Strictly Stacey – My dark past
She’s wiping the dance floor with the competition on Strictly Come Dancing, but Stacey Dooley’s life could have been very different
She’s all about the fun and sparkles on the Strictly dance floor, but there’s more to Stacey Dooley than a winning smile and some nifty footwork. In fact, the streets she was raised on couldn’t be further from the glitz of the show. Growing up in Luton, Bedfordshire, the 31-year-old says she was exposed to an environment where illegal substances and knife crime were pretty much a daily occurrence. Indeed, in a recent interview, the TV presenter –best known for her hard-hitting Stacey Dooley Investigates documentaries – made some shocking claims about her home town. ‘Drugs were always available when I was growing up in Luton. My pals did loads of gear. Everyone was taking pills and sniffing coke,’ she revealed. ‘Boys would take pills at school in their lunch break. I’ve witnessed people take heroin. A boy I went out with was heavily involved with dealing coke. I’ve seen it all.’
Stacey, who received an MBE for services to broadcasting earlier this year, even admitted that she lost a friend ‘to smack before his 18th birthday’.
The Strictly star’s mum, Di, split from Stacey’s dad when she was two, and moved from Liverpool to Luton to raise her child alone. As Stacey got older, Di became increasingly concerned about the place they’d chosen to
‘The thought of being totally out of control and not being able to claw myself back is not for me’
make a fresh start in.
It was around this time, in 1995, that an 18-year-old named Leah Betts hit the headlines for taking an ecstasy pill at a party. She died after five days in intensive care.
Stacey recalls her mum putting a picture of Leah on their fridge door to serve as a daily warning to her. ‘If you ever think about taking an E, remember what happened to her,’ she’d say.
But apart from going through, in her own words, a phase of shoplifting in her teens, Stacey was never one to break the law – unlike many of her pals, particularly where dabbling in drugs was concerned. ‘I haven’t even smoked weed – nothing. Drugs have always scared me. The thought of being totally out of control and not being able to claw myself back is just not for me.’
Life might easily have turned out differently for Stacey – who left school at 15 with no qualifications. But perhaps her tough upbringing and strong mum were the best preparation Stacey could have had for some of the insanely dangerous assignments she’s gone on in the name of television.
Since 2009, we have seen Stacey exploring unrest and fighting social injustices in far-flung locations, such as the Congo, Cambodia and Mexico, for her documentaries. In 2016, the flame-haired beauty was even held by police as she investigated child exploitation in Japan.
Closer to home, last year, Stacey made the jaw-dropping Kids Selling Drugs Online for BBC Three. During filming, she found dealers in the UK who were earning up to £300 a day – children, still in their school uniforms.
To investigate this frightening new generation of digital drug dealers, Stacey posed as a 15-year-old schoolgirl and went looking for drugs via social media channels such as Snapchat and Instagram.
‘ We are all obsessed with social media,’ she explained. ‘I’m addicted, and kids even more so. Now, just by using their phones, teenagers can get their hands on class A drugs in a matter of minutes. It’s so easy.’
‘A lot of it is teenagers selling openly to other teenagers. Some of the dealers are as young as 13. I was posing as a schoolgirl, and nobody had any qualms about selling to me. I was offered everything from pills and weed to cocaine and acid.’
Those who have ever watched Stacey in action will have witnessed firsthand how determined she is in some of the most dangerous situations you could imagine. Perhaps it’s all down to the lady she describes as an ‘absolute hero’ – her mum.
‘The thing I’ve taken most from [Mum] is her work ethic,’ Stacey has said of her. ‘She’s always worked really hard and, now, I try to do the same. If I’m ever lucky enough to have children, I want them to look at me and think, “Mum goes to work. Standard.”’
For now, though, while it may be difficult, it’s all about the fun as Stacey’s focus is perfecting her moves on Strictly. ‘My documentaries are harrowing, very straight and serious. That’s the work I love. But when Strictly came up, I thought, “Why not.”’
Two people will be very relieved that all Stacey is risking right now is a sprained ankle – mum Di and her other half, personal trainer Sam Tucknott. ‘My boyfriend is delighted. Mum is beside herself, too.’
One thing you can count on is that Stacey, without a shred of ego, will throw herself 100 per cent into everything she sets her mind to. This pocket rocket could go all the way!