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Stacey Dooley

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Stacey Dooley
MBE
Dooley at an event organised by War on Want in 2009 protesting against sweatshops
Born
Stacey Jaclyn Dooley

(1987-03-09) 9 March 1987 (age 37)
Luton, Bedfordshire, England
EducationStopsley High School
Occupations
  • Television presenter
  • journalist
  • media personality
Years active2008–present
EmployerBBC
Television
PartnerKevin Clifton (2019–present)
Children1

Stacey Jaclyn Dooley MBE[1] (born 9 March 1987) is an English television presenter, journalist, and media personality. She came to prominence in 2008 as a participant on the documentary series Blood, Sweat and T-shirts. Since then, she has made social-issue-themed television documentaries for BBC Three concerning child labour and women in developing countries.[2]

In 2018, Dooley published her debut book, On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back, which became a Sunday Times Bestseller.[3][4] That same year, she won the sixteenth series of the BBC One dancing competition show Strictly Come Dancing with her professional dance partner and now boyfriend Kevin Clifton. From 2019 to 2020, she presented the BBC Three reality show Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star. In 2024, Dooley made her stage debut in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story.[5][6]

Dooley was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.

Early life

[edit]

Stacey Jaclyn Dooley was born on 9 March 1987[4] in Luton, Bedfordshire.[7] Her father was from Ireland and left the family when she was two years old.[8][9] He was an alcoholic who died when Dooley was in her 20s, before they could reconcile.[7] She grew up in Luton and studied at Stopsley High School. She worked as a shop assistant, selling perfumes at Luton Airport. She also worked in a hairdresser's salon in Bramingham.[10] Dooley admitted to going through a short phase of shoplifting with her friends during her youth in Luton.[11] Around that time, she also dated a drug dealer.[12]

Career

[edit]

2008–2017: Career beginnings and Stacey Dooley Investigates

[edit]

Dooley first appeared on television in April 2008 when she travelled to India as one of the participants on the documentary television series Blood, Sweat and T-shirts.[13] Dooley and the other participants were selected to illustrate the typical fashion-obsessed consumer. Thanks to her appearance on the show, and partly because of her interest in labour laws in developing countries, a series was commissioned with Dooley as presenter. Stacey Dooley Investigates began in August 2009 and a two-part special was shown on BBC Three throughout August and September 2009. It also aired in Australia on ABC2 from 2 June 2010.[14] In October 2010, BBC Three aired two further programmes, the first on former child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the second on sex trafficking and underage sex slavery in Cambodia.[15] In 2011, BBC Three aired Tourism and the Truth: Stacey Dooley Investigates. Over two episodes, Dooley investigated how tourism in Thailand and Kenya affects employees there, in particular with regard to wages, corruption and environmental changes.[16] Dooley also presented the CBBC series Show Me What You're Made Of and spin off series Show Me What You're Made Of UK.[17]

Filmed in Dooley's hometown of Luton, My Hometown Fanatics was broadcast on BBC Three on 20 February 2012. In the programme, Dooley interviewed Islamists and the English Defence League. A three-part series titled Coming Here Soon was broadcast on BBC Three in June and July 2012, in which Dooley explored the lives of young people in three countries affected by the global financial crisis: Greece, Ireland and Japan.[18] The programme on Japan was criticised by some because it ignored the Samaritans guidelines on reporting of suicide.[19] While Dooley was in the United States in 2012, she created two series of Stacey Dooley in the USA where she investigated issues affecting teens across America such as: Girls Behind Bars, Border Wars, Homelessness and Kids in the Crossfire.[4] In 2015, Dooley created the documentary series Beaten By My Boyfriend where she investigated domestic abuse within the UK.[20]

In 2016, Dooley presented Stacey Dooley in Cologne: The Blame Game, about the 2015 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany, which aired on 29 January. She also presented Stacey Dooley: Hate and Pride in Orlando where she travelled to Orlando, Florida in the aftermath of the Pulse Bar shootings. On 30 July, Dooley appeared on the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind where her specialist subject was the television series Girls.[21]

In November 2016, Dooley appeared in a BBC Three series Brainwashing Stacey, where she went to a US anti-abortion summer camp and then to some African big-game hunters. Stacey also made a documentary Sex in Strange Places for which she travelled to Turkey, Brazil and Russia to explore people's different attitudes towards sex and prostitution.[4]

In December 2016, Dooley was stopped by police in Tokyo while filming Young Sex For Sale In Japan, a documentary about child sexual exploitation in that country. She was held on the street for two hours by police who were investigating their confrontation with two men "protecting" some of the girls, who had called the police on the film crew. After initially being confronted by two men who demanded "no movies", the pair tried to use physical force against the film crew to make them leave the area. The story was released a few days before the programme was made available in February 2017.[22]

In 2017, Dooley presented CBBC's The Pets Factor. She also presented the documentary Canada's Lost Girls in March 2017 in which she travelled across Canada investigating the various factors which played a part in the disappearance and murder of over 1,200 Indigenous women. Dooley narrated the documentary The Natives: This Is Our America where she investigated the lives of young Native Americans and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.[23]

2018–present

[edit]

In April 2018, Dooley took part in a BBC show, Celebrities on the NHS Front-line, to celebrate the 70th birthday of the National Health Service. In the 2018 series of Stacey Dooley Investigates, she travelled to Russia, Florida, Iraq and Hungary to explore more challenging issues such as child exploitation, sex offenders, war, domestic violence, pollution in the fashion industry and coming face-to-face with an ISIS soldier for which she won a One World Media Award. The episodes of this series won the title of the Most Watched Documentaries on BBC iPlayer.[4]

Dooley published her first book in February 2018, Stacey Dooley, On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back. The book has topics concerning sex trafficking, domestic violence, sex equality and child exploitation and became a Sunday Times Bestseller.[4] She also had her own UK book tour, hosted by Viv Groskop.[24]

Dooley was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.[25] In 2012, and again in 2015, Dooley was a member of the judging panel for The Observer Ethical Awards.[26]

On 16 August 2018, Dooley was announced as the eighth contestant to take part in the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[27] On 15 December 2018, she won the series with her dance partner Kevin Clifton.[28] Following her win, shortly afterwards the BBC announced Dooley as co-presenter of New Year Live on BBC One, with another Strictly 2018 contestant, Joe Sugg.[29] She also took part in BBC One's Children in Need where she explored the number of homeless young people in the UK.[4]

In 2019, Dooley was named as Grazia's new contributing editor for investigations.[4] She appeared on The National Television Awards 2019 and presented BBC's The Nine To Five With Stacey Dooley and The One Show. Dooley took part in The 2019 Strictly Come Dancing Arena Tour throughout the UK.[30] Dooley then began presenting the BBC Three reality competition series Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star.[31] In July 2019, it was announced that Dooley would be a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK.[32] In August 2019, she released the documentaries Stacey Meets the IS Brides and Stacey Dooley: Face to Face with The Bounty Hunters which became the most watched documentary on BBC IPlayer.[33]

In 2020, Dooley appeared in Jessie Ware's music video for "Save a Kiss" and the game show Michael McIntyre's The Wheel.[34]

In 2021, Dooley, with Turi King, presented the BBC programme DNA Family Secrets which helps people solve family mysteries regarding their ancestry, missing relatives and genetic diseases.[35]

In 2022, Dooley competed in series 2 of The Masked Dancer as Prawn Cocktail.[36]

In April 2024, it was announced that Dooley would be making her stage debut as Jenny in 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Gielgud Theatre. Her final show was in August of that year.[37]

Personal life

[edit]

Dooley is a feminist and has made documentaries regarding gender equality.[38]

Since early 2019, Dooley has been in a relationship with her Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Kevin Clifton.[39] In August 2022, Dooley confirmed via Instagram that she was expecting a baby with Clifton.[40] In January 2023, she gave birth to their daughter.[41]

Controversies

[edit]

Dooley was criticised in January 2019 for falsely portraying a Turkish woman as a Syrian sex worker living in Istanbul in her series Sex in Strange Places. The misrepresentation led to the Turkey episode of the documentary being removed from BBC iPlayer.[42]

Dooley was criticised in February 2019 after she posted photos holding a Ugandan child[43] on her Instagram account during a trip to Uganda organised by British charity Comic Relief. Dooley was accused on social media of reinforcing white saviour stereotypes. British MP David Lammy tweeted in response to a news story about Dooley: "The world does not need any more white saviours. As I've said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes. Let's instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate."[44]

Ugandan campaign group No White Saviours wrote on Dooley's Instagram: "White saviourism is a symptom of white supremacy and something we all have to work together to deconstruct."[45] Gaby Hinsliff, a columnist at The Guardian wrote: "The sight of celebrities making weepy 'personal journeys' towards understanding poverty has begun to feel more and more crass, especially where it overshadows the people whose experiences they're meant to be understanding in the first place."[46] Dooley told The Guardian she had no regrets over the incident.[47] In June 2019, Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis told members of the British Parliament that the charity would stop sending celebrities abroad as a consequence of the controversy.[48]

Honours and awards

[edit]

Dooley was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.[49]

In 2018, the programme Stacey Dooley: Face to Face with ISIS received the Popular Features Award at the One World Media Awards.[50]

Filmography

[edit]

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2008 Blood, Sweat and T-shirts Participant
2009–present Stacey Dooley Investigates Presenter
2011–2017 Show Me What You're Made Of
2012 Coming Here Soon 3 episodes
Superstorm USA: Caught on Camera Narrator
2012–2014 Stacey Dooley in the USA Presenter 2 series
2015 Beaten by My Boyfriend Documentary
Celebrity Mastermind Contender 1 episode
O'Brien Guest
2015–2016 The Wright Stuff Guest Panellist 5 episodes
Don't Tell the Bride Presenter 4 episodes
2016 Brainwashing Stacey
Sex in Strange Places 1 series
Stacey on the Frontline
2017 The Natives: This is Our America Narrator
2017–2018 The Pets Factor Presenter Series 1–4
2019 Face To Face With Armageddon Documentary
Strictly Come Dancing Contestant Winner of sixteenth series with Kevin Clifton
Young and Homeless Presenter Documentary
Fashion's Dirty Secrets
2018–2020 The One Show Guest Presenter 8 episodes
2019 RuPaul's Drag Race UK Guest 1 episode
Would I Lie to You?
Have I Got News for You
Panorama Presenter 2 episodes
2019–2020 Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star Series 1-2
2019–2021 The Last Leg Panellist 6 episodes
2019–present Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over Presenter Also producer
2020 The Wall Contestant 1 episode
EastEnders: Secrets from the Square Presenter 14 episodes
Stacey Dooley: On the Psych Ward Documentary
2021 This Is MY House Series 1; 6 episodes[51]
DNA Family Secrets 3 episodes[52]
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C Contestant Series 4, Episode 4[53]
Back on the Psych Ward Presenter Documentary[54]
2021–2022 The Wheel Contestant 2 episodes
Loose Women Guest
2022 Two Daughters Presenter Documentary
Stalkers Two-part series[55]
Inside the Convent Documentary[56]
Hungry for It Cookery competition series[57]
The Masked Dancer Prawn Cocktail / Contestant Series 2
Blankety Blank Panellist Series 19, Episode 6
Celebrity Lingo Contestant 1 episode
Celebrity Catchphrase
2023 Michael McIntyre's Big Show Guest Series 6, Episode 5[58]
Stacey Dooley: Ready for War? Presenter One off[59]
Stacey Dooley: Inside the Undertakers One off[60]
2023– Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over USA Also producer[61]
2025 Stacey Dooley: Shoplifting Upcoming documentary[62]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Stacey Dooley (2018). On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78594-299-0.
  • Stacey Dooley (2023). Are You Really OK?: Understanding Britain's Mental Health Emergency. BBC Books. ISBN 978-1785947032.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "STRICTLY COME DANCING Winner Kevin Clifton Stars In ROCK OF AGES At The Belgrade Theatre". Broadway World. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  2. ^ Kellaway, Kate (13 August 2017). "Stacey Dooley: 'People tell you to eff off all the time'". The Observer. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ^ "On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back". Goodreads. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Agency biography". Curtis Brown. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Stacey Dooley 'so excited' for acting debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story". BBC News. 20 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  6. ^ Christina (23 April 2024). "Stacey Dooley Is Joining the Cast of 2:22 A Ghost Story". London On The Inside. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b Hattenstone, Simon (29 July 2019). "Stacey Dooley: 'Some people don't understand why I'm on TV. But I deserve to be there'". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Twitter [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "John Boland: Wide-eyed Stacey puts our most acclaimed economists to shame". Independent.ie. 8 July 2012.
  10. ^ Coming Here Soon, 26 June and 3 July 2012
  11. ^ Bryant, Tom; Jefferies, Mark (15 December 2018). "Stacey Dooley's mum put photo of ecstasy victim Leah Betts on fridge to warn Strictly winner off drugs". Daily Mirror.
  12. ^ "Strictly Stacey My dark past". best. 6 November 2018.
  13. ^ "BBC Thread: Blood, Sweat and T-shirts". BBC. London. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  14. ^ "ABC2 Programming Airdate: Stacey Dooley Investigates (episode one)". ABC Television Publicity. 1 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Sex Trafficking in Cambodia". BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  16. ^ "BBC Three – Thailand: Tourism and the Truth – Stacey Dooley Investigates". BBC. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  17. ^ "CBBC - Show Me What You're Made Of: UK". BBC. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  18. ^ "BBC Three – Coming Here Soon, Greece, Bust and Broken, Coming Here Soon Trail". BBC. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  19. ^ Akins, Chris (24 July 2012). "The BBC3 documentary that broke all the rules on reporting suicide". New Statesman. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  20. ^ "Beaten by My Boyfriend". BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Celebrity Mastermind". BBC. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  22. ^ "BBC Three's Stacey Dooley held by Japanese police". BBC. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  23. ^ The Natives: This Is Our America, retrieved 27 October 2018
  24. ^ "An Evening with Stacey Dooley | Lyric Theatre, London". Nimax Theatres. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  25. ^ "Stacey Dooley: I owe my MBE to my mum and all the women who inspire me". BBC News. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  26. ^ "Stacey Dooley, campaigner and TV presenter". The Observer. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
    - "Observer Ethical Awards 2015: judges". The Observer. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  27. ^ Frances Taylor (16 August 2018). "Stacey Dooley revealed as eighth Strictly Come Dancing star". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  28. ^ "Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton win Strictly Come Dancing 2018". BBC News. BBC. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  29. ^ "Stacey Dooley and Joe Sugg take One Step Beyond the ballroom as they join Madness at this year's New Year's Eve celebrations on BBC One". BBC Media Centre. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  30. ^ "BBC Three – Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star, Series 1". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  31. ^ Warner, Sam. "Strictly Come Dancing's Stacey Dooley announces exciting new TV series". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  32. ^ Sutton, Megan (31 July 2019). "Lorraine Kelly and Stacey Dooley have landed the dream job on RuPaul's Drag Race UK". Good Housekeeping. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  33. ^ Preskey, Natasha (1 August 2019). "Stacey Dooley meets the bounty hunters: 'Hunting fugitives is like popping a pimple'". BBC Three. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  34. ^ "Michael McIntyre's The Wheel". BBC. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  35. ^ "DNA Family Secrets". BBC. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  36. ^ Mitchell, Harriet (19 September 2022). "The Masked Dancer's Stacey Dooley opens up about taking part on the show while pregnant". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  37. ^ "Stacey Dooley and James Buckley to star in 2:22 A Ghost Story in the West End". WhatsOnStage.com –. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  38. ^ Dray, Kayleigh (15 January 2019). "Stacey Dooley: Women can like make-up and still be intellectual". Stylist. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  39. ^ Earp, Catherine (29 July 2019). "Strictly Come Dancing winner Stacey Dooley talks about her relationship with "amazing" Kevin Clifton". Digital Spy. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  40. ^ "Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton announce they are having baby four years after winning Strictly Come Dancing". news.sky.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  41. ^ Battison, Jessica (17 January 2023). "BBC Strictly's Stacey Dooley gives birth to baby with Kevin Clifton as she announces gender and name". MyLondon. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  42. ^ "BBC series falsely portrays Turkish beggar as Syrian refugee". DailySabah. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  43. ^ Non-loginwalled link at bibliogram.pussthecat.org: "Stacey Dooley on Instagram: "OB.SESSSSSSSSSSED 💔"". Instagram. Retrieved 11 June 2019. [verification needed]
  44. ^ "'White saviour' row: David Lammy denies snubbing Comic Relief". The Guardian. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  45. ^ Kampala, Patience Akumu (3 March 2019). "Charity at heart of 'white saviour' row speaks out". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 11 June 2019. [verification needed]
  46. ^ Hinsliff, Gaby (28 February 2019). "'White saviours' belong in the 1980s. Let's keep them there". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 June 2019. [verification needed]
  47. ^ Brown, Mark (24 May 2019). "Stacey Dooley 'would do the same' after Comic Relief row". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022. "The little boy was a sweetheart. We spent time with his granddad. We were there for two and a half days in that village. We asked if we could have a picture. We asked if we could use the picture. I feel content with my behaviour." "I never really had a conversation with David Lammy. He never picked up the phone. He never came to me and said: 'Can I have 20 minutes of your time? I'd love to tell you what my concerns are. I'm a reasonable, rational woman. I would have sat down and listened to what he had to say."
  48. ^ Johnson, Jamie (11 June 2019). "Comic Relief will stop sending celebrities abroad in wake of 'white saviour' racism row, Richard Curtis tells MPs". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 June 2019. [verification needed]
  49. ^ "Order of the British Empire". London Gazette. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  50. ^ "2018 Winners". One World Media. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  51. ^ "This Is My House". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  52. ^ "DNA Family Secrets". bbc.co.uk. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  53. ^ "The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2021 line-up: Full list of celebrities confirmed for Stand Up to Cancer special". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  54. ^ "Back on the Psych Ward". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  55. ^ "Stacey Dooley to present new BBC Factual series Stalked (w/t) for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  56. ^ "Inside the Convent". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  57. ^ "Hungry for It Show". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  58. ^ "Michael McIntyre's Big Show". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  59. ^ "BBC Factual announces Stacey Dooley: Ready for War? a one-off documentary for BBC Three and iPlayer". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  60. ^ "BBC Factual commissions new documentary, Stacey Dooley: Inside The Undertakers". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  61. ^ "Families and communities revealed for second series of Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over USA on W and UKTV Play | News | UKTV Corporate Site". corporate.uktv.co.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  62. ^ "BBC announces new Stacey Dooley commission as she is honoured with Grierson Trustees' Award". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
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