Star of controversial Channel 4 series Benefits Street cashes in with photoshoot and receives modelling offers
- Sherrell Dillion, 27, appeared on Channel 4's Benefits Street
- Single mother, former takeaway worker, did photoshoot in newspaper
- Claims she is inundated with modelling offers after shots were published
- Glamorous opportunity comes despite negative connotations of show
- Other residents were filmed shoplifting and admitted to benefits fraud
- Police have launched an investigation in response to Channel 4 footage
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She is one of the stars of the most unedifying show on television, a single mother who used her airtime to show off modelling pictures as she spoke of her life on Benefits Street.
Now thanks to her appearance on the controversial Channel 4 show, 27-year-old Sherrell Dillion, who goes by the nickname SB - or sexy b**** - has apparently been inundated with offers from modelling agencies after agreeing to a newspaper photoshoot.
The former takeaway worker said she had always dreamed of being a model and was even scouted age 22 but then suffered an ectopic pregnancy that left her bedridden for months.
Cash-in: Sherrell Dillion appeared in a Daily Star photoshoot
Notorious: Miss Dillions, known as SB, appears on the controversial show with her son
On the most recent episode of the show, she complains of being in debt and says she wants to appear on Deal or No Deal to clear what she owes.
Now MIM Agency, a Midlands-based company whose clients include Asda, Littlewoods and ITV, have approached her to be on their books, in spite of the Channel 4 show's notoriety.
Benefits Street residents have confessed to cameras that they committed benefits fraud, while one man even let cameras accompany him on a shoplifting spree.
Police have been seen on the street several times since the show began speaking to residents, while officers also confirmed they had launched investigations in response to footage from the show.
However, undeterred agency owner Amelia Cope told the Daily Star: 'Sherrell has a "real life" look that lots of companies we work with will be interested in.
Trouble: Police have been at James Turner Street since the show aired - an officer can be seen here leading away Mark Thomas, who told the cameras he had fiddled his benefits
Unsightly: The programme shows that there are often large amounts of rubbish heaped up on the street
Work: Modelling agencies have apparently been unafraid to offer her work, despite the unsavoury associations of the programme
Determined: SB won over the nation on Benefits Street because of her sheer determination - and it's paid off
'She's also got experience of being in front of the cameras, so we can put her forward for work as an extra with TV companies as well.'
SB's offers of work, which she hails as an 'opportunity', are in stark contrast to other, more unsavoury repercussion's of Benefits Streets' runaway success.
The show's first episode was widely criticised for following resident Danny Smith around Birmingham city centre on a shoplifting spree.
Armed with a shopping bag lines with tinfoil to foil alarm systems, he told cameras: 'Fill it up with a £2,000 coat or whatever you ****ing want, you’ll walk out of the shop and you’re coming out with no alarms going off’, he said.
The controversial opener to the five-part documentary also featured Mark Thomas, who lives on James Turner Street with his partner and children, admitting that he fiddled his benefits.
The father-of-two was led from his house by police shortly after the revelation. The Daily Mail also revealed that self-proclaimed 'mother of the street' White Dee has a conviction for theft, after swindling Birmingham City Council out of more than £13,000.
Televised: Miss Dillion as she appears in publicity for Benefits Street
No strangers: Figures revealed that police are called to James Turner Street every month - a figure likely to have increased after the exposure from Channel 4
Illegal: The programme's second episode showed an influx of Romanians, including these labourers, who did not have work permits
Notorious: The goings-on of James Turner Street have been exposed to the world after millions tuned in to Benefits Street
More shockingly, community leaders revealed that the shows notoriety has even led to children being bullied for living in Winson Green, the neighbourhood which is home to James Turner Street.
Community organised Desmon Jaddoo told MailOnline that concerns had been raised at the Oasis Foundry Academy that children who featured on, or were in some way connected with, the show were subject to playground abuse.
In one extreme case, Mr Jaddoo revealed that adults 'were driving down the street hurling abuse' while the children were outside playing.
Police last week also raised concerns about scenes featuring a large family of Romanian immigrants, in which a 20-year-old man boasted to cameras that his 'wife' was just 15 years old.
He made the comments despite it being illegal to marry at age 15 both in the UK and in Romania, but claimed the set-up was 'no problem' because of his culture.
However, the show does not reveal what, if any, benefits Miss Dillion is receiving.
Another agency, Spirit, is hoping to set up a test shoot with Miss Dillion due to her real 'potential'.
Miss Dillion has also been told she should do dental modelling because she has 'good teeth', but she has her sights set on bikini modelling, the Daily Star reports.
Speaking about the response to her photoshoot, SB said: 'I'm just going to try to keep my feet on the ground, but I really hope this will give me an opportunity.
Bright future: One agency believe she has real potential but SB maintains that she will keep her feet firmly on the ground
Local celebrity: SB says the locals have been very supportive and even stopped her in the street to wish her luck in her new career
'Everyone in Turner Street went out and bought the paper and I've had people stopping me in the street to wish me luck.'
It was revealed on the show that just 5 per cent of Turner Street in Birmingham's residents are in work.
Miss Dillion has also been inundated with supportive messages on social media and even received a message, which has since been deleted, from model Imogen Thomas offering to give her advice.
Miss Dillion brought up her two children Terrell, eight, and Kiwi, three, on her own after escaping a violent relationship which saw her ex jailed for two years.
Famous fan: Model and Big Brother star, Imogen Thomas, showed SB her support via Twitter
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2549534/Star-controversial-Channel-4-series-Benefits-Street-cashes-photoshoot-receives-modelling-offers.html#ixzz2s0Rba2ZJ
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