WOODY COOK ON HIS DELIGHT AT PROVING HIS FAMOUS PARENTS WRONG ON The Circle
‘THE CIRCLE’ STAR WOODY COOK TELLS ok!’s JOSIE COPSON ABOUT HIS GLEE AT PROVING HIS FAMOUS PARENTS WRONG, HIS ‘WEIRD’ UPBRINGING AND ALWAYS STAYING POSITIVE
He’s the eldest child of Strictly Come Dancing presenter Zoë Ball and DJ Fatboy Slim, but when Woody Cook talks to OK!, he’s down to earth and open about his privileged childhood.
‘My dad told me I was one in a million,’ says the 18 year old, who came out as bisexual in January. ‘He tells me that I’m really lucky and should never forget that.’
This September, Woody left his mum, dad and nine-year-old sister Nelly at home while he competed on the second series of Channel 4’s The Circle, hosted by Emma Willis. Despite admitting that his parents, who split in 2016, weren’t necessarily pleased about him joining the show, Woody was a hit with the public and came fifth, with Paddy Smith crowned the winner.
Here, Woody talks about growing up in the spotlight and feeling confident in his sexuality…
What did your parents think about you going on The Circle?
My family aren’t the biggest fans of reality TV. My parents were also used to the press saying negative things about the family and they really tried to keep me out of the papers as much as possible. So for me to now go on to reality TV – they were just like: ‘Why?!’ But then they found out about the show and knew some people who worked on it so they decided it was okay. Now they’re eating their words! It was great hearing them say they were wrong – I had the biggest grin on my face.
Have they helped you with how to handle the attention?
My parents prepared me my whole life with horror stories of paparazzi hiding at the end of their road. We’ve hidden from them a few times in my life, like running into the cinema with our hoods up. I was more prepared than most for this sort of thing.
Did your parents encourage you to make your own living?
Yeah, my dad was like: ‘Look Woody, you were born as one in a million. There are people out there who have nothing, it’s your job to share with them and earn your own cash.’ He said he’d support me but not throw cash at me because that’s how the world works. He tells me that I’m really lucky and should never forget that.
Were you disappointed not to win The Circle?
Not really. I would’ve felt guilty if I’d won because my parents are wealthy. If I’d gone home with the cash, people would have thought, oh look, the kid with the rich parents takes home more money when he doesn’t need it. I think there were more contestants that were more deserving of it.
What was it like with people not knowing who your parents were on the show?
It was refreshing. No one was trying to be my friend because they knew who my parents were, which I feel like certain people try to do.
Curtis from Love Island went on Good
Morning Britain and was questioned over labelling himself as bisexual – have you ever felt that pressure?
It’s not really a thing for me because I’m from Brighton and pretty much everyone’s bisexual in Brighton! Out of my friendship group of 15, there are only three straight people. Where I’m from it’s completely normal, so I’ve never cared about the labelling.
You always seem to be your true self
– is that something your parents have always encouraged?
My parents said they’d be proud no matter what I do. Then from a young age I realised people really liked me when I was weird and myself. I didn’t always have as many mates in school, but that was because I realised I wasn’t hanging around with the right people. We had quite a few cool people round the house growing up, it was awesome. They were my extended family. I used to do puppet shows with The Chemical Brothers!
Where do you get your positivity from? Neither of my parents! It’s my own trait. From a young age I knew there was a load of negativity in the world and there’s no point adding to it. If you’re always putting good energy out there, people like that and it’ll come back to you. Just smile and keep going.