White Dee - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

In January 2014 Benefits Street aired for the first time on Channel 4. The reality TV series, which documented the lives of residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham, was controversial right from the start. Ofcom and Channel 4 received hundreds of complaints.

One straight-talking resident - Deirdre Kelly, also known as 'White Dee' - became the standout star of the show. Many of the headlines were negative and the mother-of-two found herself vilified, accused of being a scrounger and worse.

But she received a warmer welcome on Celebrity Big Brother this summer and more recently this week at the Conservative Party Conference where she spoke at a fringe event hosted by a think-tank.

So how did an ordinary woman from Birmingham, who has spent the last several years living off benefits, become so famous - and, potentially, influential? Mark Coles travels to Birmingham to find out.

Presenter Mark Coles
Producer Ben Crighton.

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