It's A Scouse Life star initially turned down E4 show over one major fear

E4's new reality offering, It's A Scouse Life, hit TV screens last night (November 12) introducing viewers to a group of glamorous and entrepreneurial Merseysiders making their way in the world.

The show's official synopsis describes it as a "reality show following the glamorous lives of a group of young metropolitan Merseysiders as they work hard and play hard in one of Europe's liveliest cities: Liverpool."

Among the nine central cast members is 27-year-old Anthony Jacobs. The reality star admitted that he had initially turned down the show due to a major fear about how his home city would be portrayed, alongside receiving a flurry of other TV requests, including Love Island, Big Brother and Celebs Go Dating

"I wasn't single anymore so Love Island was off the cards and Celebs Go Dating was off the cards. Big Brother wasn't something that I wanted to do, that's more of like a social experiment," he told Reach Plc's Screen Time. "My mum got asked to do Desperate Scousewives years ago and I seen that, and that's why I didn't want to do it at first, because I don't want to make a show out of the city again."

He shared that over the course of 16 months he found himself reassured by the vision for It's A Scouse Life. "In the end it wasn't 'Oh it's going to be like Desperate Scousewives', it's let's show what Liverpool actually really is and that's what sort of sold it for me," he said.

Given his mum Maxine Farah had previously been approached to appear on reality TV before, she had two key words of advice for her son ahead of his E4 debut.

"She said 'be me'. She said be me as much as I can, just don't take anything to heart. I do quite a bit, I wear my heart on sleeve. I was raised by my mum and I've got my nan and my two aunties, so very female family orientated," he said.

"They were giving me their point of views and telling me not to come across too full of myself in a way, because I'm 27 now, years ago I was sort of full of myself... every Scouser thinks they're the bees knees and that's what makes us different from the rest."

It's A Scouse Life returns to TV screens on November 15 at 8pm on E4