A self-confessed geek who loves nothing more than to dress up as fantasy characters hopes her TV appearance will inspire others to follow her pasion.

Rebecca Moriarty, who grew up in Waltham Abbey, will appear on the E4 show, Geeks, on Monday thanks to her interest in Cosplay, short for costume play.

The hobby has developed from a Japanese subculture and involves participants dressing in costumes worn by characters, such as those in Japanese manga animation, comic books and computer games, and taking part in role play.

Some of the characters Miss Moriarty likes to emulate are Jean Grey from the comic X-Men and Sailor Jupiter from the anime series Sailor Moon.

The programme sees Miss Moriarty and two other Cosplayers jet off to Los Angeles where they are shown around the glitz, glamour and exclusive clubs of Hollywood by David Hasselhoff’s daughter, Taylor.

The former King Harold pupil, said: “I wanted to do the programme because a lot of people think Cosplay is childish and I wanted to show its hidden depths.

“The enjoyment doesn't just come from dressing up, it’s also very creative.

“A lot of Cosplayers create and make their own costumes from scratch.

“The show was an amazing experience and something I couldn’t have afforded usually.

“It was also a bit surreal for me to be on the other side of the camera because I work as a photographer at a lot of Cosplay conventions.

“I’m quite a shy person so it was really weird having cameras all over the place but by the end of the week I didn’t really notice them.”

The 23-year-old got into the hobby as a student when she was looking for a society to join.

She said: “I’ve met a lot of friends through it and I think it’s fun to dress up and I enjoy making costumes.

“I work a lot at conventions behind the scene blogging and taking photos.”

A highlight of her trip was a Cosplay shop in LA which Miss Moriarty likened to Harrods because of its size and range of choice.

The Cosplay fanatic said: “I hope the show is positive because we are passionate about what we do. More information about Cosplay and the programme is available at Miss Moriarty’s website http://leagueofextraordinarycosplayers.com/