Who is Ashley Roberts? Everything you need to know about the guest judge on Let It Shine
The former Pussycat Doll and I'm a Celebrity star is joining the semi-final of Gary Barlow's hunt for a band to star in his Take That musical
We’ve had Ricki Lake as a guest judge, and now Ashley Roberts is the second newbie on the Let It Shine panel. But who exactly is she? Here’s everything you need to know…
Name: Ashley Roberts
Age: 35
Twitter: @ImAshleyRoberts
Best known for: Being a former singer in The Pussycat Dolls. However, Brit audiences will also know Roberts as a reality TV star: she was in I’m a Celeb in 2012 (finishing as the runner-up to Charlie Brooks) and in 2015’s The Jump (where she finished 4th). She’s also co-hosted Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway since it was rebooted in 2013, although was replaced by Scarlett Moffatt in the latest series.
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Bio: Dancing and singing from her early childhood, Roberts wanted to break into the music business. After starring in music videos for the likes of Pink, Roberts successfully auditioned for The Pussycat Dolls, a burlesque troupe-turned-girl-band. They released their first album in 2005, which contained number one hits Stickwitu, Buttons and the dangerously catchy Don't Cha.
In 2010 Roberts left the group, alongside all bandmates except main singer (and later X Factor judge) Nicole Scherzinger. That marked the start of Roberts solo career, which led to the album Butterfly Effect in 2014, peaking at a lowly 159 in the UK charts.
Although she hasn’t released another album since, Roberts soon became a mainstay on British TV. Firstly, there was the twelfth series of I’m a Celeb, which Roberts narrowly missed winning by 0.56% of the public vote. She followed this by appearing as a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice from 2013 to 2014.
In 2013 she also joined Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, presenting the Ant vs Dec segments.
And in 2015 she starred in the second series of The Jump, exiting the show in the second week after losing the Jump-off to Made in Chelsea’s Louise Thompson.
But not all her work is UK based: Roberts is currently the host of NBC travel show 1st Look. We’ll have to wait until Saturday to see if she can guide the Let It Shine hopefuls on a trip to victory.
