SCARLETT’S RIGHT AT HOME FOR AN AFRICAN ADVENTURE GEORGIA HUMPHREYS

“In fact, about three weeks in, sometimes I’d wake up and, for about 10 seconds, I would genuinely forget I was in Namibia.

“And then I’d open the curtains and there would be a herd of goats in the garden!”

Here, Scarlett reveals more about the family’s

time in Namibia.

ON THE IDEA BEHIND THE BRITISH TRIBE NEXT DOOR...

IT’S like a cultural exchange. Our friends there can see exactly how we live, and we can see exactly how they live. A lot of my friends’ relatives, or people in other villages, are actually at a bit of a crossroads where some want to become a little more Westernised and move into the city. So, they were really interested to see if there was anything that they could learn from us, and vice versa.

ON THE CHALLENGES SHE FACED WHILE FILMING...

FOR me, it was body confidence. I made really close friends and to be asked to wear their traditional outfit is such a big honour. They’re so proud of their outfit – and they should be, because they look amazing.

But it’s hard for someone (who doesn’t) have the confidence, and I was just getting myself really worked up and upset.

We were all in my bedroom having a chat, and they were just like, ‘We wish we were as fat as you’.

If any of your other friends said that, you’d be like, ‘Excuse me!’ But it’s so endearing and powerful, because there’s no falseness – they don’t lie, that’s just not in their culture.

They were saying, ‘We wish we looked like you, because you look really strong and your family’s cattle would be really healthy’, and I was like, ‘That makes sense’, because I (wondered) why on earth would you think I looked nice, but I started to believe them towards the end, which was nice.

ON FRIENDSHIPS WITH THE TRIBE... ON HOW THE SHOW AFFECTED THE FAMILY...

AVA spends less time on her phone when she’s with us. She still sits on her phone a lot, she’s 13, but we have meals and mam will say ‘No phone zone’.

My mam cleans less, which sounds like a really bad thing, but sometimes we’ll go, ‘Oh, we’ll go for food’, and she’s like, ‘I’ve gotta clean up’ and I’m like, ‘Mam, that can wait’.

She doesn’t leave the house a tip, but now that doesn’t come first.

It was a bit intimidating (for Mark) at first, because our friends there are so powerful, such strong men.

I think my dad learned you just can’t judge a book by its cover, because they were so funny, sarcastic, witty. They had such a laugh. Appearances just don’t really tell you anything about someone.

JUST when you think you’ve seen it all, another groundbreakingly odd telly show comes along. The British Tribe Next Door sees TV presenter Scarlett Moffatt, her mum Betty, dad Mark, younger sister Ava, and their grandmother Christine, spend four weeks in Namibia, alongside seminomadic Himba cattleherders, who live largely traditional lives. But there’s a twist – Channel 4 built a replica of the Moffatts’ County Durham home in the remote Namibian village. It features the usual mod cons, running water and electricity, and the family’s possessions were even moved there too. “I think that was the strangest thing, because it felt like and smelled like our house,” recalls bubbly Geordie Scarlett, who first found fame on Channel 4’s Gogglebox alongside her parents, before winning I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016.

Scarlett with members of the Himba tribe at the replica of the Moffatts’ home sometimes when the translators weren’t there, we would have such a laugh; we’d make songs up, we’d just be singing.