Ted Lasso is Apple TV\u2019s biggest flagship hit. The show has won 13 Emmys, garnered millions of fans, and skyrocketed the careers of Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, and Phil Dunster, to name a few.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Juno Temple found Marvel soon after her memorable depiction of fan favourite topless model-turned-PR titan, Keeley Jones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the \u2018real\u2019 Keeley, former Page 3 girl Keeley Hazell, will not be tuning in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before Ted Lasso was commissioned by Apple TV back in 2019, Keeley, 39, says she was told by her friend, writer and star of the TV show, Jason Sudeikis, that he was working on a football comedy, and claims that he said he\u2019d written a character inspired by \u2013 and for \u2013 her. (Although Jason has never publicly commented on this.)<\/p>\n
\u2018The character was named and based on me with the intent of me playing myself in the show,\u2019 Keeley explains to Metro.<\/p>\n
The model couldn\u2019t believe her luck. Having completed her last Page 3 outing a decade prior and hungry to act, she felt sure that her \u2018entire career would have changed\u2019 if she\u2019d been given the part.<\/p>\n
However, as production began, Keeley was told it wasn\u2019t guaranteed. She\u2019d need to try out for the part because of \u2018the powers that be in the industry\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018I had to audition because I didn\u2019t have the resume that would allow me to just be given the part \u2013 even though it was named and based on me with the intent of me playing myself,\u2019 remembers Keeley,\u00a0 who\u2019s gearing up to take her first show, Everyone\u2019s Seen My Tits (based loosely on her autobiography), to Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
\u2018During that process, they went out on a direct offer to the actress who plays the part. It was devastating,\u2019 she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That actress was Juno Temple, who had already starred in Atonement, Dirty John, Maleficent, Wild Child, and St Trinians and had grown up around the film industry \u2013 even reportedly having Johnny Depp as a babysitter for her film director dad Julien Temple and producer mother Amanda Temple.<\/p>\n
\u2018It stung for a variety of reasons,\u2019 Keeley admits. \u2018It was based on her having more experience, and I think when one examines that, the easy answer \u2013 and what I think the general public go to \u2013 is the devaluing of me and maybe my skill set versus the examining of how Hollywood operates and how one is allowed experience and one gains experience. It\u2019s sort of a catch 22. You know, maybe having parents in the industry as the actress who plays Keeley does.\u2019<\/p>\n
As Ted Lasso fans know, that wasn\u2019t the end of Keeley\u2019s relationship with the show, as she went on to star in seven episodes in a more minor role. \u2018I have scenes with her [Juno], we\u2019ve met, and she\u2019s a fantastic, wonderful woman,\u2019 adds Keeley. \u2018You can\u2019t blame an actress for taking a part. No hard feelings against her at all.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even so, losing out on the role still smarts, she admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To understand why, it\u2019s worth looking at Keeley\u2019s upbringing and early career. She got into modelling to escape an abusive and turbulent childhood, growing up in a council estate in South East London. While many girls were asking their parents about periods at 13, Keeley tried crack cocaine. At 18, she was in The Sun topless for around 3.9million people, having won their Page 3 Idol competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We really didn\u2019t have any money. I left school aged 16 to get a job and my prospects were quite slim. So modelling and Page 3 became a route in which I could advance socially and make money that I wouldn\u2019t in any other way,\u2019 she explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the time, Keeley insisted it was empowering, but later revealed she\u2019d lied about her true feelings to keep her male fans and to carry on getting work. The reality was she felt ashamed and objectified.\u00a0<\/p>\n