Growing Up Gypsy
Invited into the traditionally private Gypsy community, Stacey discovers the complex balancing act young women face growing up in one of Britain鈥檚 most maligned ethnic minorities.
Stacey heads to Bedfordshire to the private site where 23 year old Chantelle lives with her husband Swayley. Chantelle prides herself in keeping with the 鈥榦ld鈥� Gypsy values her granny Rita taught her and sharing them on social media where she鈥檚 blown up with nearly 400K followers on TikTok and 15 million likes on her page. Her chalet is where she films all her 鈥楪ypsy Cleaning鈥� videos for her loyal fanbase.
Chantelle shares her cleaning hacks with Stacey, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 do cleaning by halves, we clean to perfection. It鈥檚 my superpower and you鈥檇 be surprised how good it makes me feel about myself!鈥�
Over 2 months Stacey gets to know Chantelle and husband Swayley, hearing what courting looked like for this young couple, the reaction Chantelle has had to her viral videos and the vital role of family in their lives.
18 year old Serena and her family live in Lincolnshire and welcome Stacey into their bustling family life, Serena explains to Stacey why they鈥檝e decided to invite her into their home, 鈥淚t is nice for people to see we are normal people and we aren鈥檛 aliens.鈥�
Serena is in the middle of planning her wedding to her fianc茅 Marco. He is from a Gypsy and Traveller community too and Serena wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way, 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 go out with a non-Traveller. My family wouldn鈥檛 allow it and it鈥檚 just not what I want.鈥�
Spending time with Serena鈥檚 sister Ivana, and mum Teresa as they help Serena get organised for the biggest step in a Gypsy girl鈥檚 life, Stacey learns why this community often chooses to marry within their own as it enables them to protect the values and traditions they hold dear.
Serena鈥檚 been searching high and low for all the things she's going to need to create her new married home. But she can鈥檛 find exactly what she wants, 鈥淚鈥檓 decorating the whole bungalow in gold, white and taupe, but it鈥檚 so hard to find what I want in gold!鈥�
Serena gets Stacey mucking out the horses in her stable where Serena has taken her childhood passion for horse-riding to launch her own business where she buys, breeds and sells horses. The Traveller community has long been associated with horses but the business is usually left to the men; Serena is breaking the mould at just 18 years old. Stacey is surprised to hear that Serena often feels it鈥檚 best to keep her ethnicity hidden when she鈥檚 meeting potential clients as she fears they may not want to do business with her, 鈥淩acism towards Travellers will never change. You鈥檝e just got to be thick skinned, and learn to live with it.鈥�
In Nottinghamshire Stacey meets a young woman taking a new job in a busy, thriving salon in the 鈥榞orger鈥� (non-Traveller) world. At an age when many Gypsy and Traveller women may be hoping to get married, 22 year old Ebony is pushing ahead with her career in beauty. Stacey joins her for her first day at the new salon and Ebony confides in Stacey about the compromises you sometimes have to make to fit into the 鈥榞orger鈥� world,
鈥淪ome girls hide the fact that they are a Traveller, I鈥檝e done it myself at jobs.鈥� But, proud of her Gypsy heritage, Ebony has found a salon where she isn鈥檛 afraid to own who she is.
