Attwood describes her new show, The Heat as “a big tick for my career” as she was brought in to host, “doing something completely different by not making it about myself”.
The cooking-based reality show sees 10 young chefs thrown into a Barcelona kitchen where they are not only filmed competing against each other, but also once service ends.
“It’s really fresh, there’s a lot of competition with reality TV, you’re trying to get people’s attention but you’ve got that level of escapism and I feel like it’s really something special,” she adds.
Attwood has been praised for her approach with those who appear on her shows, which often include sex workers and those with addiction issues, particularly around plastic surgery.
Referencing her time on reality TV, she says: “I remember how I would have liked to be dealt with or what would have helped me, even if it’s like a reassuring check-in.
“Maybe you can’t have [this connection] unless you’ve actually been on the other side of it,” she adds.
Attwood’s former jobs as a motorsport grid girl, model and dating show contestant made her initially feel like “it was a little bit harder to get respect” when she started trying to carve out a different career for herself.
“When people have had such unfiltered access to you, they think you can put you in a box.
“But I’m never going to get my violin out about it, because reality TV has also kicked open loads of doors – I never would have been in front of commissioners and developers if I hadn’t gone on Love Island.”
Attwood is one of Love Island’s biggest success stories, appearing on the show at a time when it led national discourse, allowing her to become a household name like a handful of others, including Molly-Mae Hague, Tommy Fury, Dani Dyer and Maura Higgins.
When asked about why there still appears to be a stigma attached to using dating shows as a career launchpad, she says “there will always be a snobbery around reality TV, especially dating shows”.
“Someone can be vapid, have no depth and be on reality TV, but that doesn’t mean that’s true for every contestant,” she adds.