Scarlett:
“There’s more to life than the way you look”
When it comes to body confidence, Scarlett Moffatt has had a tumultuous ride. She’s suffered intense public scrutiny over her weight in recent years, but the 29-year-old star – who recently admitted on a TV documentary that she has days where she doesn’t like what she sees in the mirror – tells Closer she’s finally getting to grips with loving her body and accepting herself for who she is. The star says, “However you look – whether you’re super slim, muscly or curvy – you’re not just the sum of your parts. You’ve got more value than the way you look. No one is going to lie on their deathbed, look back on their life, and go, ‘Oh my God, remember that time where I looked really fit?’ It’ll be the amazing achievements or the time spent with family and friends that matter.
“When it comes to my own body confidence journey, it’s making sure there are more positive days than negative. There are some days where I won’t feel great about myself, but the next day, I’ll feel good.”
Scarlett has taken this body-positivity message into her role as brand ambassador for the clothing retailer Peacocks, collaborating with the company to select an edit of fashionable outfits that are flattering for women of any size.
CONTROVERSY
Scarlett rose to fame on reality show Gogglebox and became a household name when she won I’m A Celeb! in 2016. She also made headlines that year for her dramatic weight loss, slimming down from a size 18 to a size 8 in just a few months and releasing a hit fitness DVD. But she faced controversy when it was claimed she’d lost the weight at an extreme boot camp in Switzerland, where she did six hours of exercise daily and only ate 700 calories a day.
She later admitted that she felt happiest at a size 12, and had “learned to embrace her curves” – but last summer Scarlett broke down in tears in an Instagram post when a vicious troll wrote her a letter calling her “atrocious” and “fat”. And when filming TV documentary The British Tribe Next Door last year, where Scarlett and her family lived alongside the Namibian Himba tribe, she cried as she admitted she sometimes couldn’t bear to look at her reflection in the mirror.
Now Scarlett says she’s put mechanisms in place to help her deal with the trolls and is learning to ignore their comments, rather than take them on board. She says, “I mute and block people who troll me. I try not to take it seriously now. I always think, ‘What sort of headspace must these people be in?’ Don’t feel bad for yourself; feel sad for the trolls, because they’re the ones sat at home typing this stuff.
“Ask loved ones what they love about you, instead. For example, my mum will be like, ‘I love your cheeks’ – normally I feel like I’ve got really chubby cheeks, but when my mum says it, I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, actually’.”
Scarlett previously told Closer that her heartache over trolling had been helped by boyfriend Scott Dobinson. She said, “I show Scott the negative comments and he’ll say, ‘Look at all the nice comments’.”
CARING
And Scarlett says she’s happier than ever with policeman Scott – who she started dating last year, after splitting with her ex Lee Wilkinson, who she branded a “pathological liar” – and that she loves his caring personality. She says, “My favourite thing about Scott is how kind he is. And he makes me laugh all the time – I feel like we