One of the stars of The Only Way is Essex, salon owner Billi Mucklow. Pic via Bang Showbiz

One of the stars of The Only Way is Essex has revealed how she tries not to “over-think” storylines.

Given the intellectual level of the show, it won’t come as a surprise to many that one of its blonde cast members tries not to think too hard about things.

But that’s the approach taken by salon owner Billi Mucklow when it comes to how she portrays herself.

Billi - who has previously dated Tom Kilbey on the ITV2 series - believes being “true” to herself and making sure not to change are what has kept her in the show.

She said: “I think I was brought into the show because they liked me for me and I think the best way to stay in the show is to stay true to what you are. I think when you change and try and be something different that’s when it backfires.

“I was quite lucky because when I came into the show I had quite a good understanding of how the show works. I think the best thing to do is to work as a team. When you start working against everybody and try and over-think storylines, it just doesn’t work.”

Despite the show, which has made stars out of Mark Wright, Lauren Goodger and Lydia Bright, sometimes coming under fire for seeming fake, Billi does not believe it could be because viewers know too much.

She added to DigitalSpy.co.uk: “People say, ‘Oh yeah, you can tell that’s just for a storyline’, but I think it’s really hard to pretend and fake something. You are what you are at the end of the day and the viewers know us so well.

“I think even now viewers can probably tell if something isn’t true. I think they know us as people.”