THEGAYUK

Category: Interview

  • INTERVIEW | Kavana

    INTERVIEW | Kavana

    From the all-new Manband off ITV’s The Big Reunion, we get an exclusive chat with Kavana, before the show’s finale. On a crackly line, somewhere in an alleyway off Regent Street – a wind-swept 90’s heartthrob talks about Donatella Versace, Coming Out 2014 style, self-sabotage drinking and how he sometimes wants to smack Andi Peter’s in the mouth.

    How does it feel to be back?
    It’s very surreal, I’m absolutely enjoying it this time round, it’s crazy, it’s very very surreal. Obviously I’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster journey on the show, but I’m just blown over, surprisingly by the public support that I’ve had. – Especially as things are edited in a certain way, and you can be put up in a certain light.
    It’s a TV show, that’s what you sign up for. It’s kind of a bit of a soap opera. I did what I did – they can’t put in what didn’t happen. So it’s been crazy watching it back.

    What’s it like watching yourself on TV after all this time?
    Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes I’m hiding behind the sofa. Sometimes I don’t watch it because I know what’s coming up.

    Did you know that the producers of the show, would heavily feature on the drinking episode, ensuing drama and aftermath?
    You know what, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into and I think part of me, I would say, did it on purpose; but the self-sabotage comes out. I think at the back of my mind I think I knew it was going to happen, so I thought ‘lets get it over and done with’. It’s been harsh to watch. But I think a part of me that did it on purpose. Part of me made myself do that.

    So what happened when Adam Rickitt try to reach out to you – and you had your fabulous, “They’re f**king lucky to have me” dramz?
    Well I was just coming back from the pub at 10 o’clock to find a camera crew and Adam Rickitt outside my hotel room waiting for my arrival. I was pissed off. I was like: ‘Come in, come in… What do you want?’

    Did you know at the time where it was going ? Did it feel like being like a lamb led to the slaughter…
    Yes, that’s why I just thought let’s rack it up. Let’s give ‘em a good ending here. Toys out of pram, magazine thrown to the floor… Cut.

    We love that you’ve managed to make it the Kavana show!
    Is drinking a problem for you?
    What they didn’t show on that particular day is that I had received some pretty bad news, my mum is poorly with Alzheimers. I had a very weak moment. I just hit the bottle, obviously it was right in the middle of rehearsals and on camera.
    My mum’s in a care home. It’s pretty tough because I can’t call her because it confuses her. So I’ve gone from speaking to my mum everyday to just not speaking to her – maybe once a month, because it gets her very confused. She doesn’t understand who I am. It’s kind of hard, but it is what it is. When I do see her I make sure we have quality time. I have a tendency to self-sabotage, if something good is about to happen a part of me tries to sabotage it.

    What’s the aftercare like when the record industry moves on?
    There was no aftercare. You’re just dumped. I was lucky to begin with because I got paid off from the record company. I wasn’t actually dropped. They made a mistake. Virgin basically got all messed up, well not messed up, but because the Spice Girls were on the same label a lot of the team moved to the states. My A&R left. They missed the date to say ‘you can’t have the next record deal’. They owed it me in the end. We went to court over it. They paid me x amount and that’s when I took the money and ran to America.
    When I moved to America it was definitely a leap – that’s when I went full steam ahead.

    How did Los Angeles treat you?
    It was amazing to begin with, I had an apartment on Sunset Boulevard, I had the agent, I had the management. I was going for auditions with Warner Brothers, I was in a soap opera for a little bit, but the dream out there is everybody’s. You go into a café and the waiters are all actors. There’s a lot of competition

    How does it feel to be singing those songs again?
    To be honest with you, I was sick of singing I Can Make You Feel Good. I’ve gone from singing it – back in the day – in Arenas and TV shows to pubs to make a living. Everyone wants to hear that song, so I ended up hating it, but I’m actually loving it this time round. They’ve totally reinvented it, they gave it a different feel and with the other guys on it is great to have them there.

    Have you bonded with the guys well?
    I think me and Adam have bonded really well. But everyone is so different – I take the hat of being a looney tune, I have my moments – Gareth’s a bit of a Jack-the-lad – Kenzie’s very dry, but a genuine guy…

    So email a very 2014 way to come out to the lads of 5th Story!
    Well I was out to my family and friends, but I’ve not done anything in the public eye worth to even talk about it. It was old news to me, but this show is about your story. It was important. I just wanted to lay my cards on the table.
    Adam is very good at the group email thing, coming from his MP’s background – everyone CC’d in. We were day 4 into rehearsals and it was just getting more awkward and awkward. ‘Are you seeing anyone Kav? – Are you married’? I just couldn’t get the words out as ridiculous as that sounds.
    Kenzie still doesn’t believe I’m gay for whatever reason. I could turn up singing The Wizard Of Oz in ruby slippers and he’d be like: ‘You’re not gay’. Adam was like ‘I knew it, I knew it…’ and I was like ‘you can’t talk – you’re the campest one of the group!’ So there was a lot of banter, but it was fine… Every group needs a gay don’t they!

    You were having a heart to heart with one of the girls from Girl Thing in The Big Reunion and you said, you didn’t want people to judge you because they haven’t walked in your shoes. What moment would you want people to walk in?
    Wow. I wouldn’t want anyone to go through a bad time on my part, but you can have two instances: One is signing a £500,000 deal, buying a house for your parents, feeling absolutely elated. 6 – 7 years later having to borrow 50p to put in the phone box to call the mortgage company to say that you’re going to agree to them to repossess your house- and you have to tell your Mum and Dad that they can no longer live in the house and be just absolutely pot less. I remember walking around in a circle in Leicester Square thinking: I’ve got to tell my Mum and Dad, who are now in their 60s that they’ve got nowhere to live. From one extreme to the other.

    How did you deal with that extreme?
    It was the worst time. It was horrendous. The worst stress ever. And that was the trigger for when I went… You know…. Off the rails.

    How did you get back on track?
    I think it’s a working progress. I’m not perfect – absolutely not, but keeping going, putting one foot in front of the other. My father has passed away, but I’m lucky to have his mindset. He was very much the glass is half full. I always had faith it would turn around. I just kept knocking on doors. Keep trying and keep trying…

    If you were going to write an autobiography what would you call it?
    I don’t think I’m famous enough to write an autobiography, but I have started writing a book, and the working title at the moment is called: Smashed Hits: Misadventures in Pop. I’m on chapter three at the minute. It ‘s like more memoirs. The first chapter I wrote is called Donatella Nobody… It involved me at Donatella Versaces house in the late 90s in Milan at a party – and she was talking to me and an incident took place and came close to me and whispered in me ear: Don-ta-Tell-a Nobody… (Laughs) I remember that party very well, jumping on the bed with Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss…

    What do you make of Andi Peter’s voiceovers?
    Slightly annoying… but you can’t not love Andi Peters. He’s so nostalgic. He know exactly what he’s doing.
    Sometimes I think it’s funny, sometimes I want to punch him in the face!

    The Big Reunion Continues tonight on ITV2 at 9:00PM & Kavana appears on Celebrity Juice, with Keith Lemon straight after. The full interview will appear in the next edition of TheGayUK out on 6th April 2014

  • INTERVIEW: The Overtones

    As the The Overtones pile into the plush Soho Square Studios, London, I’m immediately struck at how brotherly they all are together. These guys are the real deal. Head to foot in their trademark dickie-bow look and buffed shoes, I’m immediately a fan, without even speaking to them and it’s about to get even friendlier as TheGayUK chats to The Overtones for their gayest* interview ever!

    (more…)

  • INTERVIEW: Jamie Dornan

    Jamie Dornan is mostly known to British TV viewers for his highly acclaimed and spine chilling performance as serial killer Paul Spector opposite Gillian Anderson in The Fall (BBC2). (more…)

  • INTERVIEW | Cheryl Baker

    We catch up with the gorgeously camp and ever youthful Cheryl Baker. Famous for ‘that’ skirt moment, winning Eurovision, Christmas Top of The Pops and co-hosting Record Breakers. Cheryl we bow down to thee….

    What is your favourite moment from your career?
    Winning Eurovision, without question, as that was always my ambition as a child. Eurovision is like the Olympic Gold of pop music, so to win that was amazing. Personally, though, my favourite moment was singing Mary’s Boy Child on stage with my sister when I was a teenager as that was when I decided I wanted to be on stage.

    Comparing Eurovision to the Olympics – no wonder you’re such a legend.

    What has been your campest moment?
    Again, winning Eurovision! And, when we did Christmas Top of the Pops, I was dressed as a Pixie for The Land of Make Believe. When we sang “run for the sun”, I was hoisted up in the air. It was pure pantomime and fabulous.

    Flying pixies on Christmas TOTP – 10 out of 10!

    What’s the most outrageous thing a fan has ever said / sent to you?
    Oh, that’s easy! I get hay-fever really badly and, one time, this girl asked me for my tissue. I said “No! It’s full of snot!” She just said “But it’s your snot!” Yuk!

    Erm.. VILE! Oh. My. God.

    Have you ever used your fame to get into a VIP area (don’t you know who I am)?
    No! I can’t stand that. I hate it so much. A really good friend, who I love dearly, bought me tickets for My Fair Lady at the National. She said to me we should go to the after-party, I said “No, I haven’t been invited.” but she just said “They’ll let you in; you’re Cheryl Baker!” I remember when I was in Co-Co in 1977, I was in a restaurant called The White Elephant on the River – everyone went there, it was the place to be. Davy Jones from the Monkees came in, and he was my idol, as that was my era. They said “I’m terribly sorry, Mr Jones, but there are no tables.” and he actually said “Don’t you know who I am?” and my heart just sank. He was my idol.

    We love a diva, but we love an unassuming one even more.

    What was the most breathtaking record you saw broken on Record Breakers?
    Roy Castle did the longest wing-walk. They wanted me to do it too. I tried for about 10 minutes but it was hell. Roy was terrified of heights but that’s how he dealt with his fears – by facing them. We both did the longest rope slide, from the top of Blackpool Tower, although that record was beaten shortly after by the Marines. We were both terrified. I raise my hat to Roy – so many of the records were about him facing his phobias.

    Why do you think the gays love Eurovision so much?
    I don’t know but I’m so glad they do! They love everything I love – musical theatre, pop music, Eurovision. I’m like a gay man. If I was a man, I would definitely be gay.

    Never change. Ever.

    What does it mean to you to be a gay icon?
    It means I have a real loyal following that say lovely things. They call me Dame Cheryl, which I love, even though it sounds a bit old! Gays are very happy to wear their heart on their sleeve. If they like something that other people say is camp or twee, they don’t care. Gay men and women are not afraid to come out and say they like something, and just be themselves.

    Dame Cheryl; we salute you. Gay Icon, Eurovision legend and Bethnal Green’s campest export. ∎

    Cheryl Baker currently appears as Mrs Cunningham in the UK tour of ‘Happy Days the Musical’. Tour dates and tickets from happydaysthemusical.com

  • Doctor Christian on the journey to a gay cure

    Doctor Christian on the journey to a gay cure

    I catch up with Dr Christian about his new documentary for Channel 4 Undercover Doctor: Cure Me I’m Gay where he tries a number of historical and still practiced cures for homosexuality both here in the UK and the US to see why they still exist and of course try to answer the big question… Do they work?

    Doctor Christian cure me I'm gay
    CREDIT: Channel 4

    Am I now talking with a straight Dr Christian?
    Yes exactly, the “cured” Dr Christian. I don’t think anyone for a moment believed I’d be cured.

    Was there any worry from the boyfriend that you might have been converted and suddenly no longer love him?
    This is a funny question. I keep getting asked this. I’ll be completely honest with you, between the two of us we never once for a moment thought there’d be any remote possibility that I’d come home and tell him I had a girlfriend and he’d have to leave.

    What made you want to investigate these gay- cures in the first place?
    It was genuinely because I had a young gay patient come to see me and ask for help to make himself straight. I pride myself on being able to deal with most things and not look terribly shocked but this really rattled me personally. I didn’t show him, but inside I was slightly offended because someone saying they dislike being gay is almost an indirect attack on your own sexuality. I thought this doesn’t go on in this day and age when actually of course it does. This is what really sparked off the documentary of looking into these gay cures and there are lots of them going on, lots of open practitioners taking people on to try to cure them of their homosexuality. I thought is there any medical basis for this? There were two main questions. One, do they exist are they still going on and two, do they work?

    Did you at any point throughout the making of the programme feel ashamed to be gay?
    Honestly not once. I think the person who affirmed it for me, in the most beautiful way, was my father. I came back from America having heard all horrible things and I face my father who said, ‘we’re absolutely fine you’re gay, It’s not a problem.’ It’s a wonderful affirming moment in the documentary and for me, if there were any doubts from America they were completely blown away by the simplicity of my father’s comments. I think it’s important for people to see that and he wasn’t briefed or scripted or paid!

    One of the cures looks at what you wear. Is there any scientific proof that wearing hideous clothes makes you straight?
    Ha ha, you know what was funny? Of all the things that we filmed that was the worst bit for me. I literally had these little strops with my director saying ‘I’m not wearing this. I’m not going out in this. I won’t do it’. It really is stripping you of who you are and forcing you to be someone else. It’s kind of what all the therapies do, sort of putting you in the costume of a straight man which was just so trite but also so unpleasant so dehumanising.

    Are these therapies in some way actually ‘Heterophobic’ as they suggest straight men and women only listen to certain music or wear certain clothes?
    Totally. They’re both homophobic and heterophobic and pander to these ridiculous stereotypes. I go to see a chap called John Smid who used to run a famous camp called Love In Action, [American camp set up to cure homosexuality] He has since turned his back on this and is now happily gay, living with a man. I turn up at his house and he goes through my bag and removes all my ‘gay’ clothes. Of course, It’s entirely dependant on culture. In America anything European is gay, so my Abercrombie tops, which in the UK we’d all consider pretty gay, were absolutely fine but my Italian brogues, of course, those effeminate Italians, not. It was just utter nonsense but what was so sad is they built a whole camp and therapeutic system around this process in which young people, teenage boys would be sent by their parents to go through this and were literally stripped of their dignity, of who they were. Although there are lighter sides when you think actually about the sinister intentions behind it, it becomes a lot more chilling.

    Apart from same-sex attraction, is the gay brain any different to a heterosexual brain?
    I think it’s very interesting. There will be subtle differences that may not be anatomically measurable, but certainly we function and behave differently. Sexual orientation is a spectrum and all of us fit somewhere along that spectrum. I go to investigate at the Cornell University with the test of sexual orientation to see where I lie. Having your sexuality, something that you’ve always known, proven by a machine is incredibly satisfying, that you got it right, that you’ve been sleeping with the right people all this time.

    Do you believe there is a main factor that pushes homosexuals into these therapies?
    Yes. One main factor is the rampant homophobia that still exists all around the world and I think one of the driving forces behind that is religion. I go to the bible belt of America to see the worst of it. Outside one church there are these 14-15-year-olds saying, ‘oh yeah homosexuality is caused by demons, they need to be expunged. All gay people need treatment’. It’s quite easy to see why if you’re living in a community like that you might feel dirty and in need of treatment. You go to Uganda, go to Iran where your two choices are death or an enforced sex change and you think: hmmm I can see why people might seek out these therapies.

    You were clearly quite upset from hearing the views of the young religious kids, do you feel they are being brainwashed into these opinions or were they born homophobic?
    Of course, they haven’t come up with that idea themselves. They’ve been indoctrinated. Kids don’t come up with the idea that sexuality is caused by demons themselves, kids aren’t that ridiculous. I think in the UK our younger generations are growing up far more comfortable that people come in all different shapes and sizes, colours and sexual orientations. You talk to young people and they don’t bat an eyelid if someone’s gay or not, but in America, the same young people in that area were coming out with really quite vile statements but saying it perfectly pleasantly with big smiles on their faces.

    Was it hard to control yourself at times because you only swore twice during the whole programme?
    I can tell you now there were a lot more tears and a lot more swearing that didn’t make the final cut. I mean how could you not, but I don’t think people want to see their doctor swearing and crying for an hour on the telly.

    What do you think motivates these so called ‘doctors’ or pastors to hold these therapy sessions in the first place?
    I think they genuinely believe, either nicely or nastily, that if you are homosexual you cannot lead a life that is acceptable to God. Some of them clearly were very well meaning people who were very concerned for some of their flock who were gay. One scene that doesn’t make it, because we ran out of time, is where I go to a church with a gay young man who is undergoing therapies. He introduces me to his pastor who I have a bit of a fight with over the theological terms but he wasn’t a nasty man at all he just believed this rhetoric. I think others are just rampantly homophobic. It’s a fear of what you don’t know exaggerated by these ideas that homosexuality is equivalent to paedophilia, it’s catching, we pray on you, we recruit you, all these other nonsenses that we’ve all heard and we know are absolute rubbish.

    Do you believe you’ll ever win a scientific and medical argument against a religious one?
    I do. I win several. If it comes down to ‘this is just what I believe’, you can’t win that and of course there’s that great PC thing that we’re not allowed to criticise people’s beliefs. Well, I think that’s absolute nonsense. If those beliefs encroach on me or my life and make my lifeless easy, more unpleasant, then, of course, you can criticise a belief. A great example was chatting to someone who really wants to introduce therapies back here in the UK. He says in the bible it says ‘homosexuality is wrong’ and this is a scientist. So I say to him ‘right so you’re going by the bible as evidence that it’s wrong, so tell me as a scientist… Creationism or evolution which do you subscribe to?’ and he refuses to answer the question. He squirms and hums and gets cross but he can’t answer the question so for me that does kind of win the argument. He cherry picks what he chooses to believe and what he chooses to ignore.

    What would you like to see being done in the future regarding these so called cures?
    What is nice to see, is more and more professional bodies are saying we do not condone these therapies, they should not be done and the therapists who are controlled by us the professional body should not be offering these therapies to their patients.

    From all of the tests you took which did you find the most difficult?
    I think it would have to be the inversion therapy which was particularly unpleasant, the one where I’m vomiting because it was so shameful and I’m so upset. I was recreating it I admit that, but one of the reasons I was so upset was because I was thinking of the people who had volunteered to put themselves through this and not just for a few hours but for days and days of this sort of reinforced shaming. This is with a background where homosexuality in England was still illegal and someone like me, a doctor, would prescribe this to people and that was horrific. The chap who ran the test with me, used to actually perform these tests and he agreed to come forward and do it with us that day, which I think was brilliant of him because he’s completely remorseful about what he used to do, but he was a junior nurse, following the orders his senior doctors told him. He says when I interview him he never ever saw a single example of it working.

    One therapist could tell why your homosexual by a piece of paper you’d colour in. Will you be taking up the practice of having your patients colour in the human body on a sheet of paper so you can diagnose what’s wrong with them?
    Ha ha. Well if it makes $250 a pop it’s worth thinking about it. It’s people like that, that give the medical profession a really bad name and I’m very pleased that we have exposed that kind of nonsense and if it makes even one gay man go well, I’m certainly not going there having seen that nonsense, then I’ll be pleased.

  • INTERVIEW | Mat and Jon from Proud 2 Be

    INTERVIEW | Mat and Jon from Proud 2 Be

    On a sunny afternoon in January, we caught up with identical twins Mat and Jon Price to find out why they posted an online video saying they were Proud2Be gay and set up the Proud2Be project to spread the positive message that whatever your sexuality and wherever you live, you should be proud of who you are within your community. The project has attracted support from such celebrities as Sir Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry, who posted his own Proud2Be video.

    Proud 2 Be
    CREDIT: Proud 2 Be

    Thank you for joining us guys. Firstly can I just say you’re the first identical twins I’ve ever interviewed.
    Jon: Yeah. And the last hopefully. (evil laughter). So tell us a little interesting fact about
    yourselves.
    Mat: Oh, well, I’m the oldest brother by a whole 2 minutes. I’ve been backpacking around New Zealand and Australia working on organic farms and I play the guitar.
    Jon: I play the keyboard and have travelled around South-East Asia. Oh and we’ve both travelled to San Francisco where we visited Harvey Milk’s old camera shop for a cocktail party! It was this trip that inspired the Proud2Be project.

    Where were you raised?
    Jon: Well we were raised In the West Midlands in a little village called Knowle, quite rural, surrounded by plenty of countryside. We spent the majority of our twenties living separate lives in different cities. It was only in the past 3 years that we really came together.

    So how did you end up in South Devon?
    Mat: It was quite a random move. We’d got back from our trip to San Francisco and we were thinking of going travelling again, but Proud2be was just starting to form and we wanted to commit to that for a while. It was completely random but we decided to go on a weekend away. Megabus were doing a deal so we came to Torquay and thought ‘well we don’t really want to live here’, so we got on a bus to Totnes and as soon as we got off the bus we thought right this is where we wanted to be. It was out the blue and people thought we were crazy just moving to somewhere we didn’t know, or have any friends, but actually it was moving back to a very similar set up.

    Did it take long to settle into the small village life?
    Jon: For the first 6 months we were without a car and so we really faced quite a lot of isolation and realised that exists not just for us but for lots of LGBT people in rural areas where they can’t access their community, they feel invisible, so that really inspired us to create opportunities for people to meet each other and to not be invisible anymore and feel that they’re valuable members of society.

    Most brothers couldn’t live together but you both seem very happy. Have you always had a close bond?
    Jon: We were very close growing up because we were very different to a lot of the other boys in our school. I think we were different to everyone and faced the same kind of rejection, so that brought us together a lot.

    Did you both know each other was gay or did one of you come out to the other first?
    Jon: I always knew Mat was gay and we both knew individually that we were gay from a really young age.
    Mat: It’s hard when your younger, especially not being educated about anything other than what society considered, at that time, as normal. So we’re scrabbling around trying to find out why we’re different. In terms of being out, neither one of us came out until we were eighteen.
    Jon: While I was living away I came back home and Mat had said to me, ‘Oh I went out to the Nightingale’ which is a big gay club in Birmingham, (Find your way there with TheGayUK free bar finder App). We hadn’t come out to each other at this point but that was kinda Mat’s way of coming out to me. He was like, ‘have you been to the Nightingale too?’ I would have been shocked if Mat had said, ‘I have a girlfriend’.

    It must have been a relief coming out?
    Jon: We were very much aware that once we’d said it out loud to each other that we would have to talk about telling our Mum and Dad. We were really afraid of telling our dad because we had grown up with lots of LGBT phobic messages from him and that side of the family…
    Mat: Maybe this wasn’t true but our perception of it was that his part of our family would prefer us to be drug dealers. So we grew up with really blatant negative messages about being gay. Even the subtle messages, where homophobia in the family isn’t challenged or when there’s nothing in the children’s books about gay people or same-sex couples or trans people. All of those messages together, I think, would be very difficult for any child or young person to grow up and not internalise. Without really knowing it, we grew up into young adults that hated ourselves for being gay. It was a natural part of who we were yet it was something to apologise for, something to be ashamed of. Obviously Proud2Be, the name, is our campaign, our statement to say actually we’re not ashamed anymore and we were for a long time.

    Why is the Proud2Be project so important to you both?
    Jon: We love what we do with Proud2Be because we’re really able to empower other individuals, but actually Proud2Be first and foremost was for us and we used it to not feel invisible anymore. When we first started the project in 2011 our video was the only one up there for a good while and it was really confronting to make. A lot of people go through a real process of deciding to make the video and talking honestly from the heart, coming to a real place of pride for who they are. A lot of people never say that they’re proud to be gay or proud to be LGBT. It’s almost I’m gay but I’m normal or I’m gay but I’m straight acting or…
    Mat: I’m sorry but I’m gay.
    Jon: There isn’t much opportunity to say it’s actually something I’m really proud of or is something to celebrate.
    Mat: We’re not saying it’s easy to make a Proud2Be video and we really see the value in it as a journey for people. It’s a really bold statement to say ‘I’m proud to be gay’ even though you may have been told otherwise.

    What are your hopes for the Proud2Be project?
    Jon: First and foremost we aim to help build confidence and self-worth in a proactive, positive way. The project as a whole is about moving forward but also about recognising what’s going on for people in their lives, what messages they’re receiving. It’s about cutting through all the superficial stuff and getting people to think about things like shame and the damaging messages they’ve received, then moving forward building strong LGBTQI communities in rural areas and all around the world by breaking down those ideas that we have to be separate or we cant be a strong community.
    Mat: Or that lesbians can’t talk to gay men because they won’t get on or trust each other, or that trans people aren’t actually part of our community. That’s really essential for us, to have a strong community because that’s where, personally, we’ve received support and affirmation. If you’re dealing with a homophobic boss or a transphobic parent you have access to a community or family that accepts you for who you are and are there for you and can listen to you.

    Was it a shock to have celebrities like Stephen Fry become part of the project?
    Jon: It was, but it’s funny because relatively early on in the project Mat had a radio interview and was asked, ‘who would you like on the campaign’ and Mat was like, ‘oh we’d really like Stephen Fry, we really respect him, he’s really honest’ and the interviewer was like, ‘yeah good luck with that’.
    Mat: Anything like that is like reversed psychology and I was like right sod this I’m going to show you. It’s one of my traits. I later sent him the Stephen Fry proud to be video. We don’t want to be just a celebrity campaign though because we feel everyone can make a Proud2Be video but in terms of getting endorsements from high profile people to get the message out there and to have Stephen Fry endorse the campaign by making his own video, it was a really defining moment for us.

    How can people get involved or seek help from the Proud2Be project?
    Jon: We welcome Proud2Be videos and photos from people and we’re always happy to hear from people over email. We talk a lot with people over the internet. A lot of our face to face work is located in Devon, but we are looking to roll out more services to other parts of the country.
    Mat: Our vision is to empower all LGBTQI people, not just LGBTQI people in South Devon. We really want to be adding things to the website like a forum so people in different parts of the country or abroad can feel part of the Proud2Be message.

    The lads have also been working hard in their local community and launched the first ever Proud2Be Totnes Pride in 2013. If you’d like to attend this year’s pride and meet the guys then Proud2Be Totnes Pride will be on the 6th September 2014. Peter Tatchell shall also be there showing his support. Check out other UK pride dates and information at: www.PrideGuideUK.com ∎

  • LOOK AT ME | Major Major

    LOOK AT ME | Major Major

    Major Major
    CREDIT: PR Supplied, Major Major

    So tell us what is Major –
    A) Tom Daley’s Tan,
    B) Joey Essex’s Teeth
    C) Ann Widdecombe’s Hair.

    Elsa: a) Tom Daley’s Tan! Bless him, he seems like a sweet boy. It must have been a tough decision for him to come out through the media, I really wish him all the best.

    Irene: b) Joey Essex’s Teeth (the teeth of the whole cast of TOWIE are Major, ha ha ha! Seems like they all had it done at the same place. They probably had a great discount as a group – lol). I’ve lived in Essex so the bigger the better. Life as CHAV as ever INIT?

    8/10 Well done, gurls, Tom Daley’s tan is Major as well as accepting the Chav within scores you high points. There is no prize…

    Finish this powerful gay message…
    I’m spinning around/ Move outta my way/ I know you’re…

    Elsa & Irene: I know you’re feeling me cause you like it like this…
    Elsa: Love Kylie, she is a great Icon
    Irene: Anything for Kylie, I take my hat off to her… so so inspiring and stunning… she is forever young.

    7/10 Yes she is “forever young” We pause and think to wonder why…

     

    Kylie’s next move should be?
    Elsa: I have always wished that Kylie and Dannii record an album together.
    I’m sure it would work – it’d be completely unexpected, and it’d be a hit. When 2 sisters are put together on something, nothing can’t stop them:) Come on it’s all about sister, MAJOR!

    Irene: That’s right sis… so Major… Kylie’s next move could be a duet with Major perhaps? Why not, Kylie please call us! I think she is fantastic. I love the way she constantly reinvents herself. Just divine. (This is supposed to be a secret but we are working at the moment with the legendary Pete Hammond creating hits and recreating some that you guys are already familiar with.)

    11/10 Amazing concept and extra point for the shameless Sister plug (these two are sisters – don’t you know…)

    Have you heard of Poppers? Ever tried them?

    Elsa: Sure I know poppers. Never tried but I’ve heard of their incredible ability to relax certain muscles 😉 ha ha

    Irene: No … but I will find out!

    8/10 Loving the knowledge and the readiness to try new things – We’re going to go far…

     

    What 3 things do you have to take everywhere with you?

    Elsa: Lipstick, my Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and my phone to listen to music.
    Irene: A) My handbag – inseparable – it’s ready to travel and always got everything I need to refresh myself. The French call it “un baise en ville”… Still don’t know why… 😉
    B) My car keys (I like to feel independent and not to worry about transport if no taxis around).
    C) My sunglasses. It’s all about mystery again. (One should always protect their eyes. I can’t remember the last time I went out without them.)

    4/10 Bags, Keys and Lippy- are all expected – we were thinking Adopted children, Your macrobiotic nutritionist and your yogi/life guru… but we loved the surprise flinging of French, so have four points…

     

    What are people surprised to learn about you?
    Elsa: Expect the unexpected lol…
    Irene: That with this figure, I don’t exercise… “You are what you eat”, in a way right? I stick with that and I never buy a dress that is a bigger size than what I want to be.

    3/10 Pluuuurlease, we hate/are jealous of anyone with a “I can eat anything figure…”

     

    Your greatest guilty pleasure?
    Elsa: Music; I wouldn’t live without music. It really has a great effect on me. Music is a form of self expression and of course has a great positive effect on wellbeing.

    Irene: Red lipstick
    6/10 Keep it ruby red baby…

     

    Complete this sentence… (best line gets 10 points)  I need to finish this glass of champers otherwise….
    Elsa: I need to finish this glass of champers otherwise it’s a SIN.
    Irene: …There will be no refill.

    11/10 Irene you and I are going to be the best of friends, I can tell. It’s uncanny the way we think alike.

     

    The secret to Majors’ hearts is….
    Elsa: It wouldn’t be a secret anymore if I tell you 😉 I like to be surprising.

    Irene: Yes Major sisters are full of mysteries. Guys it’s for you to find out!

    7/10 Cue Aretha Song…

     

    What’s next ladies?
    Irene: The only way is UP! For Major, we are children of the world. Two sisters having FUN. With Big hair don’t care. We have Big Dreams and Big Ambitions but most importantly Big Hearts. We cannot wait to see Major growing from a humble start into an Empire.

    Elsa: We love to entertain and we are proud to connect with the world through our music. Our journey so far has been such a blessing. Being role models means so much to us. We can only be grateful. Thank you!

    7/10 Stirring Very Stirring.

    Go witness greatness visit their website www.majormajor.com

    This article was taken from Issue 2. Subscribe here

  • INTERVIEW | Shane Bitney Crone on Bridegroom

    In 2012 Shane Bitney Crone’s ‘It Could Happen To You’ video became a viral phenomenon. His heartbreaking video, a tribute to his late partner Tom Bridegroom, was posted on the one-year anniversary of his death. Tom Bridegroom fell from a 4th-floor rooftop, whilst taking photos of his best friend and never regained consciousness.

    Shane and Tom, practically inseparable, had met in Los Angeles, after leaving their respective small towns in the states of Montana and Indiana. They were together for 6 years before Tom’s tragic passing. Both Tom and Shane had difficulties coming to terms with their sexuality in small town America, being victim to homophobic abuse, which is an all too familiar story for many young gay teens. The draw of the big city, somewhere where they’d feel more accepted was something that attracted them both.

    ‘The day I left Montana I felt much more free’, recounts Shane.

    ‘I was just so excited about my life. I spent so many years just wanting to get away and finally there was that moment where I could move away and find someone who could love me – and I did.’

    One year on from the ‘It Could Happen To You’ video, Shane and Tom’s story has been turned into a full-length documentary film.

    Heartbreaking, but inspirational, poignant and arguably one of the most important films of this generation, Bridegroom isn’t just a story about marriage equality.

    Before the run up to the film’s release, (Oprah’s Own Network premiered the film at the end of October 2013 in the United States, whilst Netflix has made the film available worldwide), I had a moment with Shane to ask him about the making of the initial ‘It Could Happen To You’ video and the subsequent Bridegroom documentary. I wondered what had made him want to make that first YouTube video about Tom?

    ‘It was a couple of months before the anniversary of Tom’s passing and I was just dreading the date. I just wanted to do something to honour him and to generate awareness of what happens when people don’t have the same rights.’

    There are still twenty-five states in the US, in which many hospitals have policies in place that don’t allow non-married partners in to see their stricken loved ones, regardless of legal documentation that prove your power of attorney or papers that verify the implied consent from your partner to be involved in the decision-making process should you become ill.

    Recently Janice Langbebn and her three children became innocent victims of this discrimination in the saddest way possible when her partner of 17 years, Lisa Pond, became suddenly ill with a brain aneurism whilst on holiday in Florida. Janice and the couples’ children were refused access to Lisa in her last moments because she was told from a social worker at the hospital that Florida is ‘an anti-gay state’.

    Lisa died the next day without seeing either her partner or her children, despite legal documents the pair had drawn up to protect themselves in case something like this tragedy were to ever happen.

    The problem is that as the current laws stand, regardless of the legal documentation you can try and put in place to assert your rights as a partner, a hospital’s administration, it seems, can overrule those protections. The only legal documentation that carries any weight is a marriage certificate.

    Gay marriage is legal in only 16 states at the time of writing this interview, leaving many same-sex partners completely unprotected and just like in Janice’s and Shane’s story the surviving partner is left in the dark about their loved one’s condition or health decisions.

    ‘(In) a lot of hospitals across the US, and in particular this one, it’s their policy, unless you’re a legal family member they won’t share any information with you,’ Shane says with the sound of deep regret in his voice.

    ‘When I got to the ER I don’t even know how long it was before he passed away, because they wouldn’t tell us anything.
    ‘I was in complete shock and it was hard to really process what was happening when they told me I couldn’t see him. It was just devastating and I was just so confused.
    ‘It’s very upsetting because when you’re committed to someone and you want to spend the rest of your life with them and this could potentially be your last moment with them or to ever see them – and for someone to take that right away from you, it’s just not right.’
    However, Shane was able to see Tom. Shane recalls the moment he saw his partner for the last time,
    ‘Fortunately I had one of my best friends there who was able to fight and argue with the nurses to let me see him. A nurse risked her job and she just snuck us back into his room – but at the time I didn’t realise that it would be the last time I would ever be with him.
    ‘I didn’t think that I wouldn’t be able to go to his funeral or his burial and properly say goodbye.’
    Sadly after Tom’s death his family cut Shane completely from the funeral arrangements and even from the service itself. Tom’s family had never been accepting of his sexuality. There’s a disheartening story in the documentary where Tom even had a gun pulled on him by his own father after he heard about his relationship with Shane.

    When Shane travelled Indiana to attend Tom’s funeral he received a phone call which alerted him to threats of abuse from some of Tom’s family should he dare to show his face.

    The documentary, which was made by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason contains so many photos and footage of the two men happily in love. Six years together provides a lot of footage and pictures – I wonder how it felt for Shane to revisit old photos.

    ‘It was hard at times going through all the old footage, but at the same time it was healing in a lot of ways. I’m just so grateful that we have as much footage as we do have. It’s a little embarrassing on one level that we have so much, but I think it’s part of our generation.’

    Does he still video diary anymore?
    ‘I don’t, I think it’d be too bizarre. One of the reasons I did a video diary was as an outlet for me, it made me feel connected to Tom in a way.
    ‘It started back in High School as a way to feel like I wasn’t burdening anyone.

    ‘Sometimes it feels like people know me better than I know myself, because I’ve put myself out there.’

    What does he want the documentary to achieve?
    ‘The main goal is to open people’s hearts and minds, and I believe film has the power to do that, more than a lot of other things.
    ‘I felt a lot of pressure of having to be an expert, that I had to have knowledge of the history of the equal rights movement, now I realise that we are all kind of activists in our way. By just sharing our stories that’s a form of activism. I’ve embraced that and I’m proud of it. I hope that it shows it doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you have a voice you can help people.’

    One of the burning questions that people I’ve spoken to about Shane’s story ask the same thing, have Tom’s parents been in touch since the ‘It Could Happen To You’ video or the filming of Bridegroom; with a sigh of sadness Shane says,

    ‘No I haven’t heard from them, and we reached out to them quite a few times in the making of the documentary and unfortunately they didn’t respond. There are members of his family that do support me and Tom and this film, it’s just unfortunate that no one from his family was able to participate.’

    I wondered what Shane thinks Tom’s reaction would be about the way in which Shane’s been treated by his family?

    ‘Overall with everything that has happened I think Tom would be disappointed in them. I don’t think he’d want people to be attacking them or harassing them.
    ‘I wanted to try and make it clear that it’s about the bigger picture and not just about his parents. I want people to walk away feeling inspired and wanting to live their life more honestly and not just focus on Tom’s parents.’

    Towards the end of the documentary a film crew travels with Shane to Tom’s grave, where Shane discovers that Tom’s parents have made every attempt to cut Shane out of the picture altogether. They’ve bought a family plot, with space for his mother on one side and his father on the other.

    ‘It was very upsetting to get to the gravesite to see that even in death his parents have prevented me from ever being with him. They’re on each side of him. There’s no way I can ever be buried next to him, but I realised that’s not where Tom is. It’s just his body.
    With the premiere of the film and worldwide release, I ask whether Shane finds it hard to talk about Tom all the time.
    ‘A lot of people think it might be hard to continuously talk about him, but I’d much rather talk about him and share him with people than not talk about him. I love the idea that people get to see such an amazing human being who inspired me and is now inspiring a lot of other people. It feels good to talk about him.’

    I’m nervous to ask the next question, but I feel that throughout the film there’s a theme, a sort of rebirth for Shane, a new beginning in many ways, I ask, if he had his time again with Tom, would he do anything different. Shane is almost delighted for the question,
    ‘Yes! I have to say, that for most of my life I was ashamed of being gay. A lot of times it prevented me from loving Tom as much as I should have or wanted to.
    ‘So looking back I wish I wouldn’t have cared so much about what people thought of us.
    ‘I would have been able to love him without being ashamed and to show that we are in love and we are a couple, who want to spend the rest of our lives together. ∎© IMAGES Supplied by Netflix

    You can watch Bridegroom on Netflix or order from Amazon

  • INTERVIEW | Darren Pop – Organiser of Raining Men to Number 1

    Last week history was made when a Facebook campaign ensured that The Weather Girls’ classic It’s Raining Men stormed its way to Number 31 in the official UK singles Chart.

    We talk to the organiser of the Facebook campaign DJ Darren Pop

    When you first heard David Silvester’s comments what were your immediate thoughts?
    I just thought he was an old fool initially and didn’t pay much notice. It wasn’t until later when I thought about it again that it actually annoyed me at how idiotic and blatenty bigotted someone could still be in this country in 2014. His comments could have caused a lot of harm to any young person who is struggling to accept who they are and who thinks they are alone in this world because people like David Silvester keeps telling them that they are ‘wrong’ or ‘not normal’.

    When did it occur to you to try and get IRM to number 1?
    On the Sunday morning after the story had been reported, I was checking my Facebook newsfeed and saw 5 or 6 people post about it, but none of them were being angry as such, most of them were having a laugh, one person wrote one saying “Just out enjoying the gay weather” another said “I hope it rains men over David Silvester’s house tonight”. I thought, what is the best way to get a message out to everyone that bigotry doesn’t have a home in the UK, the whole ‘get a song to number 1’ thing has been done before and always managed to grab my attention and so it just kept growing in my head until i set up the page a few hours later.

    How did it feel when the Facebook like counter starting passing the 1000s / 10K marks?
    I was, and still am thinking “How the hell did that happen”. I expected at the most a couple of hundred people would like the page and maybe then download the song. It got to around 3000 likes in 24 hours, and then it was reported in The Sun. Every morning I woke up thinking, that’ll be it now, people will have forgotten about it, but it just kept jumping up. By the time it got to 10k I was adamant that it was going to go at least top 40.

    Have you heard from Martha Wash one of the original Weather Girls?
    Martha Wash from the Weather Girls contacted the page when it got to about 5000 likes and said that she totally supported the campaign and the song being used to send a message out. She was incredibly nice and was pushing the campaign from her own Facebook and twitter page too. It meant so much more than Martha was behind what we were trying to do.

    Do you think your campaign has given more attention to UKIP than it should have?
    I love to think about it as shining a spotlight on how awful they are to millions more people who may have otherwise voted for them had they not understood what a bunch of idiots they are. British people aren’t stupid and they are seeing straight through UKIP. I agree that you can turn bad publicity into good publicity with certain things. But as soon as you start being homophobic, racist, fascist, or whatever, forget it. You’re done. Every country has a political party who are a laughing stock because of their bizarre and ridiculous views. That party in the UK is UKIP.

    Do you think UKIP suspending David Silvester is enough?
    I don’t, no. But even worse than that is that David Silvester has never apologised for what he said, nor have UKIP. David Silvester should never be allowed to represent anyone, ever. Had his comments been aimed at any other social group, David Silvester would be a criminal. That’s why as long as their actions will keep being excused as ‘Freedom of speech’, we will continue to challenge them, shame them, and occasionally embarrass them with a well timed song related ‘pun’.

    What are your hopes with the Facebook page now?
    It would be a huge shame to just close it down, especially when it now has over 15,000 people on it who all have an opinion and are all united to in defiance to inequality. My favourite part of all this was a feeling of community. Thousands of people debating, supporting and encouraging each other. I don’t think i have ever come across any other page like it on Facebook. The page should now be used so that people never forget that they have got a voice, they can stand up and fight people like David Silvester. Hopefully i have now given them a platform to do that.

    Are you bit of an LGBT Activist at heart?
    It’s funny because i just see myself as a normal guy who thinks David Silvester is an idiot. But i guess the minute you stop fighting or trying to defend who you are to people like him then they win, if the way i chose to defend myself to what he said makes me an activist then i am happy with that.

    Which version is better the Geri Halliwell or The Weather Girls?
    Hands down, The Weather Girls. It is lots of fun and will forever be played in every DJ set I give. The song means so much to me now.

  • INTERVIEW | Scottee

    With a new show coming to the Roundhouse, we natter with a very open and honest Scottee who, despite a troubled past, has no problems airing his dirty laundry in public.

    G’day Scottee I believe you’re currently in Australia. I hope it’s providing much inspiration?
    Yes, but not in a Priscilla Queen of the Desert kind of way, more in the fact that actually there’s a queer community here, I think in the uk we have queer people. Ive been invited into people’s houses who don’t even know me, who’ve thrown dinner parties. People have been driving me around everywhere. In short queer australians seem to be very open and generous.

    Now the first question I have to ask, ok so it’s actually the second, who cleans your shirts?
    I have a stage manager called James in Australia and in the uk I have my wonderful producer Rachel, so yes she gets to have the glamourous jobs. We have to keep on using them otherwise it’d be too expensive.

    Would you describe yourself as a messy performer?
    No I wouldn’t. I would just describe myself an honest one. I think life is full of mess. Life is blood, sh**, p*** and everything in between. I don’t use those fluids but I guess I’m definitely renowned for throwing sh** over myself. I think I do that because it’s about my difficult relationship with food, so I use food a lot in my work.

    Your new show at the Roundhouse is called The Worst Of Scottee. What can an audience expect?
    I guess brutal honesty! I got a psychotherapist to get in contact with 10 people, who no longer talk to me, to find out what they thought of me and why they don’t talk to me. I think an audience are going to change their minds on me or their opinion of me in more ways than one. ooooh cryptic.

    Would you describe it as a very public form of therapy?
    Yes I would, (laughs), and I think in some circles, mainly The Rooms, I think this is called step 4.

    Whilst making the show, was there a particular person from your past that you really didn’t want to meet again?
    Yes. Out of the ten that we got in contact with only four came forward, and two of those people were quite adamant they wanted nothing to do with the project so we have to bleep their names out during the show. So this is still very live for a lot of people. I bumped into one of these people outside of Pret A Manger and we didn’t really know what to do so we just stared at each other and walked past.

    Stealing at aged 10, arrested at aged 14, are there any parts of your life you don’t lay bare to the audiences?
    No I don’t think so. Im brutally honest and I think that’s why people come to my shows or I think that’s why this is a strong piece, if I can be bold to say, because I think when you’re an artist you’re supposed to go to those places, I guess to educate and inform to help an audience get to that place themselves. I’m only being honest and I don’t think that’s a difficult thing.

    Have you now made friends with your past because of this performance?
    No. I wasn’t allowed to have contact with these people. We were really cautious about how we went around this and so the psychotherapist and my producer got in touch with these people. I wasn’t there at the filming and I wasn’t allowed to have their contact details and stuff, which is fine because a lot of these people don’t want to be contacted by me. They’ve made the decision not to be a part of my life or for me to be a part of theirs.

    What would be the Best of Scottee?
    I think this is the best of me. The best of me is to be honest, to be open, to be upfront and to rid myself of shame. There’s a particular story in the show which I carried around a lot of shame for years and now I don’t, so maybe the irony is that this has actually become the best of me.

    Performer, director, artist, writer and broadcaster. What’s been a personal career highlight so far?
    I really love doing the radio. I love being on Radio 4 because I think it’s just bizarre. I think it’s weird that I pop up on Radio 4, ‘And today I’m going to be interviewing Lisa Stasfield.’ Which I love. (We have also had a chin wag with Lisa and you can read her interview in the Feb issue!) The reason why I’m a performer, director, artist, writer and broadcaster is because I just like working and making art, performance, entertaining all of it. Although a personal highlight would be throwing cake at Rihanna on the X-Factor.

    Looking through your website gallery I’m reminded of Leigh Bowery. Do you have a life inspiration?
    I guess I get compared to Leigh quite a lot. Mainly because we’re both performance artists, although I don’t call myself that, and we’re fat and we wear funny clothes. A lot of his friends are very good close friends to mine and they kinda don’t think that I’m like him, which is good. I’ve got nothing against it. I guess growing up more of my icons were people like, Dawn French, Les Dawson and Hattie Jacques. So I guess those would be more of my inspiration, light entertainers who were on the telly when I was a kid.

    Where can folk learn more about the great Scottee?
    Well on my website, I’m all over social media because I love it. The internet is the best invention in the world.

    The Worst Of Scottee is at the Roundhouse from the 4th – 15th February 2014. for tickets visit here.

    Do check Scottee out what at www.Scottee.co.uk
    or for the latest ramblings follow him on Twitter @ScotteeScottee

  • INTERVIEW: Lesley Joseph on Birds Of A Feather

    Dorien has been living the life Up West – more successfully than even she dreamed. But it’s not long before her “Es-sex In The City” lifestyle is back to being just Essex. She wants to hang on to the high life, and to eternal youth, but now she’s been forced to retreat back in Chigwell for the first time in years and she’s discovering that she’s trapped yet again.

    For Lesley Joseph, playing Dorien really is the dream role.

    And as she returns to Birds of a Feather, her character definitely can’t quite believe her luck after living it up in London. Still very much a man-eater, Dorien is now a rich, successful novel writer whose steamy book has caught the nation’s imagination.

    But her Champagne lifestyle soon comes crashing down and she is forced to move in with her old friends, Sharon and Tracey.

    “Dorien is rich now but what we didn’t want to do is depart too far from the original where it was a big fish in a small world,” explains Lesley.

    “And so that is why she goes and lives back with the girls. I didn’t want her to be so successful that she could live in Hollywood and ring Madonna. She has still got an eye for the men!
    “Over the series, we fill in a lot of gaps about what has happened over the last 15 years and so the jigsaw starts to fit into place. There are lots of digs at each other, but the warmth and friendship is still there as otherwise they wouldn’t be living with each other.”
    Fans will be relieved to hear Dorien’s outfits are still as racy as ever, reveals the actress, who also admits she had to work out before filming started again so she could look her very best.
    “You can’t play Dorien unless you look good,” she says. “I didn’t want people to think I looked a bit podgier and so I did a lot of exercise. I really worked hard. I wanted to get back to a working Dorien weight.”

    And as the actress goes on to explain, whilst Dorien may think she is a cut above Sharon and Tracey, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Lesley’s own lifelong friendship with her two co-stars.

    “When it is three women together, people presume you don’t get on very well off- screen,” she says.

    “And so when you tell them you do, people don’t want to hear that. It’s annoying because they never say that about men. We really could not be closer. I think people are a bit bemused by that but what you see on-screen is what you see off. That is what has always been the great thing about Birds of a Feather – the chemistry works in every place.”

    Asked what her favourite moment has been making the new series and Lesley replies instantly that it is the fact she has been able to work again so closely with Pauline and Linda.
    “I get quite emotional even thinking about it,” she says. “The best thing about doing Birds of a Feather again has been the fact we are all together. We are all so brutally honest with each other. We are all family people at heart and I also admire them so much. There is such a bond between all of us.”
    Bursting out laughing, she reveals, however, all three actresses are conscious that they have aged since the last series went out and the technological advances of High Definition television means the pictures are even sharper. “We didn’t have HD last time,” she says chuckling. “We do touch on the stuff like getting older in the series – although there is a scene where Tracey is plucking her chin with a magnifying glass.”
    Incredibly passionate about the new series, Lesley feels there is a huge buzz surrounding the show. “It really is exciting times,” she says. “The reaction has been unbelievable and so many people have stopped me in the street asking when exactly it is coming back. They are really excited.
    “What is lovely is there is a real buzz at ITV. It has got so many great dramas on right now with Downton and Broadchurch and Birds of a Feather really does fit in too.” Smiling, Lesley jokes she hopes what happened in the theatres on tour won’t be replicated at home.
    “We have spent the last two years touring around the country with Birds of a Feather,” explains Lesley. “It has been a lot of fun and the audiences really did love it so much. In fact, people would bring their three-year-olds along because they could not get a babysitter and did not want to miss out.
    “But we also had to call out ambulances for more people than ever before! They laughed so much, they needed an ambulance! We called them out eight times and the show had to be stopped!”.
    Since the show was aired, Lesley has been very busy in various dramas, including playing Rachel Culgrin in the ITV soap, Night and Day, and she has performed in a lot of theatre shows like the Calendar Girls.

    Given she has loved working with Pauline and Linda so much, is she sad that filming is coming to an end then? “Yes but it will be lovely to think that maybe we will be able to do another series,” she replies. “I would love to do another one if this works.”
    Lesley – who is starring in panto over Christmas before going on to appear in the Hot Flush musical – adds: “I feel so positive. Everyone keeps telling me this is really going to work. There are great vibes going…”
    Birds Of A Feather returns tonight at 8:30PM on ITV1