Reality TV star Kelly Waite shifts perspective on OCD with new films

The Voice Within and Trapalation 19 are the first films Kelly Waite, who appeared on Channel 4 s Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, has written.

Each film is around 10 minutes long and Kelly, 39, has said the projects have already been recognised at a number of film festivals.

The Voice Within was released first at the start of 2020 and follows a woman who is trapped in her own mind with the OCD rituals that she does.

It was filmed in July 2019 across Hartlepool, Sedgefield and Newcastle and Kelly has described as a “wake up call because people don’t realise how much certain things can affect people.”

She said: "I’m really proud of it because it was a low budget film.

"It’s all about the struggle of OCD and it portrays suicide as well.

"It’s only a short film, but it’s quite dramatic. It’s really emotional. I wanted it to be hard hitting and I’m just really proud of how it’s turned out.“

Kelly says she has struggled with OCD for as long as she can remember, with the pandemic having a negative effect on her symptoms.

Describing how she cleans “every single item of groceries” and disinfects her lock and key every day, she said: "It’s a bit of a nightmare, but I have learned to live with it. The more anxious I am, the worse it is.

"The hardest part of living with OCD is the actual rituals. Just going out and shutting your door can take you half an hour.”

During the first lockdown in 2020, Kelly kept busy by working on her second film Trapalation 19.

It was filmed on her camera phone in the form of a video diary and received the Gold Award for Best Narrative Short at the Pinnacle Film Awards.

Kelly, from Trimdon, added: “I just wanted to make an impact, because when you hear of OCD really, all people think it is someone who like to clean a lot and organise things, but it’s just not like that.“

The former reality star has said she wanted to write her own film since she was a little girl and now has her sights set on creating a feature-length film.

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