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AJ Odudu is proud and certain of two things in this life - where she came from and where she is going.
She has made the longlist for a presenter’s award at this year’s National Television Awards after her stint on Celebrity Big Brother and has already wrapped filming on her upcoming show Dress the Nation with Vernon Kay.
The 36-year-old TV star, who grew up in Blackburn with her seven siblings, never imagined that in February she would land a six-page spread in British Vogue.
“That was a huge moment for me,” she told the Standard. “It was a mark of all my hard work and stepping into the fashion industry and celebrating all things social mobility and things that I’d achieved to get to where I was which was amazing.”
Odudu has spoken openly in the past about the “shocking racial and cultural bullying” that she experienced from a young age as one of the few black people in the Lancashire town and being made to “feel ugly based entirely on my skin colour and hair texture”.
She then went straight into the Celebrity Big Brother series “which was a huge success and so much fun to be part of”, she said.
“Presenting that alongside Will Best was so dreamy and that was an amazing return to UK screens,” she added.
While she insists she still doesn’t know if she will be back for the second civilian series of Big Brother which is due to air in October, she is keeping everything crossed that she will.
Odudu seems a shoe-in for the shortlist for a presenter award at this years’ National Television Awards (NTAs) after after she made the longlist.
And she certainly isn’t short of job offers.
She is set to front new series Dress the Nation, which will see 10 wannabe fashion designers compete to secure a one-year contract with the design team at M&S and have their winning collection available at all of its branches across the nation.
Being a fashion ambassador for M&S, the former Strictly Come Dancing star could even get to model some of the garbs herself.
They have already filmed the series, which Odudu enthuses was “so much fun” to work on and “an incredible opportunity” for the winner.
She was also announced earlier this year as an ambassador for the Royal Television Society (RTS) Bursary Scheme, which is awarded to students from less-affluent backgrounds looking to break into the industry and who show both promise and determination.
“That’s hugely important for me,” she said of her involvement, which will see her meet and mentor some of those who are selected.
She added: “I always think there’s a need for opportunities and access into television. It’s a scheme I’m really proud to be part of.”
A number of big brands have also come knocking, including her latest partnership with Malibu and Oatly, who have come together to create the Piña Oatlada - a unique Piña Colada flavoured, dairy-free soft serve ice cream with alcohol.
“I got the first taste of the Piña Oatlada which I must say is delicious!” she said of the summery creation, which is is available for a limited time at select location across the UK, including during the Drag Brunch every Saturday at Mrs Riot in London’s Covent Garden until September 2.
The unexpected collaboration comes about as new research shows that nearly half of all UK adults admit they are struggling with being a grown up. Even more wish they had more time to escape the obligations of everyday adult life.
When drawn on which aspects of “adulting” Odudu was less keen on, she said without hesitation “life admin”.
“Basically stuff that you have to do every day like the dishes, hoovering, getting the wash on, the laundry, the bills,” she elaborated.
“Just all the stuff that you actually have to do and I honestly look back and go ‘how did my parents do this every single day?’ It wasn’t just themselves but all of the kids in the house. But we’ve got to do it and it’s all part of life and growing up.”
It might surprise people therefore to know that she’s a bit of a neat freak at heart.
“I am a tidy person,” Odudu laughs. “I don’t think I can concentrate fully unless I am tidy. It shocks everyone, everyone thinks they are going to step into the most scattiest chaotic house and I’m like ‘no!’ Everything has got a place.”
