What made you sign up to Scared Of The Dark?

Well, because there's nothing else like it, and I actually am terrified of the dark. I have the biggest fear of the dark probably known to man. I sleep with the main lights on. Even last night in the hotel, the TV kept going on standby and I kept waking up and I was like, “No!" I feel like I wanted to challenge myself and then see if I can actually do it. And I feel like eight days, it'll be fun, I don't think it'll be traumatising…

Where did your fear of the dark come from, do you know?

Yeah. I do, actually. I was in uni and have you ever seen The Conjuring? The one with the nun? I watched that and I don't know what it was, but something in me just

clicked and from then on I could never sleep in the dark. I think I've got a really overactive imagination. So, whenever I'm in the dark I just think something's there. You know you can see the outline of something, I’m like, "It's the boogie man." So yeah, I think it's because my imagination's ridiculous. But from that film, I've never been able to sleep in the dark.

Have you ever done anything to try and get yourself over that fear?

Why would I need to? I just sleep with a light on. Before this, I've never put myself in a situation where I could ever be scared of the dark.

Have you had any scary moments in the dark?

I remember I had to go in the garden to get something, and one of the boys at Christmas would sneak out into the dark and then come out and literally just scream, “Boo." I screamed so much, ran and fell over and I sliced open my leg, but I was crawling across the floor. At home I’ll always have the main light fully on because I'm so scared.

What’s your biggest concern going into this experiment?

I'm trying not to think about it because I don't want to scare myself! Obviously, I'm slightly apprehensive, but I've convinced myself that it's going to be funny. It's not me on my own in the forest with no one there. There is a production team there, other people doing it. So, I think that's taking the edge off a bit. Inside, I'm screaming!

Do you hope this experiment might cure you?

You know what? Yes and no. I think the way I put it in my head is, it's a TV show, it's safe, there's a production team. If you told me to go walk in a dark forest after the show, I don't know if I'd do it. What I'm hoping is I'll be able to sleep with my light off.

Have you done anything to prepare for this?

Two days ago I was in my flat and I turned off the light, turned them all off and I sprinted to my bedroom and I was like, "This is fine." My mum was telling me I should prepare, sit in the dark and stuff. But in the same way, I want to experience it fully and actually test myself. I don't want to go in getting rid of only half my phobia.

What impact do you think it might have on your other senses when you're in there?

I think my smell's damaged from COVID. So, maybe that will sort that out, who knows? But how am I going to cope? Well, there's other people. I feel like we're all in the same boat. I’m probably going to latch on to someone who's not scared. I actually was Googling last night what happens when you're in the dark and if your other senses do really kick in. But then, I'm wondering, if I can hear more, am I going to be thinking more in the dark? But like I said, I don't want to overthink it. I just want to go in there and deal with it when I get in the dark.

You're going to be filmed 24/7, are you worried that they'll show any of your bad habits?

I had two months of this on Love Island so I don't worry about the 24/7 cameras. Everything we do is natural, I don't have any bad habits. It'll be fine!

But what if you accidentally touched somebody's bum or other body parts?

Oh my God, now I'm embarrassed! Well, I'll just keep my hands to myself. They can't say, "You just touched my bum”, it was an accident! The bathroom thing I'm not fussed about. Even if someone walks in, what can they see? I mean, I really hope it's so dark they can't see. Do you know my biggest fear before this conversation? It was putting on a mismatching track suit. But now, it's like, "No, what if I poke someone's eye out? Or forget to put my top on or something?" I don't know. There are some things that can happen, but it'll be funny. None of that is going to make me feel all traumatised. It's just going to be funny. You have to be 100% and just embrace the madness. That's why I'm not preparing or thinking about it, because I feel like it'll be so much better if I just go in and deal with it when I'm in the dark.

How are you feeling about being in there with a group of strangers?

I’m excited. I like meeting new people, it's nice. I was a bit apprehensive, because obviously I've done it before, been in situations where I don't know anyone, but I always feel like there's something to break the ice. Obviously, being in the dark, that's going to break the ice, isn't it? We're all terrified. I mean, I hope we're all terrified. But, as you can probably tell, I could chat for days, so I'm not worried.

Is there anybody that you hope isn't in there?

No, there's no one on this earth. It's only eight days! It might be different because I will be dealing with being scared in the dark. So, maybe I'll be less patient, but it's eight days. I can't be mad at someone who talks all the time because that's me. But if someone snores, someone's messy, that would wind me up.

What do you think you're going to bring to the group?

Well, I'm probably going to be the one that does everyones head in because when I'm terrified, I talk. I can't shut up all the time. So, that'll be good. No, I feel like I'm quite easy going. I like to always find humour in situations and make people laugh. So, I feel like I'll be that. I'm not going to be sat quiet on my own, not wanting to talk to anyone because I'm stressed. I'm hoping I'll bring a bit of humour, a bit of Gen Z, even though I'm not Gen Z. The trendy, hip one, maybe get everyone on TikTok afterwards!

You're going to be doing tasks while you’re in there. How difficult do you think it's going to be in the dark?

I mean, I'm very competitive. I like to win by any means as well. If I can cheat, I'm going to cheat. I don't mind that! I want to win. I feel like, physically, I'll be fine, but my memory is so bad and people keep asking me, "How good's your memory?" Well, mine's trash. So, I'm slightly worried about that.

How will you entertain yourself and the others while you're in there?

I was thinking that's a big thing, because I do get bored quite easy. I think my attention span, especially over the past year, is very small. So, passing long periods of time in the dark will be hard. There's so many games you can play, you can play the alphabet country game, the alphabet actor game, alphabet actress game. Genuinely, I don't know. What I'm hoping for is that there's someone else who's slightly as erratic as me and we can just bounce off each other in the corner and go slightly mad!

Will you pull pranks and cause a bit of mischief?

Yeah. I was talking to my manager and I was like, "I'm going to go in there and pretend I'm someone else." Each day I could just take on a different accent or something. Or keep putting on this weird, deep voice every now and then, "Who is doing that? Who is doing that thing?" Or if I’m in a really boring conversation, I could just walk away and they wouldn't know. If it's so boring, I'm literally walking away or just sitting there in silence. I have every intention to go in there and pull pranks but I am scared of the dark, so people are going to be playing pranks on me. I've accepted that that's what's going to happen.

Are you going to bother getting glammed up while you’re in there?

I've been on TV with no makeup and cried my eyes out about a boy. So I'm not bothered about what I look like in this show. I think that's one of the better things, they strip all of those aspects of what's going on so people can see what I'm really about. I probably won't wash my hair for eight days because why would I need to? No one can see it. Obviously, saying that, I did get my lashes done. So, there is an element of maybe I am going to try and look presentable, but I'm not going to be doing full glam every day because there's no point.

What about your outfits?

I just packed tracksuits and matching sets and I'm hoping that I'll be able to pick them out of my case. But everyone's in the same boat. It's not like someone's walking in in the best outfits in the world. You can't see it. However, doesn't mean that my outfits aren't cool. My tracksuits are nice. My gym wear is nice. I've mitigated any fashion disasters. We've got crop tops and track suits and leggings. It can't look wrong. I've packed with that in mind. But yeah, other people might be wearing Hawaiian shirts and tracksuits, but so what? Who cares?

How are you feeling about being cut off from the outside world, including social media?

Yeah. Slightly concerned. My screen time is 11 hours a day. Yeah, I use it a lot. I'm very intrigued, but I feel like it'll be good for me. I'm very reliant on my phone. I just sit on there, sit on TikTok, sit on Instagram. I feel like taking that away, it'll be so good for me, personally. It'll be like rehab from my phone. So, that'll be good. But obviously, I do need it afterwards. So, let's hope it doesn't impact me too much. But no, that was what I was concerned about, being bored and not having anything to do and then I'm like, "Oh, my God. What is going on?" Because I'm constantly in touch with what's going on with my whole life. What if a disaster strikes and I'm stuck in the dark for eight days? Who knows?