She sashayed on to Strictly Come Dancing as a relative unknown, but won over the viewers after surviving four dance-offs to make it to the final.
Now Molly Rainford is launching a pop career, has countless TV gigs in the pipeline and a hot new boyfriend in the shape of her Strictly co-star Tyler West, 26. Although don’t go putting a label on them just yet.
“I’ve never dated anyone in the public eye before,” says Molly, as she addresses the speculation surrounding her romance with the Kiss FM DJ for the first time. “I don’t know if it’s something more just yet. He’s a lovely boy. I just have to see what happens.”
When the 22-year-old joined the BBC show, she had ruled out looking for love. Preferring to concentrate on her career, she didn’t want the distraction of a relationship.
But such is the power of Strictly, which has played Cupid for a legion of stars since its 2004 inception, the pair bonded and were snapped walking hand in hand back to their hotel while on Strictly’s live tour in Belfast last month.
However, while their romance is an unexpected bonus, this year remains all about Molly and her blossoming career.
The CBBC star has just filmed series three of her TV show Nova Jones and is reportedly heading to Albert Square as EastEnders ’ newest recruit.
“I can’t really say what’s going on,” she teases.
This week, she releases the single, My Heart’s A Broken Record, via Positiva – the dance arm of Justin Bieber ’s label Universal – after working on her pop career while competing on Strictly. The collab with producer Alex Kirsch is a summer anthem with soaring vocals from Molly, who first came to the public’s attention on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012.
“Alex lives around the corner from me – Essex is full of talent!” says Molly, who lives with her hairdresser mum Sarah and ex-footballer dad David. “We met up and jammed through some stuff then got into the studio during Strictly. It’s really feelgood and super fun for the summer.
"I haven’t released my own music before, so it’s nice to have a bit more of me out there. My idols are Beyoncé and Rihanna – they’re multitalented entrepreneurs and boss women. That’s what I want to be like. In terms of writing, I’d love to write with Ed Sheeran. I saw him on a red carpet once and I got really starstruck. I wanted to ask him for a photo but I couldn’t! He’s super humble.”
Aged 11, Molly performed Ave Maria to Simon Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent, where she lost out in the final to Ashleigh and Pudsey.
The TV judge was her “fairy godfather”, with Sony Music funding her through her schooling at Sylvia Young Theatre School, whose former pupils include Amy Winehouse and Rita Ora. Sony Music had offered her a record deal, but her parents were determined to keep her in education and find a route that ensured longevity, in case she became a “one-hit wonder”.
“Sony Music sponsored me to go to my secondary school and it was the best prize I could have got from that show as I was getting my education alongside it,” Molly says. “At the time, they asked me if I’d like to release a single and my parents said no, maybe when I’m older. I’m so grateful that they had the brains to say that.”
Since then, Molly has bumped into Simon only once. “I did The One Show with Simon and remember him saying, ‘Just double checking I was nice to you?’,” she says, laughing. “I said, ‘Yeah, you were a big softie when I was there.’”
Growing up on children’s television has instilled a level of responsibility in Molly that makes her wise beyond her years. She says she doesn’t like to go out boozing too much and is passionate about environmental causes, such as sustainable fashion.
“When I go out with my friends, I’d never sit in the pub – I’d go out and play mini golf,” she says. “That’s the vibe now. When I was younger, me and my friends were like, ‘We can’t wait to go out’, but now we’re like, ‘Do you fancy a spa day?’”
Being aware of the problems facing the planet is a big concern for Molly too.
“I think they [environmental issues] are super important,” she says. “In this industry, it’s so easy to say, ‘I’ve already worn that, I can’t wear it again’. So I’m really into taking something and switching it up. For example, I had a dress and I cut it in two and made it into a two-piece. Kate Middleton is brilliant at re-wearing her clothes and she always looks beautiful.”
And Molly, who is refreshingly body confident, proudly describes herself as “a massive foodie” and refuses to manipulate her photos with editing apps.
“I wouldn’t edit my photos,” she says. “I was on telly for 12 weeks live, so I couldn’t really hide myself – you can see my real face. However, I used to have really bad acne when I was a kid and if I had Facetune at the time I probably would have swiped a few spots out, but I think it’s more about telling people they should love the skin they’re in and know they’re beautiful.”
She adds, “I just try to be authentically myself, especially because I’m on a kids’ platform. It’s so important to show kids you can be yourself and people will like you for that – and also it’s OK if they don’t like you. I always try to put my best self forward because I’m always thinking from a kid’s perspective and I want parents to want their kids to watch me too.”
Molly’s time on Strictly wasn’t without trolling, with threads of nasty comments on Twitter churning out abuse and branding her “annoying”. Yet Molly has admirable resilience.
“My mum still has access to my socials,” she says. “When I did BGT, I was so young she didn’t want me to see any negative comments. Nine out of 10 comments are amazing, but that one just sticks in your head. With the dance-offs on Strictly, I was like, ‘Why don’t people like me? What did I do?’ I tell myself it’s not personal – it’s usually people putting their own insecurities on to you. Everyone at home is a fifth judge – usually what Craig [Revel Horwood] says, they agree with!”
Does she worry about her mum seeing people slide into her DMs with flirty chat-ups?
“I tell my mum everything so even if people did DM me, she would find out,” she says. “I’ve got nothing to hide from my mum. I’m really close with my parents – they’re like my best friends. I still live with Mum and Dad and I’m not leaving until they kick me out.”
As well as her relationship with Tyler and friendship with her dance partner Carlos Gu, Molly is close to many of her Strictly co-stars, with Fleur East becoming a huge support.
“We all got really close as a cast,” says Molly. “I feel like I’ve met some of my best mates there. We have a group chat that we all still message in. When we see people have something going on, we check in – like Dianne [Buswell] has her book coming out.
“I’ve been talking to Fleur a lot because she’s had such a similar journey to me. She’s releasing her own music independently as well, so it’s really cool to get her opinion. I don’t think I could live without her now and I’m always texting Ellie Simmonds and Carlos. These people are the only ones who know what it’s like.”
With the Strictly tour having come to a close, Molly admits she’s getting withdrawal symptoms and has tapped up pro dancer Kai Widdrington for some one-on-one tuition.
“I didn’t know I was going to love dancing as much as I did,” admits Molly. “I don’t want to stop. I was talking to Kai about it on tour and was asking him for individual lessons. I got really toned up from it too. The only problem now is how do I keep it up? Carlos is going to give me a Strictly workout plan.”
