Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Sarah Hadland (Part One)

Episode Date: July 28, 2026

This week Emily and Ray are joined by acting and comedy icon Sarah Hadland. With the summer heat proving a little too much for Ray, this week's chat takes place indoors at Acast HQ, where Ray makes rather more of an impression than anyone had planned...Sarah reflects on her early years, from performing an Elvis impression as a child in her sister's dungarees to leaving home at just 16 to attend drama school. She also talks about her years in musical theatre, the realities of life as a jobbing actor, and how everything changed when she was cast as Stevie in the much-loved sitcom Miranda.Sarah is currently starring alongside, former Walking the Dog guest, Stephen Mangan in the critically acclaimed dark comedy The Truth at London's Apollo Theatre. The production runs until 12th September, with tickets available at https://www.apollotheatre.co.uk.It's a joyful, funny and wonderfully honest conversation with one of Britain's most beloved performers. Sarah's warmth is impossible to miss, and despite Ray's best efforts to get them banned from Acast's offices forever, she somehow still seems delighted to spend time with him.Follow Emily:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrebeccadeanX: https://twitter.com/divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you do the bill? The bill, stole a baby from hospital. Casualty, had a boob job, went wrong. And again, I had very filleted bra. I think I was in the bill twice, both times. I think stealing a baby, prostitution. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I met up with an acting and comedy icon,

the very wonderful Sarah Hadland. Sarah has obviously won a legion of fans for her sublime performance as Stevie in Miranda. She's also starred in the brilliant horrible histories, as well as putting in an unforgettable. Stint on Strictly Come Dancing. Now because of the hot weather, we decided to keep Ray cool indoors and do this at the very posh headquarters of our podcast company, A-cast, where I doubt we'll be welcome again, because

Ray decided to relieve himself all over their immaculate floors. Thank God everyone got distracted by Ed Balls entering the building, who's previously appeared on Walking the Dog, so he was delighted to see Ray again, but even more thrilled to run into Sarah and have a good. good old chat about their experiences on Strictly. Sarah just exudes warmth and joy from the moment you meet her, so I couldn't wait to sit down with her and find out a bit more about her life. And it turns out she's had a fascinating life,

from her first taste of performing as a child, doing an impression of Elvis wearing her sister's dungarees, to leaving home at the age of just 16 to go to drama school. We also talked about her years in musical theatre and as a jobbing actress, and what it felt like suddenly becoming an overnight household name with the huge success of Miranda. We also chatted about Sarah's current project. She's starring in a play called The Truth alongside Stephen Mangan, which has had absolutely phenomenal reviews. It's a brilliant dark comedy about the dynamics of relationships.

It's on at the Apollo Theatre until September the 12th, so don't miss it. You can book your tickets now at theapolotheta.com.uk. I can't begin to tell you how much Ray and I loved Sarah. She's incredibly well loved in the entertainment business and I can totally see why. I don't know what you call it. Maybe it's charisma. Maybe it's just having naturally good energy.

But whatever it is, I wish I could bottle it. I also wish she'd become our friend. Although for that to happen, Ray might need to control his bladder next time he greets her. Really hope you enjoy our chat. Here's Sarah and Ray Ray. I mean, the problem I've got with Ray First of all, I should have had a trigger alert

You know, like a warning, a trigger warning Because, I mean, sure, you see him on the podcast And you go, oh, what a cute dog In the flesh, he doubles down He's desperate, he's adorable, his little mouth He kisses on a first date The breath's not great, let's not mean If he was a person, I'd be like, I'm never speaking to you again

Because he's so cute I'm like, I can live with that And I don't care because I love you because you're so cute. Sarah, I have to say, we should explain, actually. We're doing this at the headquarters of ACAST. Yes. The lovely people behind my podcast. And the reason we're doing that is because it's so incredibly hot today.

And I like to treat Ray on days like this, like J-Lo, I take him from one air-conditioned interior to another, from the car to ACAST. And I've never had a guest greet my dog like you did. You were overwhelmed. Well, yeah, because look at it. How else do you react? What can you do? He's desperate.

He's adorable. Men want to be him. Women want to be with him. And I'm a woman that wants to be with him. I mean, look at him. His head's like a tiny little ping pong ball. He is cute. And we saw, we ran into Ed Balls this morning.

We did. What happened? I mean, Ed, I think, tried to play it a bit cool when he was with his political aficionados, one of them being George Osborne. Because he'd been on the podcast with Ray. Yeah. And I think he sort of, I mean, he definitely made a beeline for Ray and neither of us. And then afterwards he did come and chat. And I will say this, I felt like instantly there was a bit of jealousy because he could see that Ray and I bonded like that. He was yammering on about you taking him a walk on a race course and Ray was exhausted and yada yada.

Ray couldn't remember him. He was like, edu, no mate, never heard of you, don't remember you. And I think that was orcs, very orcs. But I mean, Ed and I were just sort of sharing Strictly notes. And then who got down on the floor and bust a few moves? Raymond. He knows what he's doing. That's a question. Dogs on Strictly.

Could it happen? Yeah. I think it's a good idea. I could so see Ray in a little ruffle being led across the floor in a smooth Viennese waltz. He's got it. A little tuxedo. Well, I'm so thrilled you're doing this podcast. Thank you so much.

Listen, I'm delighted you. I don't think I've ever responded so quickly. Oh, did you? Oh, were you familiar with Wine and Ray's podcast? And I was a bit like, yes, yes, yes, yes, I do. It's not going to be in part, don't care. It's going to be like, yes. What time, yes.

Well, I'm so thrilled. I'm so happy you're doing it. And we're going to talk about, because actually your co-star at the moment, Stephen Mangon, who you're in this brilliant play The Truth with, which fortunately has had five star reviews, even from The Guardian, can be quite stingy normally. I know. Thank you, Mark Lawson, wherever you may be.

So we're going to talk about that because Stephen Mangan, when he came on this podcast, said Ray looked like him. He said they had the same hair. He's not wrong. They do have the same hair. And it's quite distinctive. It's for the viewers who can't see, it's a lovely black with a bit of grey. I hope you don't mind me saying that, Ray, but you're very distinguished. Or Stephen. Or Stephen. Stephen's got a lot more grey than Ray, like you say.

I would describe it as 80s Bufant. You've absolutely nailed it. It is 80s boofant. The wedding singer. And I think as well, they're both quite cheeky chappies. And it works for both of them. But you need to have a certain kind of personality. You've got to be quite bouncy.

And Stephen and Ray both are. They've got it. So we need to address the Shih Tzu in the room, which is, do you have a dog yourself? I don't have a dog. But I am a fully registered dog botherer. I will not pass a dog. No dog shall pass without, first of all, obviously, checking, can I pet your dog? And if it's a no, because they're nervous or whatever, then move on swiftly.

Don't really, don't even make eye contact with the owner. I look down at the dog and I go, can I pet your dog? And the minute the word yes is said, I'm just down there going, hello. My child is exactly the same. And I'm so proud now that they are nine and now they just go up completely independently. No more do I get asked, Mommy, can I pet this dog? Straight over. Excuse me, please, ma'am, pet your dog.

straight down to the dog, straight away, doing the scratch behind the ears. Mummy, get back, this dog is a little bit shy. I think they prefer me straight. And that's one of my proudest things about my child is they love animals and that every dog must be greeted. And also you've taught them because that's a very important thing, I think. I really notice parents that teach their kids ask if you can stroke the dog. Crucial.

And don't be offended if not. I've also really explained to my child, That dog might have not had a great start. They might be a bit nervous. They might be nervous of children. Somebody might have been mean to that dog. That's what you saw when you saw me with Raymond. That dog's not had a great start.

I thought, this dog is absolutely. Again, if you can't see, Ray has just flopped back in my arms. He's known me about 10 minutes and he thinks this is a safe space. It is a safe space, but you could get dog napped. And what's your, so the reason do you not have a dog just because of your lifestyle with work and action? I think I would not want to have a dog and not be able to do as you are with Ray. Be with that dog.

I think it's really important that you give a dog the life they want and they want to be around people, most dogs. And also that you... I mean, I kind of think having a dog is like a child. It's the same level of amount of time. We have a cat called Percy. Oh, I like the sound... Ray stiffened a bit there.

Don't be jealous. He's another species. What's Percy like then? Percy is, and I'm just going to be honest, he's quite a pudding. Vets words not mine. And he's a ginger marmalade tabby, a tomcat. He is gorgeous. He's quite dog.

I've raised him to be like a dog. So he follows us everywhere. And even if my child's got loads of friends around, Percy will be in the middle of it, which is not like a cat. If there's carnage in the back garden, Percy's involved. There was a sleepover the other night. There were three kids being very loud. Percy was in the middle of it all.

So I feel like we've got as dog a cat as we could possibly have. Yeah. Because Percy then in that case isn't... I normally associate cats with being quite introverted. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Known in the street, I've been sent messages going, whose cat is this, where he's just gone into somebody's flat through the window

and joined in a party. Someone else said, we feel a bit uncomfortable. Percy's on our window still. basically peeping-tomming our gerbil. Have you raised a sex pest? I mean, I think he has made, certainly there's a cat two doors down, Ruby, who he's very keen on. She's a siamese, not interested.

She's like, mate, you're a mongrel, get away from me. People have said that to me before. I'm just going to say, I'm familiar with those words. And then there's an ongoing feud between Percy and Santos. Santos sounds like a holiday romance. Santos is white and tabby, embarrassingly quite a bit younger than Percy, I think, and comes onto our back garden, onto our conservatory roof and taunts Percy. And we have to go out and hose him away.

Again, I've done that to some men before. It's just something you have to do sometimes if you get on wanted attention. So talk me through your childhood, because I've got some interesting information, which is, it says born in St. Orban's Hartford, grew up in Cheshire. And I want to know, so firstly, how did the move to Cheshire happen? I think, I mean, I have got a fun fact of you.

I was born in my mum and dad's bed. I couldn't wait for the midwife to arrive. It really is. I mean, it states me as well. I mean, it was the very early 70s. And, yeah, I couldn't wait. And apparently I was furious. And the midwife said to my mum,

which she reminds me of pretty, pretty much every time I talk to her, you've got a real live wire here, Mrs Hadland. And my mum was like, well, she wasn't wrong, was she? I mean, good Lord, if ever a truer word was spoken. Your sister, I've got an older sister, Kristen, who's three years older than me, she was so easy, and then you came along. I honestly say, if we'd had you first, we could never have had a second.

Everything was no, you refused to do it, very stubborn, very difficult, and, yes, I mean, you were a nightmare, really. But there we go. you've obviously found your niche now. And I was like, thanks very much for that. Thank you. Apparently I wouldn't even crawl. I went round on my bottom.

Really? And my mum took me to the doctors and said, there's something wrong with her. She went to call her. She said, there's nothing wrong with her. She just doesn't want to miss anything. And probably is just doing it a little bit to be a bit stubborn despite you

because you can see how desperate you are for her to crawl. And it's kind of gone on like that ever since, really. And she, so this was, your parents were based in Hertfordshire at that point. Yes. Yeah. Because they'd met work.

They had. And my mum was actually, she had been talent spotted as a young team to go to the Royal Ballet Senior School, which is a big deal. Like they don't take anybody, they get people from all over the world. And my mum had this incredible technique. And she, and that's whose legs I've got. She was very quick to tell Anton at Strictly. You know, you keep going on about Sarah's legs. Can I just tell you something? Those are my legs that she's got. They're my shape of leg. But she hasn't got the technique, but she's got the legs. She left. She quit. So having been chosen for this elite... Why did she leave ballet? Do you think it was to do with the times where women, it was almost like, well, raise a family, you can't do both? No, I think from what she's describing, that level of ballet, the royal is known to be the toughest in the world,

and they were incredibly strict. And if she got shouted at, she would just get upset and think, I don't want to do this anymore. And I mean, she was chosen to be Alice, and Alice in Wonderland on the BBC. There was a series called Steps Into Ballet. She was the girl on it. And she left,

which is insane now when we live in a world of opportunities like that. You'd be like, oh, wow. Ray, you're all right, his panting a bit. Oh, is he panting? You want your water, darling. Ray. It's because we've taken, would you burn the aircon off? Ray.

Sorry, well, wait, yes. So she left and decided she wanted to go and work in Harrods. And she met my dad there, who was in menswear. And apparently he was very funny. My dad is quite funny. Actually, my mum is quite funny as well And he apparently made her laugh They got together

And that was that And I think it must have been to do with my dad's work Because first of all we moved to Leicester To Loughborough And then some of my first memories are in that house And then we moved to Audley Edge in Cheshire And I was there until I was 11 And then my parents divorced

And my mum, my sister and I moved to Wilmslow And my dad moved down to London Yeah, down to London, yeah. So, yeah, it was quite... And that's quite... It's all the edge quite a smart area, so your dad was a businessman, so was he starting to do all right for himself?

He was doing, he was working at a clothes, a textiles company, and he was, I don't know, is that in business? I don't know. I think so. Is that, does that mean you're in business? And my mum, she wanted to be with my sister and I

until we went to school, and then she trained as a primary school teacher. And yeah, and I remember that was the 70s when you would let yourself in, have a key, come home, we'll go to a neighbour. And, I mean, it's mad now, can you imagine? I used to make myself a banana milkshake in the whizzer machine. I used to call it the whizzer.

And sit and watch, you know, Cracker Jack. I mean, on my own in the house. I mean, can you get my guinea pig flash out of his hutch, living my best life, sitting there with flash. Well, talking of Flash, I'm interested in the family pet scenario when you were growing up, because it often informs your choices later. Were you a dog family? No.

I know that my dad did at one point consider getting a corgi because my mum had had a corgi called Taffy growing up in Wales. And once we'd been on, we used to go to Newkey, we still do in West Wales, and we'd passed a sign saying corgi puppies. And apparently, I mean, I remember begging my sister and I, and he nearly wavered. But it was just like, no, no, we're not going to do it. And so we got a guinea pig. We had a guinea pig called Samson,

and then who was a golden agouti, and then we had Flash. Now Flash lived till he was 11 or 12, which is really old for a guinea pig. And is that Flash Gordon? Yeah, Flash because he had a little stripe, and he was like Flash Gordon, because I trained him to run from the garage

all the way through the kitchen, all the way through the living room, or through the hall, up the stairs and into my bedroom under my bed for some grass. And he'd go like this, weik, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, weak, quick, weik, quick. And I mean, no one, and then I used to put him in my saddlebag And drive around the block

I used to take him for walks in fields in my saddlebag And they'd be like, there I go, I'm a rally shopper, flash in the front, Weak, weak, weak, weak, boom, down a curb, sorry, Flash. I mean, I was besotted. He was always in my bedroom, my mum had come in and say, Sarah, is Flash in this room, please? No, weak, Sarah. And there'd be like those little droppings, those torpedoes everywhere under my bed.

So sorry to interrupt I just need a bag from you Because Ray's just done a poo Oh my God Please say that's being kept in That is gold dust This is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened Why?

Ray has just done a poo on the floor Listen The um What's the vibe? Has anyone seen it? Has anyone seen it? Oh my God Don't shame him

We've all done it Ray Oh Ray There's no shame Can we make this a positive experience for Ray, please? This is awful. My dog has just humiliated me. No, but do you know what?

He weed and pooed before he came in here, but what can you do? I'm not on anxiety. Do you know what I think it is? What? Overwhelming at meeting me, because he feels like I've met the second most important. I mean, that would be weird. I'm so obsessed by Cetra Hatler. I'm going to have to do it shit.

But you know what? The company manager on our show, Adam, he's got a gorgeous little dog called Dardom. I might have to show you a picture. Darcy went into the box office the other day with Adam to sort some tickets and just curled out a little poo in the foyer. And I thought, that's not a five-star review, is it, Darcy? I'm so sorry to everyone. I'm so sorry, Sarah. I think the people at ACOS came out with some cleaning products.

And why I love them, they didn't do it in a passive aggressive way. Because that can happen. Shame Ray, shame me. I'll come out and do a poo out there. I'll do it. I'll do it. We all do it. Luckily, it's not carpet, it's all fine.

No, that's fine. Oh, God, then that's fine. I want to get back to your... Like young Sarah, who I like the sound of, because young Sarah, what I like about young Sarah is that she sounds sort of quite authentic and quite sort of spirited and... Yes.

I was definitely very confident. As a result, I think, of the good work my parents did from zero to 11. Like I say, my dad was very, with me and my sister, what you have to say matters. And I want to hear it. But then I think you also have that coming of age and then when you become a teenager, you then have to deal with this young adult

who is very confident, who is saying, no, I don't agree with you, and I think you're wrong. And that is problematic if you're not fully evolved in that way because that is quite a challenge, I think. And was it always, do you think it was always clear to everyone around you that you were, you know, I've heard stories about you putting on dungarees and doing Elvis impressions.

And do you think were you that kind of kid? No. And I think I'd been, I went along to the local ballet class. I think like most little girls do from three. And I didn't know anything about my mum's past. And I think my mum could see, well, she's clearly not got any talent for ballet. Right correctly, by the way. This is not my mum being horrible.

She was absolutely correct. I did not have. I might have inherited her legs and feet, but not the skill. So I think she could see I was just like every other kid in that class. I definitely had nothing special. But this is a really interesting turning point. When my parents divorced, my sister had a best friend called Claire Dutson.

Thank you, Claire, because Claire was going to local dance classes where they did tap and modern, and it was a bit more theatrical. It was more about performing. And my sister started going. And I don't know how it came about, but I went along.

And I remember they all had lovely shiny capsuits, 80s, and I had a black nylon low. cut gym leotard with long sleeves. Somebody had lent me some black canvas Cuban heeled tap shoes with a bow and I wore my school grey tank top. Let's just picture that. Frizzy hair, braces, legs like twigs. Let's just lean into that. Possibly maroon leg warmers.

And I went along definitely feeling like a fish out of water at the local scout hut. But I loved the fact that there was a little bit of this going on. Just technical change. And I thought, oh, this is a bit of me. me. I like the performing. And that was the first time I think I'd maybe been better at something than my sister. My sister was good at everything. Tennis, art. She was perfect.

She was perfect at everything. Her handwriting, she was brilliant at school. I was still bright at school, but I was the kid that would be constantly talking and would still manage to scrape, get the work done, but would be talking the whole time. And I think had a lot of energy. and then this was the first moment I remember my sister kind of dropped out and I remember the teacher saying to my mum oh Sarah's is a really good performer she's got something about her

which was a real turning point I don't think again anyone had said that about me before and my mum kind of not being a pushy mum at all just took it with a pinch of soul and was like fine but then around that time I auditioned for Cheshire youth theatre and they did a two-week residential course at the Menai Centre in Anglesey. I was the youngest person on the course. It was 14 to 18. And I went along to that and that was the moment everything changed. Is that the inciting

incident in your life story? Yeah. You go and this is where I know it's cheesy. You find your people. Everybody is over the top. Everybody is a bit much. Everybody can burst into tears and be dramatic at the drop of a hat and you go this is it. This is me.

It's a great feeling. Amazing feeling. And that's when I thought this is what I want to do. And credit to my parents I remember they both came to the end performance. And they fully backed me. Nobody said, no, you're not doing that. And like I said, I was doing well at school. They were like, she should stay and do A levels.

But by that point, my mum had met a new partner. I felt like both my parents had kind of, you know, and you're also becoming a bit older. And I thought, right, okay, I want to get out. You're able to make your own decisions about people. And maybe because of those circumstances, it was easy. to leave. But you were 16 when you left home then. I heard two girls, Samantha Taylor and Angela Merriman, walking along and saying, we're going to go to a theatre school in London and be in a show.

And around that time, my dad had taken me, and part of a good thing about him living in London, he'd taken me to see 42nd Street at Drury Lane with Catherine Zeta Jones playing Peggy Sawyer. And I remember thinking, oh my God, I mean, this is just mind-boggling. And he took me to see a chorus line at Leicester Square at the Theodian. And he knew about Spotlight, which is a kind of actor's. I don't know how he knew about this. Well, me and my sister, this shows you what actors childhood. We used to have our game with Spotlight when we were bored.

Because he moved around so much with my parents. They moved around the world. We were all no-med. And we also had these spotlights because my mom was the classic kind of like, darling, my agent might be trying to be cool. And my dad was like, he never will. And then we used to play Spotlight. Go through the pictures.

My sister would pretend to be an agent and put on a wig. Oh, God, I love this. She'd pretend to smoke. But the only wig we had was a clown wig. So it was all in this orange clown hair with big glasses. And she'd say, hello, darling. I've got a lovely girl for you on page 44. I don't want to see this made into a show.

I've got to go out of Spotlight. Oh, my God. But anyway, Spotlight. Well, how did we got on Spotlight? Well, he knew about it. So how did your dad know about theater in Spotlight? No. And he got hold of a copy of contact.

In the old days, it was sort of the equivalent of an online directory. Yeah, it was like the yellow pages. And he got hold of a copy of contacts that listed these theatre schools. And I thought, right, and I knew about one of them, arts educational. I didn't get in there. And another one, Doreen Bird, I didn't get in there. They said, I was too small. They said, you're too little.

What do you think you're going to be? And also, like I said, I wasn't a very good dancer. Lane Theatre Arts, I went to that audition, and they wanted you to do a little dance. which I did, I remember, did a dreadful little dance to the Pink Panther theme tune. I mean, all shocking. Shocking. Shocking.

Did step all change? But I had a very encouraging local dance teacher, Amanda Cooper, who was really encouraging. And again, she was really saying, you've got the performance thing. I sang, my name is Tallulah from Bugsy Malone. Oh, a bit creepy these days. Really creepy, lonely. You don't have, I mean, Ray, don't taunt me by having Ray on your lap. He's looking at me.

That's the producer sitting out there with Ray. Looking a bit smug. Ray's looking at me desperately. And then you had to do a speech. And I went to a local lady called Diane somebody. And I said, look, my favourite book is to kill a mockingbird. I'd love to do a bit of Scout, the little girl in it. So I did a little speech from that.

And again, she said to my mum, I think she's a really good little actress. So all these little things you just really remember because they're bits of praise that you haven't heard before. And I went along and did this audition. and I got in and straight away Miss Lane said to me, you're really funny, you should be doing comedy. So every year, right from the get-go, I was doing comedy numbers in these big summer shows,

which ostensibly were musical theatre. They were singing and dancing, but I was always there doing a little comedy number. And I remember the very first review I got was in the Dancing Times for doing a comedy number, like a patter song. and saying I got this comedy ability and that was huge

and then you kind of go there's no looking back you're like but I didn't I didn't know how to get into comedy I was kind of I've been trained in musical theatre which and randomly one of the first jobs I got was in cats and I knew the show really well because I was usheretting there and I thought right

I can really study how to copy what they're doing I mean like I say not a good dancer at all all. You must have been quite good to get a job in cats. I think what I was really clever at was having worked as an usheret, I'd watch the show for a year. So you imagine watching eight shows a week of a show.

You kind of get to work out. So when I went to audition, I did the little top knots. I knew the style of the show because I'd watched it for a year. And was this in the West End? Yeah. Wow. And I mean, everyone I trained with was flabbergasted. They were like the worst dancer in our year is in cats.

But again, I think it was this. I got away with the acting, kind of the acting, the personality. You sold it well. Yes. And then I got an agent and I don't know how I got this agent, but I looked very young for my age. And I got an agent who specialised in actors who looked younger, who could play children.

And I got cast in a birds eye advert, a series of bird's eye commercials. Brilliant. And the director was Mandy Fletcher, who was directing Blackadder. And she said to me, you should be doing comedy. you should get out of musicals. Ironically, she directed the very last episode of Miranda. And that came full circle and I said to her.

So she spotted that in you. She said to me, you should be doing comedy. And the audition, it was meant to be quite funny. What were you doing in the birds I had? I was a teenager. I was 21. And what do you have to say? I had to be, imagine having to peel all these prawns.

And I had a little, you know, it was kind of a mum and three daughters. And you were one of the daughters. And I was the youngest daughter. But I remember being a bit pissed off because, I was 21 and I was like, I can't play a 14 year old. I'm 21, guys. I'm 21. So, and I remember on the first day of filming,

I'd never filmed before, putting loads of makeup on in the toilets and the makeup lady going, no, that's all going to have to come on. No, you're meant to be a 14 year old and also, by the way, we do makeup. And also, you don't need any makeup because you're just young and pushing gorgeous. And I remember buying, like, Clinique for mature skin, moisture surge. Shout out Clinique, there are other products But that was like from women my age And I was like 21 going

I've got to put the Oh God, look at my skin And you look at it now and you're like You had skin like a peach And actually I think it's slightly damaged my skin Because I'm slapping on these products But that was a big turning point When I thought

Oh I want to do more of this But I gradually started getting more TV work But it was all like I mean one of my first TV jobs Was in bad girls playing a heroin addict And my baby My baby died of air Yeah, I've got AIDS. What about it?

I was doing a lot of parts like that. So you were sort of like the bill? Did you do the bill? The bill, stole a baby from hospital. Casualty had a boob job went wrong. And again, I had very filleted bra. And I think I was in the bill twice, both times. I think stealing a baby, prostitution. Always very bleak.

And I kept writing to these agents going, I want to do comedy. And then in the end, I was a friend of mine. What about, didn't you write to Dallas Smith? It was a very, we should say, one of the most famous agents in the business, and because I've brought up with parents who knew all these people, I know who Dallas Smith was. You'd heard of Dallas Smith,

but there was one important detail about Dallas Smith, you didn't know. And bear in mind that this is back in the time of VHS, so I cobbled together a show reel, a shocking show reel of I think it was, I mean, I was doing, booking loads of adverts, which at the time were incredibly well paid. So this is like, I was living the highlight,

I was booking all these commercials. Getting the sweet birds eye money. Getting the sweet birds eye money, Draft, Sainsbury, I was doing them all. Viet. I was doing all these adverts. So I'd done a show reel of commercials and then tagged on the end a bit of, I'm dying of AIDS, my baby's got heads. No, I didn't stole that baby from hospital.

Desperately going, I'd like to be seen for comedy, please. Put this VHS to Dallas Smith with the attention of Dallas at United, called in in person a week later to go, I'm just wondering if she's looked at it if Dallas, if she liked it. Dallas is a he and no he doesn't. Take your tatty little VHS. Get out of here, please. Ironically, I am now represented by United.

I haven't seen Dallas. Shout out to Dallas. I'm with lovely Isaac Storm and Lucia Polaris. But I do love the fact that all these years later I am with that agency that were just like, get your little advert promo reel and get out with your AIDS babies. I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog.

If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday, so whatever you do, don't miss it. And remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.