UNEMPLOYED Leah Newton has her opinions and she is not afraid to share them.
At the age of 51, the council tenant has found herself living alone in a deprived area in east Hull, resigned to life on the dole.
After paying her bills, Ms Newton has less than £30 per week to her name and says she is unable to get a job, which has left her disillusioned with the Government.
Feeling like she is stuck in a rut, Ms Newton relies on anti-depressants and says she is unable to see any light at the end of the tunnel.
"I don't want to live off the dole," she said.
"I want to work, me. You can't survive on £30 a week, I can't even go out or buy clothes.
"I'm living off nowt. Luckily I've got good friends and I can go to my mam's for a meal.
"I want my independence back, but there aren't any jobs.
"You can get 16 hours, but that's no good to me."
Currently, Ms Newton says she scrapes by on £143 per fortnight in benefits.
She believes there is little chance of her getting work due to the number of younger, better qualified people looking for a job.
"Who is going to give me a job at my age? It's discrimination," said Ms Newton, speaking from her two-bedroom home, which is funded entirely by housing benefit.
"You need a degree for a cleaning job these days, don't you?'
"You used to be able to get a job easy, through word of mouth. Not anymore.
"I'd do anything, me. I like to work with the public, but it's not that simple anymore.
"They are letting all these immigrants in, they are taking the jobs.
"I'm not prejudiced, I used to go out with a black man, but they are getting our jobs.
"If Margaret Thatcher was here she wouldn't let that happen, and she made mistakes.
"It's alright having Siemens but it's for the young kids, it's not for people like me."
Ms Newton believes she is one of many who are barely getting by on benefits and thought it was time she "spoke out" – hence her appearing on Channel 5's Benefits Britain: Life On the Dole.
The programme was first aired three weeks ago and has followed people in several towns and cities, with Hull featuring in the final episode on Monday night.
The decision to records the show in Hull sparked widespread criticism about how the 2017 UK City of Culture would be portrayed.
After the first episode was aired, city council leader Steve Brady described it as "TV at its worst".
But Ms Newton has defended her decision to invite the cameras into her home and claims she has a story to tell.
She claims she was not given the best start in life, with her dad walking out when she was very young.
Throughout her childhood, Ms Newton was in and out of care, and left school without any qualifications.
She did used to work full-time though, in various jobs, including as a barmaid and a carer, and owned a house with her then boyfriend.
The couple went through IVF to have children but the treatment was unsuccessful and they eventually parted after 20 years together.
Following this, Ms Newton says she got in with a bad crowd, failed to pay her bills and ended up having the home she owned repossessed.
She then began living off benefits.
Ms Newton revealed she has suffered tragedy in her life too – her sister killed herself when she was just 22.
Her brother died after a battle with anorexia, aged 51, and her world was thrown into chaos recently when she discovered a friend of 15 years actually shares the same father.
Financially, things came to a head last Christmas when Ms Newton decided to declare herself bankrupt.
The move cleared her £10,000 debt and also gave her six month's grace from paying council tax and the bedroom tax.
"Even when I was working full-time I still had nothing to show for it," she said.
"I'm not saying I'm better off on benefits – I'd get more if I worked, I don't want to be on the dole.
"I don't want to be stuck at home on my own, but I also don't see the point because you work for knack-all anyway."
Ms Newton told the Mail she did not get paid to appear on the show, however Channel 5 have promised to send her some vouchers after the show has aired.
"At first, they asked me what I'd like and I just said to them to fetch me some dog meat," said Ms Newton.
"They said they would make sure I was given a thank you so I said I wanted a new cooker and that I wanted my garden doing."
Ms Newton won't get to see the programme for herself until Monday night.
She said: "I am getting a bit nervous now about it.
"Everyone round here has said they are going to watch it on a big screen in the pub.
"I'm going to watch it on my own with a bottle of vodka."
