Every once in a while, a filmmaker and presenter with mesmerising charisma comes along. We've seen it in the past with Claudia Winkleman, Holly Willoughby, Ant & Dec, and Mel & Sue. In the past decade or so, we've seen it with Stacey Dooley.
Whether you know her because of her recent Strictly Come Dancing win, her award-winning series Stacey Dooley Investigates, or somewhere else entirely, it's hard to deny the impact she has had on on British filmmaking and entertainment as of late.
With that in mind, we've decided to take a look back at her humble beginnings, before her rise to the top of the industry.
Before TV
Residing in Luton, Bedfordshire for her younger years, Dooley would study at Stopsley High School before leaving education at 15 and going straight into work as a shop assistant, selling perfumes at the local airport. She'd later work in a hairdressers in Birmingham, but when she turned 21, she got the calling to make her mark on television...
The beginning
It all started when Dooley travelled to India for documentary series Blood, Sweat and T-shirts in April, 2008. Dooley was amongst a group of participants who were chosen to work alongside Indian garment workers, making clothes that would eventually end up in British high-street stores. The series would go on to pick up a nomination in the Best Factual Series category at the 2009 BAFTA Television Awards.
At this point, the top dogs at the BBC saw a star in Dooley. Thanks to her appearance on the show, and due to her invested interest in labour laws across developing countries, a series was commissioned with Dooley as lead presenter. Thus, Stacey Dooley Investigates was born, and began in August 2009.
Kicking things off with a two-part special, Dooley would prove to be so popular with BBC Three's audience, that the series was recommissioned for a pair of programmes, focusing on the topics of sex trafficking, and underage sex slavery in Cambodia.
From here, things went wild
Not just a fan-favourite when it came to the adults watching TV, Dooley would pick up a hosting role on CBBC's documentary series, Show Me What You're Made Of. Here, she would take children around the world to experience some of the toughest jobs on the planet. This would include visits to factories, farms and other areas of intense labour.
Stacey Dooley Investigates continued with visits to Thailand and Kenya, whilst a string of other documentaries were commissioned by BBC Three, both at home and abroad.
Memorable shows include 2016's Brainwashing Stacey, which saw the presenter go to an anti-abortion summer camp in the US, before visiting African big-game hunters. Then, in 2017, she narrated the documentary The Natives: This Is Our America, which saw her investigate the lives of young Native Americans, as well as the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
This is work that will go down in history, and Dooley deserves to be celebrated for it.
The past 15 months
This time last year, the UK celebrated 70 years of the National Health Service. Dooley took part in a BBC show called Celebrities on the NHS Front-line to show her support, before Stacey Dooley Investigates returned with visits to Russia, Florida, Iraq, and Hungary. Dooley even came face-to-face with an ISIS soldier, which earned her and the show a One World Media Award.
Also using the year to publish her debut book, Stacey Dooley, On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back, Dooley wrote her way onto the Sunday Times Bestseller list, before embarking on a UK book tour.
Perhaps the biggest moment of her career to-date came when the 2018 Birthday Honours list was announced however, with Dooley appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), for services to broadcasting.
Strictly Come Dancing's line-up followed, in which Dooley was named as a contestant. She didn't immediately strike everybody set to watch as a frontrunner, but she quickly proved just how capable she was to adapting to the quick footwork needed on the ballroom dancefloor. Dooley would go on to win the series alongside her dance partner Kevin Clifton, in what would be the latter's final professional appearance on the show.
In the first three months of this year alone, Dooley has been revealed as Grazia's contributing editor for Investigations, appeared on The National Television Awards 2019, presented BBC's The Nine To Five With Stacey Dooley, and presented BBC Three's Glow Up: Britain's Next Make Up Star. Also taking part in The Strictly Come Dancing Arena Tour throughout the UK, it's fair to say she's one working woman we can all look up to.
Through hard work, grit, and determination, Dooley has cemented herself as one of the leading names of the entertainment industry. For that, she deserves all the praise in the world. We can't wait to see where she goes next.
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