After being crowned the Strictly Come Dancing winner of 2018, Stacey might be good on the dance floor, but it’s her inspiring documentaries that win her a place on our list of activists. Having started her working life at Luton airport in duty-free selling perfumes, her big break came when she appeared on a television series called Blood, Sweat and T-shirts back in April 2008. She, along with other participants, travelled to India to explore the truth about sweat shops and uncover the unfair way the fashion industry is run. It was her interest and curiosity in others on the show which saw her land her own series called Stacey Dooley Investigates. Over the years, she has presented a variety of factual programmes on topics ranging from extreme politics, feminism, sex scandals, domestic abuse and gun violence. In fact, there isn’t really a topic she is afraid to take on – in 2016 she travelled to Iraq where she met female fighters taking on jihadists refugee camps in Stacey on the Frontline: Girls, Guns and Isis. Her dedication to producing compelling documentaries on a diverse range of subjects hasn’t gone unnoticed either as she was appointed an MBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting. Stacey left school at the aged 16, and her work ethic is testament to the fact that you can get anywhere if you give it your all.
Stacey has also become an advocate for sustainable fashion. Her 2018 fast fashion documentary – Fashion’s Dirty Secrets – discussed the shocking environmental impact caused by our culture’s insatiable appetite for cheap clothing and she continues to use her Instagram to educate others on the topic. Plus, in a recent photo shoot, Stacey chose to be styled entirely in second-hand clothing from Oxfam. It’s thanks to filmmakers like Stacey that these important topics are given the platform they deserve.