Strictly Come Dancing star Saffron Barker wants the chance to do I’m A Celebrity to prove she’s not a “dumb blonde”.
The YouTuber, 22, who has almost 2.5million subscribers, reckons she gets dismissed for her age and looks.
Saffron says: “People assume I’m a young, dumb blon-de – I get that all the time. And so I enjoy proving I’m not the sort of person people expect me to be.
“I would love to do I’m A Celebrity and go outside my comfort zone and challenge myself.”
READ MORE: Strictly’s Neil Jones announces he’s engaged and expecting baby with Love Island star
Saffron is already testing her mettle on the current series of Celebrity Hunted, in which she goes on the run pursued by a crack team of elite hunters alongside other famous faces including comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster.
(Image: Stewart Cook/PictureGroup for Hulu/REX/Shutterstock)
She is paired with maths whizz Bobby Seagull and in the first episode, chief hunter Lisa Theaker described them as “two ends of the intellectual spectrum”.
But Saffron reckons she proves Lisa wrong as the show continues.
“Their opinions change as it goes on,” she says.
“Bobby is a genius but I consider myself quite street smart. I was actually quite surprisingly good. We did very well.”
That’s not to say she didn’t take the risk of being snared for her absolute essentials.
“I did actually risk getting caught for a Nando’s,” she laughs, adding, “I went many days without and there’s not many days I go without Nando’s, so I thought, ‘Why not?’
“There’s no good excuse I can give, I was just craving it.
“I also risked getting caught for a spray tan one day as well but some things have got to be done.” While it’s not shown in the series, Saffron tricked the hunters by working out they were listening in to her phone calls when they kept following her and Bobby to their destinations.
She then arranged to meet her parents at a particular roundabout in her home town of Brighton – and got dropped off somewhere completely different.
“It did work,” she says. “The hunters did go to the roundabout where my parents were and were waiting there for such a long time and we never turned up.”
Strictly head judge Shirley Ballas recently revealed she is hesitant to return for the new series after suffering trolling during the last run.
The 62-year-old said she was in tears after hate messages accused her of ageism and sexism and made cruel jibes about her appearance.
Saffron, who got to the final six in the 2019 series, reckons Strictly would be worse off without Shirley but understands how hard it’s been for her. She says: “I think the show would not be the same without her. When I think of Strictly, I think of Shirley.
“At the same time the show’s going to be successful, but I do feel a part of it would be missing without her.
“My experience of Strictly was amazing but being trolled online is such a horrible thing. You can’t explain it until it happens to you. It’s easier said than done to ignore it.
“So I just feel for her that it happens to her so much. I get her reasons for not wanting to do it.”
But Saffron is looking forward to seeing former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli join the Britain’s Got Talent panel.
He is replacing David Walliams, following audio leaking of the comedian mocking contestants.
“I am so here for that in every way,” says Saffron.
“That show needs a new lease of life and he has so much energy. He brings energy but he’s still honest and I think that’s what a perfect judge should be.”
● Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up To Cancer airs tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 4.
READ NEXT:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
