Woody Cook will not seek celebrity career after The Circle
He was a finalist on the Channel 4 series.
Woody Cook would rather enjoy his youth than chase fame despite his rise to TV stardom on The Circle.
The teenager revealed his famous parentage, Zoe Ball and Norman Cook, to fellow contestants in the finale of the Channel 4 show.
He said parents’ pride was “all you can ever ask for” after becoming popular on the programme.
But Cook said he wants to be a normal teenager following the finale, and will not seek to capitalise on his new celebrity status.
He said his plan was to: “Continue being a normal teenager. I’m just being me.
“It’s back to normal proceedings rather than trying to chase it up.
“You’re only young once, and I’d rather be young than try and be famous.”
He added that he was planning a gap year and would: “Go to Australia, go to New Zealand, have a mad one.”
The 18-year-old said that he had achieved what he wanted to on The Circle, by being liked for himself, and was delighted to make his parents proud despite their misgivings.
He said: “Seeing the little video message they sent me, where they said they were wrong. I was very, very chuffed.
“I had always told them I’d be alright on my own. They never believed me.
“Hearing they were proud of me was a really sweet moment and it really brought a tear to my eye.
“It’s all you can ever ask for. It was very refreshing to be able to go ‘look guys, I told them I’m all right’.”
Cook said that the show had helped prove social media to be a tool, which only becomes problematic when improperly used.
Having emerged from the isolation of The Circle, he has been disappointed to see criticism directed at James Doran, who posed as single-mother Sammie on the show.
He said: “Sammie (James) is getting way more hate than I would have wanted. I really don’t approve of that.
“I think people are getting a bit too furious.
“I don’t care. But I feel that certain other people do are.
“I was like ‘it’s a game, they played it better than us’.
“The problem is our society and the way we use social media, and not social media in itself.”
Cool lost out to eventual players’ winner Paddy Smyth, and viewer’s champion Tim Wilson.
