Exclusive:Glasgow Wonka Experience's 'sad Oompa-Loompa' wins 'golden ticket' in Netflix show

Kirsty Paterson, who was working as an actor playing an Oompa-Loompa at the Willy’s Chocolate Experience in Glasgow, was captured on camera looking glum at the £35-a-head event, which made international headlines when images of an almost-empty warehouse, devoid of entertainment, decoration or chocolate goodies, were shared on social media.

She later became a cult character, appearing in a Fringe show based on her experience, as well as a guest at a recreation of the Glasgow event in Los Angeles. Other spin-off events held worldwide included a club night in New York and an ice dance routine by an Olympic medal-winning Japanese figure skater.

Now she stars in a promotion for new Netflix reality TV series Wonka's The Golden Ticket, which is due to be screened later this month.

“The whole reality of my whole experience since the Willy Wonka thing really is me winning the golden ticket in life,” Ms Paterson said.

“It's completely changed my life in such a massive way that I actually get a bit emotional thinking about it. I really wasn't in a good place when the Willy Wonka experience happened, it was a really, really bad point in my life - and to think now, I'm living in Australia in the sun, I'm affording life, I'm not struggling the way I used to struggle.

“It's been under three years and the stuff that I've done all in the middle of it all has just been completely life changing.

“I think from being just a normal girl from Glasgow to now doing a Netflix promo, it's quite a big deal for me.

“I've ended up meeting the people who work at Netflix, networking with them and seeing how like a professional environment work, and then creating those networks has been really inspiring for me.”

Police were called to the “immersive experience” in Glasgow’s Box Hub Warehouse in February 2024 after furious parents complained their children had been brought to tears by the "shambolic" event after being given a handful of jelly babies and half a cup of lemonade in an experience that lasted just a few minutes.

Ms Paterson said she was asked to travel to Australia last year to take part in the promotional filming for the show on the Gold Coast and decided to stay in the country, later relocating to Melbourne, where she now hosts a radio programme and works as a tour guide.

“They contacted me quite a while ago to get involved and it inspired me to grow my character more,” said Ms Paterson, who posts on social media as “Scottish Oompa Loompa”.

“It feels amazing, very cool to see it all come together today,” she added.

In the Netflix promotional video, which appears to be filmed on the set of the new show, she says: “I used to think I would always be a sad Oompa Loompa, until one day everything changed”.

Netflix captioned the video: “We found *the* Sad Oompa Loompa and gave her the Wonka experience she deserves.”

The new programme is billed as a “one-of-a-kind reality competition”, where “lucky players step inside Wonka's chocolate factory to face unpredictable games, tests and temptations”.