That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Show n Tell with Bonnie Langford

Episode Date: March 29, 2024

Bonnie Langford (star of Dr Who and many many other things) shares with Gaby the object that brings her JOY! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bonnie Langford, when you did old friends, every single person on the planet and off the planet and in other stratospheres and planets all said that you were by far the best thing. I'm still here as one of the most exceptional bits of theatre. You doing that number blew my mind. Oh, thank you. Did I just make you cry? No, my eyes are just watching. You would make me cry because I'm not very good at accepting compliments. You're not good at that.

But thank you. No, I mean, just the whole show was just amazing. And it was a group of people that became old friends, even if we weren't friends before. And the material was so fantastic. No, but you, no, shush. No, we're talking about you. But I'm still here was really lovely for me to do because not only does it reflect the fact that it's a survival song, but they allowed me to do some different lyrics that were kind of more applicable.

Because the song was written for the musical Folly. by Stephen Sondheim. And so it was from that era. And he had written, in fact, throughout his lifetime, he wrote quite a few versions. He wrote a completely new version for Barbara Streisand and Strichand. I never knew that. He wrote different lyrics for different people,

but he wrote some lyrics for Shirley MacLean for the movie Postcards from the Edge. And so those were the lyrics that I sung. So they'd never been sung by anyone else before. So it was quite special. And they were more applicable for me. There was a whole section about sort of BB's Bathosphere or something, which you think, what is that about?

Whereas I sang lyrics, 10 years of Brace's voice and tap and about sitting on a producer's lap and things like that. And he had rewritten those. So we used those instead, which is a bit more of my, you know, it's connected to me a bit more. I mean, it was an absolute show-stopping moment. And you're now up for an Olivier. The show's up for an Olivia.

Yes. Congratulations. It's only a few weeks. away till we find out. I hope it wins because it was an incredible show. And anyone, and I love Sondheim and I saw it a couple of times. And it was a celebration. Yes. And I think that musical theatre, as somebody who is a fanatic of musical theatre, I don't know if I've mentioned it enough, but a fanatic of musical theatre, it was, it was like, it was a gift to the audience. Does that make sense? Yes, it was definitely, well, it was definitely a, a, a, a

passion project from many people's point of view. And so, I mean, I love the fact that Cameron McIntosh he originally, I mean, what was it, 30, 40 years ago produced side by side by Sondheim, having seen it at the Stables in Wavondon, which was a place

that was owned by Cleo Lane, John Dankworth. And in fact, I think it was Biggins had seen it, seen a at this show that was on as a very small kind of compilation show at the Stables. And he called Cameron and he said, you need to see this. And Cameron put it on at the Wyndham's Theatre in London.

And this is in the 70s. And I remember seeing it because it was Millicent Martin, Julia McKenzie, David Kernan, Ned Sherrin, Stuart Peddler on the piano, two pianos. He didn't play both of them. How did he do that? With his feet. And so, to be honest, that introduced Stephen Sondheim to the UK.

And then they took that to Broadway. And then he did another compilation. Cameron did another compilation show called Putting It Together with Julie Andrews. and then Carol Burnett did it in America. And so this was sort of the third, this was the trilogy, this was the third and final version that Cameron had talked to Stephen about. Then the pandemic came,

and he wasn't able to put it on. And so he put the show this old friends on as a celebration, as a tribute, sadly after Stephen had passed. And then he decided to do it as a season. So it was very much, it had a lot of hearts to it and a lot of love there. Oh, there was a lot of love. For an audience member, that came across.

But you knew Sondheim. Yeah, it is. I didn't know very well. I was only nine at the time. I was in the musical Gypsy when I was... Sorry, this is just insane. I did it when I was eight years old in London at the Piccadilly Theatre.

And then I was taken to America with the show for a year. We toured the whole of the States and then we did a season on Broadway and that's when I met Sondheim. You were on Broadway when you were that young? Nine, yes. just incredible.

Yeah, it was fabulous. And what was he like? What was Stephen Sondheim? Oh, he wasn't very chatty. And I wasn't very chatty because I never said boo to a goose. So he was a Mr Sondheim to me. And he said, get my lyrics right, won't you? And I sort of went,

And I was Mr. Sondheim. And that was it. But, you know, and he was very sweet and around, but I don't think nine-year-old children were really his thing. Wow. But, you know, I just remember his presence, that's all. It was lovely to think that I was in the same room where it happened. And that

production that I did when I was nine was just amazing because it was directed by Arthur Lawrence who wrote it. Julie Stein was there who wrote the music. Stephen Zondheim was there. He wrote the lyrics. We didn't have Jerome Robbins who choreographed it, but we did have his associate Bobby Tucker. And

Robert Tucker was married to Nanette Shirees, who was the sister of Sid Shirees and their daughter, so Sidchrease's niece, Zan Shirees, played Gypsy. It was very lovely. Oh, the Connections. It was very lovely.

And so we did all that original Jerome Robbins' choreography. And as I say, it was directed by Arthur Lawrence, who was a hard taskmaster. But I found him to be absolutely incredible. And to work with that standard and that quality of people at such a young age set a very high bar for me. And I appreciated every minute of it. I really did. And I was so lucky because I was one of the kids in the show. There were seven of us.

And they included us in the company. we were called small adults. We were not separated. We were not only had the kids. We were expected to behave like the adults. So we were very much part of that company. But also there were expectations, therefore, which I think if you do that to kids,

they will always rise to that challenge. And so I understood how to behave. I watched Angela Lansbury, who played Mama Rose, who was just incredible. And she ended up being a very dear friend of me. And yet I was young enough to not have to do all the schmoozing. I could just sit and watch and be a sponge. I was young enough to not have to do all that stuff

and I was old enough to take it all in. So I really think it was such a beautiful time for me, really quite life-changing. Not that I realised that at the time. But it wasn't the first thing you did on stage. No, it wasn't, but it was the first time I was really incorporated and I felt like I was part of it because the show that I'd done before,

that was my West End debut, was Gone with the Wind, and I played Bonnie Butler in that. But because I was a... only, because I had to appear, I couldn't leave the theatre until after 10 o'clock. I wasn't allowed to do eight shows a week. I was only allowed to do three maximum. So there were about five of us who shared it in rotation. So I never really felt like it was my part. We were sort of brought in and taken out. We weren't really incorporated in that company. So as I say, being in Gypsy, I really felt part of it. It was a special moment.

And that was when you were nine and you've done quite a few shows since. Just a few. It's so extraordinary, though, when you look at your CV and you see all the shows you've done, it is remarkable. What I find so extraordinary is when you were, I'm coming back to sort of recently with EastEnders, and there you were on Broadway with Gypsy, you've just up for yet another award in a musical you've been in. You've won ice skating with the, what's it called? Well, I didn't. No, I didn't. But you went back and did it again.

Oh, yeah, but I didn't win it. I thought you won. No, I never won it. No, I don't do things like that. I fell over. But you went back again. And then they said, why did you fall over? I said, because it's slippy.

It's ice. You know, it was ice. I fell over. I won the tour. Yes, exactly. I don't. You've done such an award. I got best newcomer after 45 years.

It takes me a while. I am a slow. But you don't win best newcomer for? EastEnders on the Soap Award. Oh, I see. That's so funny. It was hilarious. But you've acted your whole life.

Yeah, I've done. You're an actress who can also dance, can also say, we've got to talk about squirrel. But we'll save that. In case people don't know what we're saying, let's just leave it like that. We'll talk about squirrel. Hanging, squirrel.

They'll have no idea. What on earth? But we'll come back to that. But the cross-section of things you've done, sort of at the core is you're, an actor. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, because that is the thing, is that however you, well, however I choose to communicate, it is telling a story. I don't believe in singing for singing sake because of the notes being lovely or just spouting off some kind of speech or whatever or dancing like some kind

of flailing person in the room. It's about what are you trying to tell? What story are you trying to tell? I think that's the same with every creative thing, really, with every creative art. It's how you communicate this story. And Fosse, Bob Fossy, I didn't meet him, I wish I had, but he always used to say, he said to one of his stage managers, did you call the company down to the stage? And he said, oh, yeah, I'll call the dancers down to the stage. He went, no, no, no, no, call the actors down to the stage. Dancers are merely actors who communicate with their bodies. And it's so true. It really is. It's all about how you are telling that story, because what is the point otherwise? It's just, you know, moving the air around, isn't it? But it's funny how people,

perceive it. So we're about to see you again because I know it starts in May, so only a couple of months away, in Doctor Who. It's not even a couple of months. I mean, but yeah, I mean a couple of those. That was unbelievable, the Christmas one. Yeah. Oh, my word. And I did the, and I did one of the specials, yeah, the giggle with Neil Patrick Harris and David Tennant. I loved it. By generation. I know. It was incredible to watch. Yeah. Did you know, did it, So when you were doing that, did you know, sorry, we're going all over the place, but that's your sort of extraordinary. That's who we are. We know what, we'd have too much of a shorthand, Gabby.

You and I, we know what we're talking about. We don't explain it very well. But that, did you know what we were going to see when you were doing it? Because you weren't really, I presume, were you on top of a building? And did they really split? They did. Yes. Whatever you believe.

No. I didn't know how they were going to do it. I was about one of seven people who had that script. So what had happened was that, I mean, I did Doctor Who in the 80s when it was a very different animal. It was a very different beast. I did it with Colin Baker to start with. And then I did it with Sylvester McCoy. And I only did two seasons and then I left.

And that was fine. But what is extraordinary about a show like Doctor Who is the fans, really. They are very, very passionate about the show. Hoovians. That's right, yeah, Hoovians. I mean, when I went into the show, before I'd even been in the show, I was sent to America to do a couple of conventions. I didn't know what universe I had joined.

I thought, this is crazy. Before you joined the show? Before I joined the show. And of course, they kept asking me all these questions about my character. And I hadn't got a clue. I hadn't done anything. I had a paragraph about this Melanie Bush, who was from Peas Potage, who liked carrot juice and healthy eating.

I hate carrot juice and I'm not very healthy. And he's a fitness fanatic. And that was so awful. I mean, you couldn't do it. Now it was so awful. because Colin had expanded somewhat, and they wanted him to lose weight. And they put this in the character, which was so mean. Really, Uncle Wine could not be done these days.

Thank goodness. I didn't know that. I was just thinking, oh, it was all. And, of course, it was so annoying this character who was like, oh, Dr. Let's go to the gym. You know, I mean, the dad has never had a gym before that anyway, but whatever. And it was all that stuff. And I was meant to be a computer programmer. And I never went anywhere near anything that was remotely like a computer.

but it was the mid-80s. I mean, we were not surgically attached to our phones like we are now. It was a very, very different world. And to be honest, the technology for TV was far more advanced than the BBC had capabilities for. So we were on catch-up

before we even started. And as I say, I went to America to these conventions and all these people were coming up to me and asking about my character and I was looking at the producer John Nathan Turner going, what do I say?

And he was going, make it up, darling, make it up. And so I went into the show with this kind of wide-eyed, earnestness, which I had at that time anyway, and just sort of played along with it all. So I was completely ignorant about everything. And did it for the two seasons I said I was going to do and left. And they were like, why are you leaving? I was thinking, well, I didn't expect to be asked back. And also, it was very fair, ray. My character was very, oh, doctor, there's a monster.

And I couldn't feel that I could get anything out of it. The world was very different and anyway, moved on to other stuff. But who has stayed with me the whole time? You know, it is one of those jobs that is you are part of a community. And I realized that not long after. I didn't go back to any of the conventions and things for ages because I thought A, I was over and done with, and B, I didn't think I particularly did a great job

that I was to be proud of and left it behind. But what I did do some years later was I started to do the audio dramas. They do them like radio plays. They're fantastic. and it's a company called Big Finish and we do them all the time and everybody does them now

they're huge you know all sorts of and all the people that are in who tend to be in these audio dramas so during the pandemic we were all clearing out our cupboards and our attics and things

and Russell T. Davis apparently found an old script that he had written when he was 23 the first script he ever wrote on this typewriter that his mum had bought him when he was struggling to be a writer when he was wanting to get into writing and it was unfinished, but it was a script for the sixth doctor, for Colin Baker and myself,

because we were the companions at that time. Oh, my word. And so we recorded it for Big Finish just after the pandemic. And Scott Hancock, script editor for who, he actually finished it off. Russell came on the line, down the line, and was just marvelous marvelous, and was just completely joyous and fantastic. And then a couple of weeks later, I get this email from him saying, one of seven people who've got this script,

do you fancy doing it? And it was the script for the bigger. And I said to try and stop me. It was absolutely brilliant. And so he, you know, thankfully, wonderful Russell D. Davis has, and what he did as well was he wrote my character as a rounded person,

as a fully fledged human being, who now goes near a computer, no more characters, no more going to the gym. I mean, still those elements, because that's her character, that's who she is, but much more of a person you can empathise with

and has vulnerabilities and all those things and that's what the characters have now much more than they did in the 80s we were a little bit more cartoon-like a little bit more sort of well two-dimensional that was all and so now they're much more fleshed out especially for those people around the doctor and assistants and companions

and they have a lot more of their own storyline instead of just being there as the conduit to be able to say what are you doing doctor blah blah blah He's a remarkable writer. Oh, incredible. I mean, he's a real force of good as well. And he adores the show. And that is what is so important.

And he knows everything about it. And so to be able, I was talking the other day about it because, you know, it could be, it's on Disney Plus worldwide now. So you think, oh my goodness, I hope it's not going to turn into one of those just a sci-fi show. That is just triumph over adversity, good over evil, blah, blah, blah. Let's all be superheroes. Because Doctor Who is much more than that. It has, well, two hearts, but also it has this great history. It has this legacy.

I think that actually sets it apart from all the others because there is something about it. And what Russell does is he is very much embracing the future and the present. But he also brings with this wonderful legacy of all the historical characters, monsters, creatures and the different, you know, he will always refer to something that has happened whenever And of course, because he loves the show, he's very accurate about that. Yeah, and he also, what he does so brilliantly is he also taps into certain things that might be happening in the world or politically in this country. And you always know that's Russell's nod to something without it being underlined. Yes, he's very, very inclusive.

And yes, he always has a wink to something that is happening. That he's angry about. Yes, yes. He makes it very clear his views, but in a very clear but subtle. Absolutely. And Shuti, fabulous, doctor. Oh, he's stunning, yeah. Shooting at well.

I think actually, I think we're up for that BAFTA moment of the year thing. Yes, you are, of course. And, you know, I mean, he writes these lovely lines because literally Shuti just sort of fell on top of me when we were filming it. How horrible for you. It was very, yeah, he was only wearing a shirt and shorts at the time. And that was real strain. You know what? We just giggled.

And there was so much that went on in that scene that was literally, that happened at that moment. It was utterly spontaneous. It wasn't in the script. They kept it in. We were just enjoying that moment. And they captured that immediately. And but, you know, Russell had written this thing, this line for me, which was, I think you're beautiful. Which, of course, was the most beautiful, beautiful line.

I just thought, oh, that's so heartfelt. And I had another line which was just before David Tennant was about to, what he thought would be regenerate, which is to disappear from ever. Mel had this line which was, it doesn't matter who you are, because every single one of you is fantastic. And it's just those sorts of lines. You go, oh, that's lush, as they would say, in Wales. And so I'm very, very lucky and very lucky.

So you're up for two awards at the moment. Yes. Hello. I haven't been up for anything before. So, you know, it's exciting. Yeah, Olivier for the thing, for old friends. And the BAFTA one, it's that moment of the year, whatever, you know, television moment. And that's voted for by the public.

Which is lovely. Yeah. Yeah. Keep voting. Keep voting. Keep voting for that moment. But going back to your extraordinary career, how, and you do, when you do your one-woman show, which is back at the Crazy Cox in June. Yes.

Was it June 2nd, 3rd? June 3rd, 4th and 6th. Third, fourth and 6th. Yeah. And already sold out one of those days. But when you do those, how on earth do you pick those magic moments? Because you have had a vast amount of magic moments and will continue to have a vast amount of magic moments. No, of course you will.

How do you choose? I mean, some of your stories and the people you've known, no, no. But the people you've met. But it's about you in those stories. You don't do name drop, name drop, name drop, name drop, la la la la, high kick. You do, oh, this is how it affected me and this is what happened and this is how it changed me and this is what I learned. How do you cherry pick?

Well, I don't know, really. I try and get a theme going. For the last couple of years, I've done the fact that I've celebrated 50 years on stage. And that went on for a... I don't know how I've worked that out. Amazing. And, yeah, and regenerated in the middle of it. I have to have a reason.

I can't just pick a song because I like this song. It's my favorite. I hope you like it too. Cannot do that. Has to have a reason. It has to carry on with that through line as such. And so I can't keep saying on 50 years in the business because it's about 53 now. But then I do use the pandemic as an excuse in that because it happened in the pandemic.

So last year I thought, right, I've got to do something new. And I picked out, I thought, well, it has to mean something to me as well. So my hook for this show is the roles that I've played, the ladies that have inspired me, the ladies that I have met and worked with, and some of those stories. And I have such respect for all human beings and especially people who've survived. So I suppose it's really sort of survivors. I was going to call it, I'm still here, but I've actually called it here's to the ladies, because it's not about, this one is less about me.

It's more about those ladies that have made an impact. on my life. Who, like who? Well, Angela Lansbury is just the first one. I always turn to. I always go to because it was when I was young and she was just a fantastic template. Just to be that kind of human being

and that kind of performer and actor and to have sustained a career as long as she did. Sadly, we lost her. And you adored her. I adored her. I adored her. She was just a beautiful lady. Another lady that we've lost recently,

who I pay tribute to is Cheetah Rivera. You know, these women, they were trailblazers. I just played another one as well. I did Made in Dagenham the concert. Yes, how did it all go? It was crazy. It was absolutely crazy because they seemed to be this thing of people doing concerts at either the Palladium or Drury Lane.

And some of them are done in a very short period of time. And the one that I did, which was made in Dagenham. We started rehearses on the Monday. We did the show on Saturday. We only did one run through. And we did the whole thing. We did the whole script. It wasn't just selected.

from. It was massive. It was crazy. Off book. Oh my word. I think there was an awful lot of adrenaline in the air and a awful lot of bunny in the headlights. But I think Barbara Castle. I played Barbara Castle.

She, what a woman, Barbara Castle. She did all sorts of things. And so I was doing a lot of research on her, looking at her on YouTube and thinking, I fell in love with this woman. She was amazing. She was hilarious as well. She had this, if she always used to have to have a hair done. And if she did, you've got to look.

She said, and if she didn't manage to go to a hairdresser before she had something, you know, an event or something, she had a wig she kept in her bag. She called it Lucy. I've got to put Lucy on. No. Oh, that's fabulous. Yeah, and this is way before we started to sort of go equal rights.

Well, she was the woman who got through equal rights for women. So is that going to happen? Is Maiden Dagenham going to happen more? I don't know. I don't know. I'm only just coming down from having got through it the whole night. But it was a fantastic night and it's a beautiful show.

I really enjoyed the show. It was really nice show that I hadn't seen in London because I was in another show across the road. I did their secret Santa actually. Did you? Yeah. So what show were you in at the time then?

Dirty one scoundrels. Right, okay. But yes, so I didn't get the chance to see it and it was on at the Adelphia. I was across the road at Savoy. But I love the fact that theatre community, especially at Christmas time, they do this thing.

So everyone does, mainly, does a secret Santa because often you're in a cast that's just far too large. You can't play everyone on Christmas presents. So we do the Secret Santa thing. And quite often they will get somebody in to come in and distribute the gifts. It seems to be something I do quite often. Oh, you love it. Do you know, it is, I mean, so I've interviewed you many times and I know you very well,

and many, many times. And yet there's always a new story. Have you done your book? No. Why not? I don't know. I can't start. I tried to start like everybody in the pandemic. I did a sort of a brain dump, if you know what I mean. And I did one. I thought, right, because I keep going back to the beginning and I only get to about age 14 and it's overwritten. But I decided to take, I took, for example, I took cats. I was original cast of that when I was 16. I remember I was there on the stage, the seats on the stage. I remember you and Paul Nicholas, Nicholas. Yeah. Wayne's sleep.

Wayne's sleep. Like all in front of me And I was crying Because I couldn't believe it It was extraordinary Well it was a Marmite show You either loved it or hated And we also thought

It was either going to close on the first night Or run forever And the second The latter was the thing that happened You know And I was only 16 I'd just come out to school Really

And for me But you were already You'd already had Years of experience Well I know But you know I was still very young And it was sort of my first show

As a full-time adult If you know what I mean And it was pretty good to be in and I was very lucky that I was part of it, really, because I could be young but ageless, if you know what I mean. And also I was still watching everything that was going on. So I did this brain dump of cats. I only got to the first preview,

and I'd already written about 8,500 words, and probably mentioned to them she go to the lawyers. But, you know, yeah, but like we're doing now, I dip in and out of things so much, I go, oh, that I... I kind of need to sit down with somebody and go, right, hang on a minute, fill in the gaps with that one, fill in the gaps with that one, sit down and write it. You do. You need somebody to do it with, and the fabulous producer of this probably knows the right person. So there we go. All the extraordinary things that you've done, do you ever give yourself any time to say, oh, okay, you know what? Look, I've done okay. I hope you do.

Because you can't take a compliment. I know that. at that. You don't like praise. No. No. Look, you're like, oh, go away, sure. I mean, I, I, I, what I love is when we did old friends, for example, we were at the Giel Good Theatre, and we would come out, most of us would come out after the show,

and there were hundreds of people there. All for you because you were the best singing there. No, no, not at all. But it was such a joy. And actually, Jack Yarrow, who, he came out one day and he said, what other job do you get to do, where you're being paid to do the job and you come out, the audience have been clapping, crying, laughing, whatever.

And then they're standing there in the rain after the show asking you to talk to them and sign their book and saying how much they enjoyed it and how much it touched them. What other job do you really get to do that? That's so true. And that is an absolute privilege. And the number of times,

I mean, what I find is just so glorious is, for example, I came out one day. I came out one day. and this lady was there with her daughter. And in fact, it was after the matinee, and she was walking past because she was going to come and see the evening show. And she went, we're coming to see you in a bit. And I was just going out and get a cup of tea.

She was so sweet. And her daughter said, please can you talk to my mum? She said, because apparently she brushed past you on the stairs in 1986. And you looked at her, and she didn't say sorry. And she's never forgotten it. 1980. What's to say it? I'm sorry. What?

I'm sorry. What, you remember? She said, yes, I brushed past you and I always wanted to say sorry and I never did. But I was just taken aback that it was you. And I said, you have been remembering since 1986. And her daughter said, every time you're on the telly, she says, oh my goodness, I never said sorry to her. It's stuff like that that I just find hilariously funny.

But also... It's really touching. It's really touching because I am part of that lady's scrapbook. memory scrapbook. And thank goodness I didn't shout at her and tell her to do whatever, which I wouldn't do. You don't do that.

No, I don't do that. I don't do that because it matters. It matters how you are to somebody because that's not about being on the television or the stage or radio or whatever. It's about being a human. It's about, you know, that everyone goes, be kind, be kind, be kind.

It's actually, you need to, deeds, not words. it's all that stuff about you never know how whatever you something you do might have an impact on someone even as silly as that sounds No I totally agree

that means a lot to me that that lady and so she had come to see the show because she wanted to say sorry for bumping into me on the stairs I mean it is extraordinary that I think if there's any time I'll mention your name

people literally everybody. Bonnie Langford. No, it is. And it's a very loved feeling that you have. And I know you feel that from your audience and in the street. And you're never backwards in coming forward when somebody says, oh, hello, Bonnie. You're not sort of, oh, don't talk to me. You're nothing like that. And there's so much more that you're still going to do. I mean, you know, you're one woman's show and Doctor Who and so many other things, of course. that when did you make the decision

that you wanted to be a squirrel? I thought we were going to go really deep, and then I thought, no, we've got to go to squirrel. Well, you've never forgiven me because I didn't tell you. But I wasn't allowed. No, so, no. I kept saying, Bonnie Langford, you should be in the masked dancer, and you went, really, are they doing that?

Yes, do it, do it, do it. Yeah, I don't. And then you said, next time I said, Bonnie LaGford, you should be in the last answer. You said, oh, my agent called and they're booked. Yeah, it's already. Oh, no. I said it's already cast.

Yeah, they've cast it. And then I was watching it at home. And there was squirrel. Oh, no, the other thing was you did a high kick and you were worried. This is the funniest thing. You were worried because you did a high kick before you were squirrel, but I would guess you were squirrel. No. So I'm sitting at home, watching the television with the family, watching Mar Singer.

Take it. thinking. Oh, who's that? Who's that? Who's that? Bolly Lanford! I've never screamed as much in my life. You liar!

You liar! I was just, you know, liberal with the truth, with all the facts. When did you decide to become a squirrel? I didn't decide. Well, it came out. I was sitting in. I think I was sitting at the end of a lockdown, actually. And they phoned and said, would I do it?

And I didn't really know. I sort of knew what Mastinger was, because I remember I went to New York. I was doing EastEnders, and I went to New York, and we arrived on that day, and I did that thing of staying up for hours and hours to try and get the time difference. And I was only going for like sort of four days or something. And I had got to that point of delirium where I'd arrived with my daughter. We'd been shopping probably in Sephora or somewhere for hours,

and I was so cross-eyed with it thinking, I've got to keep away. And I put the telly on when we got back to the hotel. And I saw this weird program of people dressed up in these weird costumes. And the person who was being eliminated from Masked Singer in America was Seal, the singer. I was thinking, what bizarre program is this, that someone like Seal is voted off when he's the most magnificent singer and he's dressed in this weird costume? So when they came to ask me to do Masked Dancer some years later, I knew exactly what they're talking about. And I thought, this is just bizarre. And I thought, why not? Why not?

You were brilliant in it? It was hard work. It was hard work, actually. And it was the weirdest thing. Well, I didn't do any other dancing that I would normally do until sort of near the end. They got me to do all sorts of different styles because, you know, and things like I had to do a bit of tango because I think Oti was judging it, Oti Mabusi.

And they said, oh, do something for her. And I said, well, I've never done a tango. I don't know how to do it. That's not your sort of dance. Not my sort of dancing. Then they wanted me to do sort of more like what they call commercial jazz, which is sort of more like pussycat dolls type stuff and all that. I hadn't done that either.

I'm a bit old-fashioned for all that. So I was literally doing other stuff and they were quite hard on me. No, you don't do any tap. No, no, but you, that's what you... Well, jazz and tap and bits of ballet and things. They made Kelly Brooke do some ballet. And then, I mean, the whole program is completely insane. They really do take it terribly seriously.

You have pseudonyms. You can't even sign your contract and send it back from your email because they don't want it to be traceable. No. No. So you have to do this whole subterfew. from the whole thing. In fact, when I'm out walking my dog,

I do actually wear my sweatshirt that says don't speak to me, which is from the masked dancer. Because 10 minutes before you arrive at the venue, even if you're rehearsing, doing anything, you have to wear a balaclava. No. You have to put it on in the car. You have to put on this sweatshirt that says,

don't speak to me, with a hoodie. You have to put on a balaclava and a visor that's all kind of taped up so you can only see out your eyes. Gloves, socks, everything. Nothing of your body. So the driver must know who you are. Yeah, but they have to sign NDAs as well.

That's incredible. I was standing next to people I knew. Christopher Dean was in it. And I'm like, who is that? I didn't know who it was. Louise Rednapp was standing next to me. I was in 9 to 5 with her for about six months. I didn't know she was the flamingo or something next to me.

No idea. And I've got this lovely photo that actually I love, because they keep you all apart as well. It's all even, you know, together. So we had to do one rehearsal all together And it was like kids at a kindergarten Because we all had to hold up Did you have your outfits on? Oh yeah

Oh yeah Nobody's allowed So everyone is standing in this room Trying to guess who each other was Zoe was in it Zoe Paul was the llama I didn't know it was her She was so good

Apparently she was quite naughty She put a note under everybody's door Saying are you having As weird time as I'm having But she wasn't my group So I didn't get that from her Did she sign it? No, no, she didn't sign it.

Oh, my word. No, no, no, no, you're not loud. And I said, well, how do they do it when it's mass singer? Because you must hear people singing and warming up. And apparently they do know a bit more. But with dancer, they shut you in a room. You don't speak to anyone except your team. You rehearse privately.

You have to put, even if you're in a rehearsal room that isn't this closed room, you have to be working in this visor. It's just outrageous. And at first I thought this, I did my first rehearsal. You don't work with the dancers or anyone. I did my first rehearsal. I was doing Taylor Swift, shake it off. And I started to get the giggles while I was doing it.

Because I was in this huge, great big goldfish bowl on my head. I couldn't even put my arms up because it was so huge. And this mad costume with this squirrel tail that was really heavy and swung around like crazy. I get whiplash if they pick me up. And I thought, this is some kind of parallel universe. This is some kind of weird dream I'm having. And then it just keep going with it. But it's quite hard work.

So you have a few sort of fever dreams. From that to Shiti Gatwa falling on top of you when he splits off from David Tennant, going back to being on stage with Angela Lansbury as a nine-year-old. My life is normal. My life is normal. When are you going to be a Dame? No.

Yes. Not in pantomime. Dame Bonnie Langford. Don't need to be. Arise date. No. No. No.

But you know what? I just hope you know. I mean, you're going to be. be doing more and more stuff. When you were in EastEnders, obviously, as somebody who's never missed an episode, I don't know if I've ever mentioned that before. But when you went into EastEnders, it was a perfect fit, and you surprised everybody, which is ridiculous, but you did.

Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Oh, my good, God. She can act. Yes, she's an actor. But from all of those things and all the things that you're going to do, the reason that we wanted you on the podcast is because you just, you just. just you. And that's what keeps you special and keeps you in everybody's hearts. And I just,

I hope you know that and how brilliant you are. So thank you for being on. Thank you for having me. You're the best.