Actress Kacey Ainsworth has revealed she wouldn't do a reality show like Strictly Come Dancing, because she has found it has been detrimental to other actors' careers. Speaking on the TV podcast Series Linked, she said: "It’s a great programme but it does shut more doors than it opens and it’s crazy, because you wouldn’t think that, but it does. You wouldn’t get any roles. You’d end up doing 'My Celebrity Dog’s Wotsits Are Bigger Than Your Celebrity Dog’s Wotsits'. I’ve had lots of friends who’ve said doing reality really flatlined their careers."
Kacey revealed she wouldn't do a reality show for fears it would damage her acting career
She later added: "Unless you want to do musicals and stuff and no one's ever seen you do anything like that before and you can sing, then that’s great. I only say that because I’ve had lots of friends who've been on it and they've all said to me that doing reality shows, not necessarily just Strictly, but doing reality shows has really flatlined their careers."
Strictly's 2017 winner, Joe McFadden, has previously revealed that the show didn't improve his acting career as he thought it would. Speaking to BBC News, he said: "Admittedly, Strictly didn't have the massive impact on my career that I thought it might. Maybe it's one of those slow-burners. And in five years' time, I'll see it's made a difference. But then, dancing on an entertainment show is so far removed from acting, why should it have had a massive effect?"
Joe McFadden has admitted Strictly didn't help his acting career
Kacey is perhaps best-known for playing Little Mo in EastEnders, but is currently starring in ITV detective drama Grantchester as Cathy Keating. On the podcast, she joked that she's still known as 'ex-EastEnders', despite leaving the soap in 2006. "So Sarah Lancashire, Suranne Jones, they never put ex-Corrie. But people like myself and Tracy-Ann Oberman who’ve left EastEnders and created extensive careers outside, we’re always with that moniker," she said. "But it doesn’t bother me that much."