sad."

More: YouTube sensation Zoella breaks record for fastest selling debut novel

Curham, a noted author in her own right, had said she was "receiving messages from complete strangers accusing me of things that are a million miles from the truth", and that her family was "becoming furious and distraught at some of the comments about me on Twitter".

Writing on her blog, Curham said she had not written the book to "get rich" and reports suggest the ghostwriters for Girl Online were offered around £7,000. 

"I did not invite any of this attention upon myself.I'm not remotely interested in cashing in on someone else's fame".

"I love writing books and I love helping others write books. And I especially love being involved in the creation of books that help others. Books that deal with real and serious issues such as cyber-bullying, homophobia and anxiety. Books like Girl Online," wrote Curham.

In November, Sugg's Girl Online broke the record for the highest first-week sales since records began - 78,109 copies.