A BLACKBURN mum-of-two is to become a familiar face in the nation’s households this Christmas.

Kim Reid beat competition from thousands of other women to be chosen as one of 16 ‘real mums’ to feature in Iceland’s new adverts.

The 23-year-old entered the New Face competition in February after Coleen Nolan announced she was stepping down as the face of the frozen food supermarket.

The ads, which also feature Aussie star Jason Donovan, were shown for the first time yesterday and shorter ones will also run alongside ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here series, which the chain is sponsoring.

It marks the end of a hard year for receptionist Kim, after losing her dad Ronald Mariner to cancer on Boxing Day and being made redundant.

“I got an email saying Iceland were looking for people from a mums’ group I belong to when I had just found out I’d been made redundant, so thought ‘why not?’”, said Kim, from the Witton area of Blackburn.

She sent in a picture and a description of what her normal family life was like, with 18-month-old Shaun, four-year-old Ebony and fiance Shaun, 34, and made it down to the last 52 auditionees.

Then Kim was sent a script to learn, and had to perform in front of Coleen and Iceland advert producer.

She said: “I think it was my bubbly, positive personality which got their attention.”

After that she was whisked away to locations in London, Cheshire and Manchester to film her role as a mum walking up the red carpet – which turns out to be in a furniture shop, and chatting to other mums about I’m A Celebrity.

She said: “All the family will be gathered round to watch.”