http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWZomhHO7I8endofvid
[starttext]
By LIZ JONES
Doting: New queen of the jungle Stacey Solomon with her son Zach, two
The first words that flew out of Stacey Solomon’s wide mouth as she was parachuted from a plane to join the other celebrities in the Australian rainforest were typical: ‘I’m the luckiest girl in the world!’ No hysteria, no vanity, no cod heroics, just pure, unadulterated joy and gratitude.
There were no crocodile tears during the three weeks Stacey inhabited the I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! jungle; merely a desire to grasp life with both French-manicured hands.
‘Lord only knows I’m annoying, so thank you for having me,’ she said as she accepted her crown. And with those words, a brand-new star was born.
Why do I love Stacey? Can I count the ways? There is no artifice about her, no vanity at all — she described her special skill on entering the show as ‘talking’. No chip on those gloriously broad shoulders (unlike Cheryl Cole, who felt the need to tick off a contestant on The X Factor for daring to highlight her working-class roots).
When Stacey was crowned Queen Of The Jungle on Saturday night, having brought fellow finalist Shaun Ryder out of his shell (her presence was like a deliriously sunny, ripe peach placed under the nostrils of a particularly recalcitrant tortoise), she was shown clips of her best moments on the show, and could only exclaim how hideously unattractive she looked.
As she hugged the other stars, she warned them disingenuously about her dodgy breath. What a breath of fresh air (probably an inappropriate analogy) that here was a young woman, who, despite her working-class roots and hunger for fame, was not all about false eyelashes, It-bags, and finding fun in the bottom of a vodka shot.
Stacey Solomon: 'There is no artifice about her, no vanity at all'
She is an unlikely modern-day heroine, not least because she was born of that most vulgar of the decade’s inventions — reality TV. Yet unlike many so-called celebrities who have emerged from the same cocoon, she has remained as true to her working-class roots as the day she was born.
Before coming third on last year’s X Factor, she worked behind the counter at her local chippy, Oh My Cod. Stacey knows how hard real life can be, and does not want to go back to it. That’s why she is grateful for every opportunity her TV career gives her — even if it does mean eating the odd witchety grub.
Not for her the anger and unedifying moments of spite and resentment displayed by her predecessor, the tragic, late Jade Goody. Stacey will laugh and chatter her way through everything. Why ponder the darker side of life too much?
Who can forget when, on reaching the finals of The X Factor last year, she was asked what she would do if she didn’t make it. With her big beaming smile and trademark foghorn, she screeched: ‘There’s always Asda!’ Quite simply, she oozed an old-fashioned, natural high. Surely the best kind there is.
Stacey Solomon was brought up in Dagenham, Essex, a place formerly only famous for its car factories. She has a two-year-old son, Zach, with ex-boyfriend Dean Cox.
‘Where is my baby? I want to see my baby!’ she kept asking Ant and Dec as the fireworks were set off, and the closing credits started to roll. There has never been a winner who garnered more votes from the public, or such high praise from her fellow contestants.
To me, the reason she stole our hearts is pure and simple: she’s an Essex girl. I was born in Chelmsford, the county town, went to school in Brentwood, and spent my teenage years hanging out in dodgy nightclubs in Southend-on-Sea. I was Miss Talk of the South 1975 — and by 1979 I was living in London’s Barbican working as a sub-editor on a glossy magazine.
I guess that tells you something about us Essex girls: we are fiercely proud of our roots but desperate to leave them behind.
The most exciting thing I ever found to do was to trawl Romford Market on a Saturday afternoon, which is why anyone born in Essex is desperate to make it to the capital, so tantalisingly close is it, just down the dreadful A12.
Why are Essex girls the best in the world? Essex girls’ dreams are more vivid than anyone else’s because the county itself is so monochrome: Sixties concrete high-rises, endless roundabouts and housing estates. The beach at Southend is comprised of mud.
For Stacey, Liverpool Street station was the shining gateway to success, a new life away from shopping precincts and dead-end jobs.
As well as ambition, Essex girls have a great sense of humour, developed after generations of being the butt of jokes, and a real desire for luxury. After all, we invented chavdom, a much-maligned quality — but all it means is we want a better life.
Good sport: Stacey Solomon during one of her horrific tasks in the jungle
We are grafters, too, and independent: we have had to be, given that Essex boys, the randiest boys in the world, love fast cars, copious amounts of cologne, earrings and putting their feet up.
Essex boys are charmers, and can lead a nice girl like Stacey down the garden path. It’s nice to see she is now in a happy relationship, with new boyfriend Aaron Barnham, a painter and decorator.
Stacey is a throw-back, the last of a breed we thought had gone out with food rationing and gas masks, the stoicism of the Cockneys who moved north after the Blitz coursing through her veins.
Is Stacey a good role model? Most definitely, despite her admitting in the jungle that she believes reading gossip magazines to be as rewarding as reading books, because ‘it’s all stories, I love to see what a celebrity is wearing, and what their house is like’. You can tell Stacey is not ignorant in the way Jade Goody was.
While Rebecca Ferguson, another thoroughly nice single mum from Liverpool who looks poised to win The X Factor next weekend, is much more talented and beautiful than Stacey, it is Stacey’s very British brand of ordinariness that has made even Middle Englanders embrace her.
She might have very little talent, but who cares? Aren’t you, like me, a little tired of all these wannabes, giving it 200 per cent?
Stacey is a natural, and she’s nice, surely a far rarer quality than being able to top the iTunes charts these days.
And what better example for young women than to see someone laughing all the time, rather than moaning and whinging.
Stacey never once gossiped about anyone, or tried to impress (I loved it when she first met Linford Christie and exclaimed: ‘I wanna race you!’), but always tried to see the best in them.
She warmed my cold winter evenings like a bowl of creamy porridge. I was so angry when Gillian McKeith made her cry. It was as unnecessary and shocking an act, surely, as placing a kitten in a wheelie bin.
What do I hope Stacey does next? I’d love to see her play Eliza Doolittle on the West End stage, but in real life I don’t want to see her Henry ’Igginsed. I hope she finds success.
She is not calculating, in the way the dreadful Myleene Klass was when she, too, donned a bikini to wash under the waterfall in the jungle. While Myleene was doing mental arithmetic, wondering how much the exposure of her breasts would earn her in a future lingerie campaign, you could see Stacey was just thinking: ‘Oh my God, I stink!’
I really hope Stacey makes it to a mock-tudor mansion in Loughton, where she will zoom around Epping Forest in an open-top car, singing at the top of those lovely lungs, saying, ‘Oooh, I dunno!’ at every opportunity, purchasing leopard-print cushions and Versace outfits, living the dream we all dreamed.
Stacey Solomon Wins I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 2010
source :dailymail
[endtext]
Blog Archive
-
▼
2010
(3631)
-
▼
December
(743)
- Not exactly low-key: Miley Cyrus makes sure she do...
- Not exactly low-key: Miley Cyrus makes sure she do...
- Not exactly low-key: Miley Cyrus makes sure she do...
- Happy 2011! London sees in the New Year with Eye-c...
- Happy 2011! London sees in the New Year with Eye-c...
- Happy 2011! London sees in the New Year with Eye-c...
- Happy New Year 2011
- Happy New Year 2011
- 2011 New Year celebrations
- 2011 New Year celebrations
- Taipei New Year 2011 Fireworks
- Taipei New Year 2011 Fireworks
- 2011 New Year celebrations
- 2011 New Year celebrations
- Kim Kardashian shows off a new braided hairstyle.....
- Kim Kardashian shows off a new braided hairstyle.....
- Forget something? A weary-looking Kourtney Kardash...
- Forget something? A weary-looking Kourtney Kardash...
- Anorexic model who appeared in shock fashion campa...
- Anorexic model who appeared in shock fashion campa...
- Nicole Richie's probation for drink driving arrest...
- Young at heart: Wossy the wizard can't hide his de...
- Young at heart: Wossy the wizard can't hide his de...
- Snow excuses: Chantelle Houghton and new man Rav d...
- Snow excuses: Chantelle Houghton and new man Rav d...
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley shows off her long legs ...
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley shows off her long legs ...
- Here comes the maid of honour: Chief bridesmaid Na...
- Here comes the maid of honour: Chief bridesmaid Na...
- Her look says it all: Christine Bleakley sits awkw...
- Her look says it all: Christine Bleakley sits awkw...
- Model mother Cindy Crawford has a ball with her fa...
- Model mother Cindy Crawford has a ball with her fa...
- English rose? Kate Winslet looks pale as she goes ...
- English rose? Kate Winslet looks pale as she goes ...
- We are not amused! A tight-lipped Hugh Grant looks...
- Grey skies see 2010 end with a whimper: Drizzle ex...
- Grey skies see 2010 end with a whimper: Drizzle ex...
- Lily Allen's surprise proposal leaves her in tears...
- Lily Allen's surprise proposal leaves her in tears...
- It's P Daddy! Sean 'Diddy' Combs is enjoying famil...
- It's P Daddy! Sean 'Diddy' Combs is enjoying famil...
- Kourtney Kardashian reveals slimming secrets after...
- Full track released for “And I Love You” by SuJu’s...
- New York's demolition derby: City clean-up crews w...
- New York's demolition derby: City clean-up crews w...
- Pictured: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take Shiloh...
- Pictured: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take Shiloh...
- Kids films rule as Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderlan...
- Kids films rule as Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderlan...
- Protective mother Kate Beckinsale keeps her daught...
- Protective mother Kate Beckinsale keeps her daught...
- 'Eric's the perfect addition to our family': Jessi...
- Did Usher plagiarise Homer Simpson? R&B star accus...
- Did Usher plagiarise Homer Simpson? R&B star accus...
- 'Extremely happy' Reese Witherspoon announces her ...
- 'Extremely happy' Reese Witherspoon announces her ...
- Rihanna hits the beach alone as it's revealed she'...
- Rihanna hits the beach alone as it's revealed she'...
- Walk through deep snow
- Walk through deep snow
- Snow in the city: Sarah Jessica Parker has fun in ...
- Snow in the city: Sarah Jessica Parker has fun in ...
- Hitting the big time: Cher Lloyd performs to a sma...
- Hitting the big time: Cher Lloyd performs to a sma...
- Simon Baker eclipses Hugh Laurie as top paid actor...
- Simon Baker eclipses Hugh Laurie as top paid actor...
- Kara Tointon's embarrassingly soppy display as she...
- Kara Tointon's embarrassingly soppy display as she...
- Action girl Rihanna takes to the waves on a jetski...
- Action girl Rihanna takes to the waves on a jetski...
- Don't these people know the thaw's started? Couple...
- Hat's not very stylish: Rebecca Ferguson hits a ra...
- Hat's not very stylish: Rebecca Ferguson hits a ra...
- Total white out: U.S. East Coast travellers warned...
- Total white out: U.S. East Coast travellers warned...
- Just something you threw on? Leonardo DiCaprio ado...
- Just something you threw on? Leonardo DiCaprio ado...
- But would she wear it on the red carpet? The Satur...
- But would she wear it on the red carpet? The Satur...
- Mariah sings for Mickey in a very festive red dres...
- Mariah sings for Mickey in a very festive red dres...
- That looks risky! Heidi Klum's son Henry rides a S...
- That looks risky! Heidi Klum's son Henry rides a S...
- Spot the Kardashian! Kim appears to be suffering s...
- Spot the Kardashian! Kim appears to be suffering s...
- Feline Rihanna wears a black panther swimsuit as s...
- 007's love nest with Rachel... Craig and co-star s...
- 007's love nest with Rachel... Craig and co-star s...
- Willow Smith whips her hair back and forth: Young ...
- Willow Smith whips her hair back and forth: Young ...
- Loved-up Penelope Cruz takes her romance courtside...
- Loved-up Penelope Cruz takes her romance courtside...
- Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz fuel romance rumours...
- Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz fuel romance rumours...
- 'She burst into tears': Hugh Hefner, 84, surprises...
- 'She burst into tears': Hugh Hefner, 84, surprises...
- Merry Tweetmas! Celebrities take to their Twitter ...
- Merry Tweetmas! Celebrities take to their Twitter ...
- B2ST’s Hyunseung & Kikwang perform “Let It Snow” o...
-
▼
December
(743)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
She may not be much of a celebrity. But smiley Stacey has proved Essex girls are no joke
Labels:
Celebrity,
Entertainment,
I'm A Celebrity 2010,
TV Show