She charmed families up and down the country after inviting them into her living room as part of Gogglebox.
Yet reality star Scarlett Moffatt has sparked anger among Strictly Come Dancing insiders after it was announced she will appear in its Christmas special.
For having agreed to swap the sofa for the ballroom, it has transpired she already has a vast dancing history – and was even trained by one of the show’s judges, Anton Du Beke, as a child.
Ms Moffatt, 35, is now favourite to win the festive glitterball, prompting those connected with the BBC series to claim her casting is ‘extremely unfair’.
One Strictly insider said: ‘Scarlett is a trained dancer, she is so good at it, and spent much of her childhood actually doing ballroom and Latin dancing.
‘Anton even helped her, and now he will be judging her against others – it all feels very unfair. She will surely be the runaway winner and then the BBC will be desperate to sign her for the 2026 series.
‘How would you feel if you were one of the others?’
Before finding fame on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, Ms Moffatt was a gifted dancer, winning many competitions across the UK. She previously admitted that she would have an ‘unfair advantage’ if she ever did Strictly.
Writing in her autobiography My Life Story: Sofa, So Good! in 2017, she said: ‘I’d love to go on Strictly but I just don’t think they’d let me on. I’m basically a ringer, as I’ve danced against some of the professionals in competitions when I was younger.’
Despite that, friends of County Durham-born Ms Moffatt, who won ITV reality show I’m A Celeb in 2016, said she is excited to take part in the Christmas special.
She will be paired with pro dancer Vito Coppola and appear alongside the likes of former All Saints singer Melanie Blatt and ex-Westlife star Brian McFadden.
There is speculation that the show, to air on Christmas Day, will serve as a ‘test run’ for her to eventually take part in the next full series in the autumn.
After winning I’m A Celeb, Ms Moffatt became one of the most sought-after women in TV, and went on to star on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and the I’m A Celeb spin-off show.
She also starred in Channel 4 documentary series The British Tribe Next Door, in which she and her family lived in a purposely built house next to the Himba people in Namibia. It prompted accusations of racism, exploitation and perpetuating colonialist, condescending tropes.
