Samantha is an actress, presenter, disability activist, inclusion and equality consultant and keynote speaker. Prior to moving to London, she was a modern languages teacher. She is a columnist for the Metro and has written a multitude of articles on what it is like to be disabled in a disabling world, as well as several socio-cultural criticisms on patronising attitudes, body image, bullying, LGBTQ+ issues, ableism and the financial and social costs of being disabled. Additionally, Samantha has written for The Huffington Post and PosAbility magazine. She also featured in the highly successful series of adverts for Maltesers based on real-life experiences of disabled people, and is an experienced speaker having spoken at events for companies and organisations such as the National Education Union, Viacom, Houses of Parliament, British Red Cross, Santander, Reed Smith and Viacom.
Samantha is an ambassador for Scope and a patron of Head2Head Theatre. She was named in The Shaw Trust’s Power 100 list of 2019 of the UK’s most influential disabled people as well as being nominated as Campaigner of the Year in the 2019 European Diversity Awards. Her credits include Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (BBC Two), Rip Off Britain (BBC One), Sunday Morning Live (BBC One), Victoria Derbyshire (BBC Two), Loose Women (ITV), Jeremy Vine on 5 (Channel 5), The Matthew Wright Show (talkRADIO), Badass Women’s Hour (talkRADIO) and Drivetime with Eamonn Holmes (talkRADIO). Samantha won The Susan Mullen Award for Best Actress at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival in 2014.
Watch this brilliant episode filmed on Zoom, during the lockdown, listen to Samantha’s story and be inspired by her incredible resilience and positive mindset. Leave a comment below, share with your friends and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE!