Sunderland mum takes a break from betting shop job to star in MTV's ReFreshers Week

Amy Pascoe, 29, is rubbing shoulders with reality TV stars such as Gemma Collins on ReFreshers Week which started this week.

She took a break from her day job as a betting shop assistant at Ladbrokes in Houghton to appear on the show which gives people the chance to experience the fun, challenges and new experiences of Freshers Week.

Amy, who is mum to Macy, six, spent a fortnight living in a house in Liverpool with seven other people for the show and says filming took her on a real journey.

The mum-of-one, who left school at 16 and missed out on university, said: “I never had a Freshers Week so this was a real experience for me. Out of all the people there I think I went on a real journey as I did challenges I never thought I’d ever complete.

“I’m a normal mam from Sunderland who looks after her little girl and goes to work at the betting shop. Everyone else was models or bloggers, so meeting people like Gemma Collins and doing things like the challenges was all new to me. I thought I was confident before I went on the show but I never expected to be doing the things I did.”

Amy says as well as giving her a chance to boost her confidence, the show has inspired her to consider re-taking her GCSEs in maths and English with a view to eventually going to university to study business management.

Over the course of the five-part series the participants meet Towie star Gemma Collins, rapper Lady Leshurr, DJ Jodie Harsh, reality personality Charlotte Dawson, and comedians London Hughes and Ed Gamble as they take part in challenges associated with Freshers Week.

At the end of the series there will be one overall winner who will take home a cash prize of £25,000.

Amy has to remain tight lipped about whether she’s won the series, but says the prize would be life changing.

“I thought the show would be all about drinking but it was much more positive than that,” she explained. “We get to all wear graduation gowns and I think my dad was really proud to see me in one and to see me taking on the challenges. I hope I do everyone proud. It’s been a great experience and the prize at the end would really make a difference to me and my little girl.”

•ReFreshers Week presented by Strongbow is on MTV on Mondays at 10pm.