JENNY GILRUTH
There are things we should be angry about right now .. the Rape Clause, Universal Credit, Brexit .. my Kez going on a TV show isn’t one of them
STREWTH! Is she really ko-alified? So, my dear Kez is off to the jungle.
Quicker than you could throw a shrimp on the barbie, she jumped on a plane bound for Brisbane, deciding the snakes Down Under were preferable to the Holyrood variety. Fair dinkum.
A quick celebrity education had to be provided last week when Kez turned to me and said: “I don’t know who The Saturdays are.”
Having once had to explain to the Deputy First Minister what a “Burn” GIF was (don’t ask), I felt more than qualified to do so.
Kez is more of an Easties than a Corrie girl, however I think she’ll get on with Fiz ( Jennie McAlpine). There’s a chance that friendship will fare better than one with Boris Johnson’s dad Stanley - but who knows with reality TV? I’d imagine she’ll be able to pass the time discussing Hibs’s fortunes with Dennis Wise. Politically, Shappi Khorsandi is probably closest to Kez due to her Labour credentials.
Kez is the only Scottish person on the show this year. Will she have to do humiliating things? Probably. Will she have the opportunity to put her views across to a bigger audience than ever before? Undoubtedly. And will she be able to laugh her way through the whole experience? She’ll be apples, as they say in Oz.
Kez has an innate ability to talk to people and to genuinely listen. So she talked to new Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard before she went. She also talked to leadership contender Anas Sarwar. The news that she was to be taking part was leaked many days before it was supposed to be known.
I know Kez was upset about the way it affected Labour’s leadership announcement. And I know she was upset by some of the hurtful things written about her – how could she not be? The Labour Party certainly have challenges to face politically – it would be refreshing if that “real change” started with a bit of human decency.
Kez is calm in a crisisis – having fronted four elections and a referendum over the lastast two years, she’s had to be. And she’s still only 36. That’s some shift.
Importantly, Kez doesn’t take herself too seriously. As effective politicians know, you need to be able to laugh at yourself in this game. And given the political climate, a bit of light entertainment will be a welcome tonic. Here’s the thing most politicians and journalists forget – normal people are not like us. Normal people do not critique reality TV shows – they watch them for a laugh. That’s why we all watch Strictly. That’s why we all watch X Factor. That’s whyy we all watch Bake-Off. Bake Sequins, singers sin and sponges - It’s escapism, not rocket roc science. There T are things we should sho be angry about right righ now. The rape clau clause. Universal Credit. Cred Brexit. Kez going on a TV Show isn’t oneo of them – let’s get sosome perspective. And SScotland, let’s get behind #TeamKez!
Kez facts 1) She needs her daily coffee. Just ask Kirsty in the Holyrood coffee bar. 2) She snores VERY loudly. 3) She is often too kind to those that least deserve it. The last one is also one of her most endearing qualities – just watch how she conducts herself on the show.