Maisie Smith: Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins was best thing for my confidence

Maisie Smith says ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ was the “the best thing” for her confidence.

The former ‘EastEnders’ star believes the Channel 4 military endurance show - on which she stars in the latest series alongside the likes of Olympian Fatima Whitbread - altered her “outlook” and it has led to a confidence boost.

The 21-year-old actress told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “It changed my outlook about myself. It was honestly the best thing I’ve ever done. It got that demon off my shoulder. I went in there with everything I had and I came out feeling like I could literally conquer the world.”

Maisie - who first appeared on Albert Square as Bianca Jackson’s daughter Tiffany Butcher - has felt “certain pressures” throughout her life as a child star, which has made her rethink her abilities as a performer.

She said: “Growing up in the limelight, it does put certain pressures on you. In everything I do I’m quite conscious of myself in many ways, I think.

“Even for my job, for acting, singing, dancing, I’ve always questioned if I’ve got what it takes. I think it is a bit of imposter syndrome.

“When I do a show like this, that was my first thought, am I good enough? Can I do this?”

The former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ star says her 5ft height results in her being “underestimated”.

Maisie - who has recently been romantically linked to former The Wanted star Max George, 34 - said: “I’m underestimated because I’m young and small. I think people have certain mindsets of young women in particular. I wanted to show I can go toe to toe with the guys.

“I don’t think you’d ever expect me to actually be the kind of person that would put myself out of my comfort zone and test limits that I didn’t even know I could.

“It felt empowering to prove them wrong.”