Billie Shepherd on reality stardom: ‘We’ll always be judged, but I’ve never regretted sharing anything’
Billie Shepherd is an OG when it comes to reality television. She began as a young singleton (then Billie Faiers) on The Only Way is Essex alongside her sister Sam Faiers back in 2010, and is now the star of her own ITVBe show, Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries, which is one of the channel's most popular series.
The 34 year old shares everything from the family of five's lavish Dubai holidays, to the day-to-day juggles of caring for Nelly, nine, Arthur, seven, and Margot, 16 months, and her role as entrepreneur and podcast host. In an exclusive chat with OK! during a full house tour of the family's renovated Essex home, Billie shared her thoughts on sharing the good, bad and the ugly of her life with the nation.
The fashion icon - who has an exclusive range with George at Asda - fully admits her social media is more glossy than gritty, but she says she’s genuinely happy for people to know the reality of her life on The Family Diaries. “People will see my Dubai pictures, and then they’ll watch the show and see what really happened on those days,” she said, laughing. “But I like the fact we’re honest about our life. We’ll always be judged, but I’ve never regretted sharing anything.”
The next series of The Family Diaries will feature more of the family's handling of Billie and Sam's dad Dave Chatwood's - known as Chatty - difficult relationship with alcohol. It's been very emotional, Billie told OK!, but the family thought it was the right time to share their experience.
“It was really hard for us as a family because you don’t know how people will react, there can be a lot of judgement around those things, but actually it was the opposite.
“I think it’s that thing of people feeling less alone. And I think if someone watches it and thinks, ‘I’m going to reach out to someone who has the same issues as Dave’, that’s great.”
In November last year, viewers were moved to tears when Billie and her family shared their experiences learning more about Dave and alcohol. Blood tests revealed "abnormal" liver function, and Dave admitted his doctors were concerned about his alcohol intake.
Opening up to Billie and Greg, Dave admitted he occasionally drank two bottles of wine a day and went to the pub for company, but said he wanted to make changes.
At the time, Billie said: "Over the years we've always spoken about Dad's struggle with drink. Getting these results now, we've got some real evidence to say like, 'You know Dad, come on, let's try and help you and do something about this'."
If you have been affected by the issues in this article, you can visit https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/.
The brand-new series of Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries returns for series 6 on Thursday, 2nd May. The series will air weekly at 9pm on ITVBe and ITVX
