60 Second Interview Debbie Arnold

DEBBIE ARNOLD

FIRST OF ALL DEBBIE HOW DO YOU FIT THIS ALL IN?! If you want something done ask a busy person!

YOU STARTED YOU TUBE AND FACEBOOK CHANNEL WONDERBIRDS IN LOCKDOWN AND IT’S STILL INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL NOW REACHING 18M VIEWS - YOU MUST BE PROUD OF THIS? Yes I am. We had two shows originally on a Tuesday and Thursday and now when GMTV’s Richard Arnold comes on we have 3 a week. He loves being henpecked by all of us lovely ‘Wonderbirds.’ HAVING APPEARED IN ‘EASTENDERS’, ‘CORONATION STREET’, ‘EMMERDALE’ AND ‘HOLLYOAKS’ WHAT WAS THE BEST SOAP TO WORK ON AND WHY? Got to be ‘Coronation Street’ as I starred in it twice – both in 1981 and 2014. I am originally a northerner, brought up in Sunderland, so The Street has always been my show.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST MOVE TO SURREY? My ex-husband John Challis bought me to Twickenham in 1980 and I’ve been here ever since. First Twickenham, then Thames Ditton, then Oxshott and now Cobham. I love it here.

YOU COVER SUCH A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS IS ANYTHING TOO TABOO FOR YOU AND THE GIRLS?! We try not to cover politics! Unlike some episodes of ‘Loose Women’ we are also very friendly and kind.

HOW HAS THE FEEDBACK BEEN ON THE SHOW? We have had some enormous stars come on and the feedback has been amazing!

WHAT’S ONE OF THE BEST BEAUTY TIPS YOU’VE LEARNT PRODUCING ‘BEAUTY ANGELS’ WITH LINA LUSARDI? The other week we had a hugely successful make-up artist Ariana Poole on the show. I’ve always been a huge fan of red lipstick but never confident in wearing as I think it makes my teeth look yellow. I have now found out wearing red lipstick with a blue tinge to the colour really helps offset this. Great advice.

YOU’VE ALSO WORKED ALONGSIDE SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS FACES IN BRITISH TV INCLUDING JOHN CLEESE, OMAR SHARIF AND DAVID JASON – WHO WAS THE MOST FUN TO WORK WITH AND WHY? I felt very privileged to do ‘Minder’ and I loved working with George Cole. It’s always a pleasure to work with comedians too - Jim Davidson, in particular, was great fun to work with. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE ‘SURREY SINGLETONS’ NIGHTS YOU RUN? I put a message up on the Next Door Facebook Page as was so sick of all dating being online. We had 500 replies and almost crashed the site! Everyone said my idea was brilliant and the admin of Next Door said I should start a group. I did and we are now totalling 900 members across 3 platforms and roughly 150 singletons turn out to our events which we run every 6 weeks. We are different because we are a party - not a dating site.

WITH THIS IN MIND, ALL OUR MALE READERS WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, ARE YOU SINGLE? Yes I still am - but would prefer to share my dog walking duties with someone in the future!

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A MAN? Kindness, no controlling behaviour, a sense of humour and height... I like tall men.

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE 3 THINGS TO A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT WOULD THEY BE? Undereye concealer (Max Factor’s Panstick is amazing), contact lenses/glasses (so I can see!) and a dog for company.

WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN THE MOVIE VERSION OF YOUR LIFE? Lady Gaga. Debbie is an actress, author, altruist, writer, producer and a voice artist and has enjoyed a successful career in both television and theatre. She is the only actress in the UK who has appeared in every major TV soap in the last 30 years as a regular character - including ‘EastEnders’, ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Emmerdale’ and ‘Hollyoaks’. She recently created the online show ‘Wonderbirds’ in lockdown with her good friends Dee, Sherrie and Harriet and has also started dating nights in Surrey called ‘Surrey Singletons’, produces online TV Show ‘Beauty Angels’ with Linda Lusardi and participates in ‘Actors at Sea’ Saga Cruises – all while looking after three dogs!

WHO WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL CELEBRITY DINNER PARTY GUESTS? Have actually had dinner with all the people already! During an opening night party in LA, I was on a table with Rex Harrison, Jack Lemon, Walter Matthau, Billy Wilder, their wives and me. Great fun.

BEST ADVICE EVER GIVEN? John Stride once said to me, “don’t believe bad reviews and don’t believe the good ones either.”

MOST EMBARRASSING ITEM IN YOUR WARDROBE? I have a coat that I stole from the ‘Hollyoaks’ set and it has in large black felt tip pen on the back... “Property of the Hollyoaks Wardrobe Department. Please return to the Wardrobe Department” - I get some stares on dog walks when I wear this as it’s on the back not the inside label!

WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE GROWING UP? I have always wanted to be an actress.

WORST HABIT? Worrying.

FRIDAY NIGHT OUT OR SUNDAY DAY IN? Chilled Sunday day in definitely.

WHAT´S THE BEST THING ABOUT SURREY? Just beautiful – the first time I ever walked across Richmond Bridge I just fell in love with the place.

WORST THING? The trains.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR ‘ACTORS AT SEA’ INITIATIVE PLANNED FOR JANUARY 2022? Ten actors go to sea with Saga Cruises and do workshops with passengers to create a big show at the end of the trip. ‘EastEnders’ creator Tony McHale is involved. We are (hopefully!) sailing in January with John Altman, Colin McIntyre, Sue Jenkins and Bob Barret around the Caribbean for 5 weeks on the Saga Spirit of Adventure.

AT THE PACKHOUSE

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