My Life: Jamie Laing

With his instantly recognisable, almost cartoonish, shock of blond hair, the Made in Chelsea young blade finds himself mobbed by fans wherever he goes, so much so that interviews have to be conducted somewhere secret, safe ... and preferably secure.

Mind you, it’s hard to keep a low profile when you are sporting a bright pink sweatshirt, especially one emblazoned with his “Pardy Pardy” motto for life. Not that he is trying to keep a low profile, far from it, because he is making a very public appearance to launch his Candy Kittens pop-up shop at Trinity Leeds shopping centre. “These are selling like hot cakes right now,” he says, indicating the sweatshirt.

It may come as a surprise to Made in Chelsea fans, but Candy Kittens was made in Yorkshire. “It was actually born from Leeds,” Jamie says. “I was at Leeds University doing Theatre and Performance, and I was so bored in my lesson, and I thought, ‘I just don’t want to do this anymore, I need to go into business’.” So bored Jamie asked himself what he enjoyed most in life. “I thought, well, I love fashion, sweets and girls, so I put them together and created Candy Kittens. And that’s how it worked.” Genius.

Candy Kittens brings sweets and fashion together, offering leisurewear such as T-shirts and hoodies alongside huge pink lollies and jars of rock. The clothes are designed in-house by Jamie’s business partners, Ed Williams and Warren Crane (he met them through mutual friends), and made in Leicester. “We are trying to change the concept of the confectionery market,” Jamie explains. “We believe that candy is actually cool and is for all ages.”

Now 24, Jamie is heir to the McVitie’s biscuit fortune. He was educated at Radley College before heading for Leeds (legend has it to follow a girlfriend – an impulsive, romantic and unabashed approach to life is essential to be a truly successful reality TV star). “I graduated two summers ago. I did love it,” he says, adding: “I partied a little too hard, because it is a party city, but it was so much fun, I loved every moment of it. I was happy to leave at the end though.”

The last series of Made in Chelsea drew more than 700,000 viewers for E4, not counting repeats. It’s one of the most tweeted about shows while it runs, demonstrating its sway among the young consumer/viewer audience. But day-to-day living must be challenging. “I love attention, so I don’t really mind it at all,” Jamie says cheerfully. “And also I take everything with a pinch of salt. I don’t take myself too seriously at all. I’m very relaxed.” He says he knows he’s not a rock star. “If you’re on a reality show, you have no talent. We’re not a musician, we’re not a hero, we’re not an athlete, we’re just ourselves and it’s flattering that people want to come and say hello to you, and things like that, but have a good time doing it, take it all with a pinch of salt and do something with it, start a business.”

So now Jamie’s plans are to make Candy Kittens “a global success”and also make the move into TV presenting. As for his personal life, well, series five of Made in Chelsea starts next week, so no doubt that will soon be a matter of very public record. And any excuse to “Pardy Pardy”.

The Candy Kittens Pop-up shop is at Trinity Leeds until April 11.

Made in Chelsea returns to E4 on April 8 at 10pm.

Who is Jamie Laing?

Jamie Laing, 24, is heir to the McVitie’s biscuit fortune (his great-great-grandfather, Alexander Grant, invented the digestive biscuit, the Jaffa cake and the Rich tea 120 years ago at an Edinburgh bakery). Jamie was educated at Radley College in Oxfordshire and went on to study Theatre and Performance at Leeds University where he met Caggie Dunlop, co-star of E4’s Made in Chelsea, the structured reality TV series that follows the lives of a group of Chelsea socialites.