I always thought Katie Hopkins was a "character", or at least an exaggerated version of herself (albeit a dangerous one) who - apart from appearing on The Apprentice - made a living writing inflammatory, click-baity articles on DM's website to get a reaction. She's always struck me as a bit too try-hard in her outrageousness. Of course I could be wrong.
DM Online also had a smug, sneery character who would always talk about how beautiful she was/how wonderful her life was, Samantha Brick, who seemed to run out of steam (or maybe just got bored of writing the same tiresome bullshit to wind up the female readership). She seemed very different as "herself" on Celebrity Big Brother.
I also view Liz Jones as a similar type - I'm pretty sure someone on Tattle (or Mumsnet?) said they overheard her telling someone her "real life isn't that bad, and she dramatises it for her column" (paraphrasing a bit).
Either way, glad neither of them (Katie and Samantha) are getting much attention these days.
Edit: This is seven years old now, but it's interesting that
Metro newspaper describe Samantha, Katie (and Helen Flanagan?!) as "deliberate media hate figure"s.