The public quickly learnt to love everything about Scarlette Douglas during her time on I'm A Celebrity last year. However, arriving at this point herself has been a lifelong battle.
In an exclusive interview with HELLO! to mark International Women’s Day, property's leading lady candidly discusses her struggles with body image and unrealistic ideas about achieving the 'perfect look'. Scarlette wants to use her platform to highlight the importance of every woman believing in themselves and celebrating their own beauty.
"I really struggled with body image and dysmorphia and I've had eating disorders," she confides. "I'm finally at a point where I love myself inside out. We, as women, look outwardly so much. We're always looking on Instagram or TikTok at these perfect people that aren't perfect and all these people do is airbrush or use filters. Instead, take a moment every day to look in the mirror and actually appreciate your body and what has been created in you."
Everyone fell in love with her on I'm A Celebrity this year
As a black woman, Scarlette now confidently champions her curves - but it was only when she watched herself back on A Place In The Sun that she learned to love the way she looks.
"It was having to watch myself on television. I came from a dancing background and you’ve got to be thin and everybody has got to look the same. I was never going to look the same as anybody else because, as a black female, I'm curvy. I'm not going to have the same shape as my white friends.
"I really had to get into the mindset of 'this is my body and I don't have to diet all the time because my body just naturally isn't like that'. The more I would watch myself on TV the more I would think 'Oh my God, the camera adds pounds' and 'Oh my God, look at my face'. Even now I'm still doing it to a certain degree but I've just got used to it. That's what I look like and this is what black women look like."
Everyone loves Scarlette from A Place In the Sun and I'm A Celebrity
Copyright: Limelight Creative
Scarlette's role models
Scarlette also shines a light on the powerful black women who inspire her and have won her heart from the celebrity world: Oprah Winfrey and This Morning's Alison Hammond. She especially admires Oprah's fantastic success.
"Oprah Winfrey had a very difficult upbringing and yet she’s now this incredible, powerful black woman that not only has had huge success in her TV career but owns her own network and has just smashed it," she says.
Oprah is her biggest female inspiration in the celebrity world
And she loves Alison's sense of fun and down-to-earth personality: "Alison Hammond is brilliant and I know her well, she is just so much fun! I love her because she’s herself and what you get off camera is what you get on camera and vice versa.
"That’s the sort of presenter I want to be. I want people to come up to me and get the same experience that they would have from watching me on television. Alison is definitely a big favourite of mine."
Scarlette's 'important' female network
In her own life, Scarlette ensures she surrounds herself with amazing women and relies on her girlfriends to give her the best advice, especially when it comes to love.
"I've got a really good female network," she says. "It's so important for me to have my girlfriends around me for many reasons, so I don't make any mistakes with dating the wrong guys. Everyone has a blind spot and it’s nice to have people you trust around you who tell you as it is and are truthful."
Alison Hammond is well-loved for her bubbly personality
Scarlette's mum dreams and breaking boundaries
Scarlette may have been unlucky in love so far, but one day dreams of finding a partner and having children.
"I think I would be a really good mum. Strict but fun, as I am with my niece and nephews. I really want to be there for my kids when they're growing up. It might be that I can't do it the conventional way and I’ve been thinking about potentially freezing my eggs because I am a career-driven woman. I don't want that pressure of, 'Oh, you're 40 now'."
With this career focus, Scarlette aims to break boundaries as a black female on TV.
"I've never really had a huge amount of trouble being a female in television. As a black female, though, I have noticed certain differences in treatment and that is frustrating. But it comes back to me still pushing those boundaries and knowing that I'm good enough regardless of what it is I look like and that I'm going to succeed despite what some people think."
MORE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY:
Michelle Obama's 10 most powerful quotes
Kate Moss reveals her life lessons and special way she uplifts women
Elizabeth Hurley reveals how motherhood transformed her life
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