Strictly Come Dancing’s Vicky Pattison has admitted that she feels pressure to prove that she “deserves” to be in the TV industry after finding fame on a reality show, admitting that it’s “exhausting”.
The 38-year-old made her first TV appearance in 2011 after joining Geordie Shore’s cast of outrageous partygoers. She left in 2014 and won I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! the following year.
She has since taken on presenting roles on Loose Women, This Morning and various E4 documentaries – including new show Vicky Pattison: Maybe, Baby?, in which she and husband Ercan Ramadan explore whether she wants to have children.
Speaking to The Independent, Pattison revealed that she filmed the documentary while competing on Strictly Come Dancing last year – explaining that she’s felt the need to take every job opportunity after being on Geordie Shore.
“I don’t do anything by halves and you’ve got to make hay while the sun shines, haven’t you?” she said. “I’ve come from a reality TV background, a place where probably nobody thought I’d manage to parlay that opportunity into something that I have.
“I’m nearly 15, 20 years in this industry, and I’m still so blessed to be working and relevant. So, there’s an element of pressure I feel to continue on this trajectory and keep working hard, keep saying yes and keep proving that I deserve to be here.”
Pattison added that during her time on Strictly, she realised that her workload was too heavy and not “sustainable”.
“Leaving the house at like eight every morning, seven every morning. Coming back at nine o clock, practically in tears because you’re so tired,” she said.
“Not that I don’t appreciate that a lot of people are in that scenario and I’m hardly down the f***ing mines – I’m just in a podcast studio or a radio studio, film and TV – but I don't know if that’s what I want my forever to look like.”
Filming Strictly as well as her docuseries, her podcast, her radio show and social media commitments left the BBC star “exhausted”.
“My grandma used to say, ‘There’s no point in being the richest woman in the graveyard.’ I kill myself to try and establish myself in my industry and tick all these amazing things off my bucket list and vision board but is anyone going to remember me for that?
“I’m so grateful but I think I want to be at home a bit more – whether that’s with Ercan and the dogs or Ercan, the dogs and some tiny little feet. I want to have more time for what matters this year.”
Pattison’s new series follows the Strictly star as she explores various ways of starting a family as a woman in her late thirties who’s struggled with PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) in the past. According to the NHS, PMDD is a hormone-related mood disorder, with symptoms typically appearing one to two weeks before menstruation begins.
After opening up about freezing her eggs in 2023 and receiving a backlash from some on social media, Pattison says that the TV industry has a “responsibility” to raise awareness about fertility issues.
“There’s a lot of misinformation and judgement and stigma and shame. We’re never going to be able to learn what the right thing is to say or how to comfort our friend and understand it better unless we do have these conversations,” she said.
“I remember when I froze my eggs and I went online and spoke about it. Loads of people were lovely and supportive but some of the discourse around it was just so unbelievably old fashioned, misogynistic and downright cruel.
“We’re never going to be more progressive or better informed unless we keep having these conversations. TV has a responsibility to have these difficult and responsible conversations. If you have a platform you have a bit of responsibility to do that as well.”
Vicky Pattison: Maybe, Baby? airs tonight at 9pm on E4.
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