An ex-Celtic star has told how he turned down a chance to appear in hit Scottish show The Scheme because he would be "absolutely slaughtered".
Paul Caddis was approached by bosses to return to Kilmarnock’s Onthank estate where he grew up in the documentary follow heroin addict Marvin and co.
The programme went on to scoop a BAFTA with its hard-hitting - and often controversial - insight into life on the town's toughest areas.
Now the 31-year-old has revealed makers Friel Kean wanted him to be the success story of The Scheme which he says was "full of rockets".
Appearing on Si Ferry's Open Goal for William Hill, he said: "Born and bred, Onthank. Happy as Larry, could not be happier! I actually got asked to be in that.
"My big brother was buzzing. He was like, ‘This will be the start of my acting career’.
"They came to the house and said we want you to be the success story of The Scheme. I was like, no chance.
"Full of rockets and that...no chance. I’d have got absolutely slaughtered for that.
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"They paint it out to be a lot worse than what it is. Like every scheme, it has its rough times.
"But it keeps you grounded for the rest of your life, doesn’t it?”
Caddis struggled to hold down a starting place in his three years at Celtic having broken into the Hoops first team in 2007. He was also capped once for Scotland in 2006.
Scots were left shocked when the BBC show first aired back in 2010.
It followed residents - including Marvin Baird, 39, his girlfriend Dayna McLaughlan and beloved dog Bullet - as they navigated drug issues, financial hardships and family feuds on the state.
But it wasn't without its controversies as it has been touted with paving the way for shows blasted as "poverty porn" by critics.
Among them was Channel 4's Born Famous which featured Scottish bra tycoon Michelle Mone's 19-year-old daughter Bethany .
The YouTube vlogger visited Bridgeton in Glasgow, part of one of the UK’s most deprived wards, to see where her Tory peer mum grew up.
