I’m finally happy in my own skin, if people hate my body that’s their problem, says Scarlett Moffatt
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THIS time last year, Scarlett Moffatt made herself a promise.
The former Gogglebox star and I’m A Celeb winner resolved to put years of battling self-esteem issues behind her and embrace every bit of her body — including her so-called “boob gap”.
Scarlett has kept to her word and today she has never felt happier.
The 32-year-old says: “The thing with body confidence is it’s quite an easy thing to pick on and target yourself over. If you’re not happy in other parts of your life, you’ll convince yourself, ‘I’d be happier if I had littler arms or a six-pack’.
“Whereas when you work on what’s inside and find happiness with life in general, you realise it’s not a ‘you’ problem. If other people find your body such an issue, it’s a ‘them’ problem.
“I feel like I’m finally in a place where I’m very chill. Everything has clicked together.
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“I’ve learned to be kinder to myself and I think it’s the first time I can genuinely say I feel really confident.”
Scarlett has become an important voice in the body positivity movement, but her journey to self-acceptance has not been easy.
She knows only too well the pressures women can face to conform to often impossible beauty standards.
She says: “We are constantly bombarded. I saw something the other week saying that ‘skinny chic’ from the Nineties was back in and I was like, ‘Noooo!’. What are we going back to that for?
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“Bodies aren’t ‘trends’ like clothes. And as soon as you accept this is what you look like, life becomes a lot easier. Everyone has a different shaped body and that’s fine.”
She adds: “I try to do everything in moderation. I genuinely love going on walks, but I also really like pizza.”
Scarlett is happy to see the fashion industry catching up and including all shapes and sizes, although she says some brands still have a way to go.
She says: “I’d be lying if I said it was perfect, but there’s definitely more choice than even three years ago.
‘Given up on men’
“There are some amazing inclusive places like Never Fully Dressed and Asos. Even Topshop on Asos is getting there and I never thought I’d see the day you could get a pair of Topshop jeans whatever your size. So things are definitely getting better.”
This year Scarlett celebrates ten years in TV, a decade on from her debut on MTV’s Beauty School Cop Outs.
Gogglebox, the show which really launched her, arrived the following year and she went on to win I’m A Celebrity in 2016, becoming the nation’s new sweetheart in the process.
Last year she made an acclaimed Channel 4 documentary about the rise in Tourette’s and has also completed five series of her BBC podcast, Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe, which she records with boyfriend Scott Dobinson. She first met Scott, 34, a police officer, when she was 17 and he came back into her life four years ago, at a time when she’d sworn off relationships following a series of heartaches.
“I was defeated, I’d proper given up on men,” she says. “When Gogglebox started I quickly realised a lot of them maybe just wanted to be on Gogglebox.
“I can laugh about that now, but at the time it felt catastrophic because I thought I’d never find someone who just wanted me for me.
“I think that’s where my self-esteem got a knock, because I was with someone [hairdresser Luke Crodden] for a long time and we moved to London. But as soon as we split up, he applied for every show under the sun. And the ex before Scott [Lee Wilkinson] — he went on Take Me Out.
“So it was very obvious what their intentions were and I just gave up.
“My best friend is the drag queen Emma Royd — Liam — and I said, ‘That’s it, I’ll marry Liam, and then Scott came back . . . ”
Scarlett was reluctant to go on a date with him, but agreed after encouragement from her mum, Betty.
She says: “I didn’t want to get my heart broken again. But we’re four years in now and he is such a kind person.
“If I can give any advice to younger people, it would be to choose someone who’s kind. For so long I thought drama was what relationships were like.
“But with Scott, we go out, have food and then we come home and it’s lovely.”
There has been talk of marriage, but Scarlett says she is still waiting for Scott to pop the question.
“We used to talk about it, but then — because we moved house — it went on the backburner,” she says. “I don’t want to be too pushy about it, but I do hint a lot.”
There is barely time for wedding planning anyway as this year is set to be one of Scarlett’s busiest.
There are plans for more documentaries with Channel 4, while her new BBC show, Scarlett’s Driving School, starts this spring. One programme she definitely will not be appearing on though is I’m A Celebrity All Stars, the spin-off series featuring legendary campmates from the past 20 years.
“You couldn’t get me on that,” she says. “The year I was in with Joel Dommett and Larry Lamb was the best time.
“That’s the memory I want to keep. I want those happy memories of that amazing experience to live on for ever.”
Coming out of the jungle to a new level of fame was a shock and Scarlett has spoken before about the darker side of life in the spotlight — especially the toll that online trolling took on her.
She recently became an ambassador for Samaritans and these days simply replies to abusive messages with the charity’s helpline number. Scarlett adds: “We think of trolls as mythical creatures, but they’re people who are probably feeling really sad. If you’re projecting that much hatred on someone you don’t even know, your mind can’t be in the best place.
Keep having fun
“I think they probably need a hug and someone to chat to.
“I wish there could be something like Trolls Anonymous where everyone could go and sit and offload.”
Scarlett is also working with mobile network Three on its Reconnected campaign to collect old mobile phones, which it will revamp and distribute to disadvantaged people along with six months of unlimited data and calls.
She says: “More than ever, people want to help those who are struggling. And this campaign doesn’t need you to fork out money, you just need to donate your unwanted phones which are around the house doing nothing.”
Having conquered her New Year resolution from last year, I ask about this year.
Scarlett replies: “I always say I’m going to read more and then I’ll put the subtitles on the telly and say I’m technically reading more!
“But this year I’m definitely going to read more books.
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“Most of all, I just want to keep having fun. That’s the main thing — to carry on riding this mad old rollercoaster.”
- Scarlett has returned to her previous employer Three to inspire the nation to donate their old phones this winter. See . Scarlett’s Driving School will be on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this February.
