Road to success
Scarlett Moffatt gears up to help other struggling drivers pass their tests
“I’ve failed my driving test 13 times,”reveals Scarlett Moffatt as she launches her very own driving school to help others who, just like her, are desperate to ditch the L-plates once and for all.
The Gogglebox star, 32, laughs about her difficulties behind the wheel but doesn’t mind admitting that she uses jokes to hide her true feelings. “I mask failing with humour,” she reveals.
Now, in new BBC show Scarlett’s Driving School, she’s helping serial test-failers learn to master their vehicles – with a little support from a very brave friend or relative.
But the star admits she struggles to find anyone to help her after her 13 unlucky fails.
Even her mum Betty and police officer boyfriend Scott Dobinson have opted out of the job.
“Me mam won’t teach us to drive, me boyfriend won’t teach us to drive,” she laments.
“But the fabulous thing about having your own driving school is that the professionals have to teach me to drive!”
In episode one, 24-year-old events manager Jess and her laid-back stepdad Richard come to Scarlett’s Teeside driving school for help.
And Scarlett immediately bonds with her first customer. She says, “I see so much of Jess in me. We use humour as a defence mechanism but I know deep down it’s actually killing her inside that she can’t pass.”
We also get to see Scarlett take her own lessons – but when she wrestles with even the basics, like left and right, it’s hard to imagine how she’ll manage making a three-point turn. At the end of each of the 30-minute episodes, Scarlett’s latest customer takes their test. We won’t reveal how they do, but she’s not wrong when she says the drive, lasting 30 to 40 minutes, can feel excruciatingly long.
The presenter laughs,“It feels like a road trip to the end of the Earth and back again!”
And while she’s determined to pass her own test this time, Scarlett admits there is something dauntingly grown-up about having a driving licence. Or, as she puts it, “It’s a scary word, adult!”
‘It feels like a road trip to the end of the Earth and back again!’