British actor Pauline Collins, who earned an Oscar nomination for her turn as the stuck-in-a-rut housewife of “Shirley Valentine,” has died. She was 85.
Collins’ family said in a statement Thursday that the actor died peacefully this week at her care home in north London after living with Parkinson’s disease for several years. In the statement, her family said Collins “was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life.”
“A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen,” the family described the versatile actor, whose career began in the 1960s.
Collins was well into her 40s when she starred in “Shirley Valentine,” a witty but disgruntled homemaker who accepts a girlfriend’s offer to travel to Greece to bring much-needed spice back to her life. “Sex for breakfast, sex for dinner, sex for tea and sex for supper,” Shirley proudly declares in the 1989 film, directed by Lewis Gilbert.
For Collins, “Shirley Valentine” was more than just an ode to womanhood, self-love and self-discovery. It was also a chance to challenge the conventions of aging in entertainment, including by shooting a nude scene for the film.
“My only sorrow was that I wasn’t younger and thinner,” a 49-year-old Collins told The Times in 1989. “But if I were Jamie Lee Curtis, I wouldn’t have been right for the part.”
“Shirley Valentine,” which also starred Tom Conti as her on-screen Greek lover and Alison Steadman as her friend, led Collins to receive her sole Academy Award nomination, a nod in the leading actress category. The film also received an original song Oscar nomination for Patti Austin’s “The Girl Who Used to Be Me,” written by Marvin Hamlisch and husband-wife lyricist duo Alan and Marilyn Bergman.
Two years before the film’s premiere, Collins originated the role of Shirley Valentine in London for Willy Russell’s one-woman play of the same name. That led to her Broadway debut in 1989 and a Tony Award for best actress in a play the same year. She also won accolades for the play at the Laurence Olivier Awards and a BAFTA for her work in the film adaptation.
Beyond “Shirley Valentine,” Collins was also known for appearing in dozens of TV series including “Upstairs, Downstairs,” “Forever Green,” “The Ambassador,” “Mount Pleasant” and “Dickensian.” She also appeared in films including “City of Joy,” “Paradise Road” and “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” counting Patrick Swayze, Glenn Close, Frances McDormand, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins among her co-stars.
Throughout her decades-long screen career, Collins also continued her work in theater, including productions of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “Woman in Mind” and “Cinderella.”
Collins, born in 1940, was raised near Liverpool by a schoolteacher mother and a headmaster father. She told The Times in 1989 that her dad “was one of the early feminists.”
“He had three daughters and always offered us everything that a boy would have — education and stuff,” she said. “[My parents] had a completely shared domestic situation, they both worked, cooked, did the washing. He even washed nappies [diapers] by hand.”
Her marriage to “Upstairs, Downstairs” co-star John Alderton — they married in 1969 — was not too different. “He just spent five months holding down the fort at home while I was on Broadway,” she recalled.
Alderton, 84, said Thursday that Collins’ “greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children.”
While Collins was known for her scenic and romantic on-screen vacation to the Greek coast, she preferred a different kind of destination off-screen: St. Petersburg, Fla.
“It’s amazing, people think when you’re on your own you’re going off to have wonderful sexual adventures. Here I am, on my own, going off to Disney World,” she told The Times. “What does that say about me?”
Pauline Collins, the star of the film Shirley Valentine, for which she was Oscar nominated in 1990, has died at the age of 85.
She died “peacefully” aged 85 in her London care home surrounded by her family having had Parkinson’s disease for several years, her family said.
Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert’s award-winning film, based on the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell.
Her critically acclaimed performance also won her the Golden Globe Award for best actress along with a Bafta.
‘Witty presence’
Collins’ family said in a statement: “Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens.
“She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine – a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them.
“More than anything, though, she was our loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma. Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us. And she was John (Alderton)’s life-long love. A partner, work collaborator, and wife of 56 years.
“We particularly want to thank her carers: angels who looked after her with dignity, compassion, and most of all love. She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her.”
Broadway role
Collins first played the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She won that year’s Olivier award for best actress.
The following year she reprised the role on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.
The film of the same name was released later that year.
Her other films included 1991’s City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which brought her wider recognition globally.
Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.
Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse in the Emergency Ward 10 TV series.
She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theatre.
After a number of stage roles, she used her Liverpool accent to land a role on The Liver Birds.
From 1971 to 1973 she played a maid in the ITV’s popular series Upstairs, Downstairs.
It was through acting that she met husband John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three adult children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.
Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs.
To live in Los Angeles is to be a seeker. There are those who come to the city in search of the limelight and affluence. There are others who crave temperate weather and long for accessible beaches. The list goes on. Some of these desires are easily satisfied, while others are left unfulfilled or forgotten. But for those born and raised in this atypical metropolis, like Shirley Kurata, the search is never-ending.
The costume designer tells me the key to loving this city is to never stop venturing around. We sit in the shaded back patio of Virgil Normal, a 21st century lifestyle shop she owns with her husband, Charlie Staunton. She wears a vibrant pink getup — a vintage top and Issey Miyake pants — complete with small pleats and optimal for the unavoidable August heat wave. Her signature pair of black circular glasses sits perfectly on the bridge of her nose. It’s a style of eyewear she owns in several colors.
“I always tell people, L.A. is like going to a flea market. There’s some digging to do, but you’ll definitely find some gems,” says the stylist and costume designer, as she’s regularly on the lookout for up-and-coming creative hubs and eye-catching storefronts. “It won’t be handed to you. You have to dig.”
In one way or another, “digging” has marked Kurata’s creative livelihood. Whether she’s conjuring wardrobes for the big screen, like in the Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” or styling musicians like Billie Eilish, Florence and the Machine and ASAP Rocky for photo shoots and music videos, the hunt for the perfect look keeps her on her toes.
Over the summer, Kurata spent a lot of time inside the Costco-size Western Costume Co., pulling looks for Vogue World, the magazine’s annual traveling runway extravaganza. This year, the fashion spectacle is centered around Hollywood and will take place at Paramount Pictures Studios in late October. She is one of the eight costume designers asked to present at the event — others include Colleen Atwood of “Edward Scissorhands,” Ruth E. Carter of “Black Panther” and Arianne Phillips of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Kurata will be styling background performers and taking inspiration from the invited costume designers.
Shirley wears vintage hat, Meals Clothing top, shirt and dress, We Love Colors tights, Opening Ceremony x Robert Clergerie shoes and l.a. Eyeworks sunglasses.
“[Vogue] wanted someone that is a stylist and costume designer who has worked both in fashion and film. Because a lot of costume designers work primarily in TV and film, they don’t do the fashion styling for editorial shoots,” says Kurata. “I’m coming on and working with what other costume designers have done.”
Since her start in the business, Kurata has gained acclaim for her ability to infuse daring prints and vibrant color into the narrative worlds she deals with. Her maximalist sense of experimentation took center stage in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and earned her an Academy Award nomination for costume design. From a bejeweled Elvis jumpsuit to a look made entirely of neon green tassels meant to resemble an amoeba, her vision was avant-garde, playful and undeniably multidimensional.
When Kurata isn’t on set or in the troves of a costume house, she’s likely tending to Virgil Normal. Housed in a former moped shop, the Virgil Village store offers a selection of novelty items and streetwear treasures, curated by both Kurata and Staunton. Though Staunton jokes that he’s constantly seeking her approval when sourcing inventory: “If it’s not cool enough for her, it doesn’t come in.”
The couple first met at the Rose Bowl Flea Market through mutual friends. At first sight, Staunton recalls being enthralled by her perpetually “cool” demeanor. Early in their relationship, he even floated the idea of starting a clothing line together, just to “knock off her closet.”
Shirley wears Leeann Huang t-shirt, skirt and shoes, We Love Colors tights and l.a. Eyeworks glasses here and in photos below.
“She’s like a peacock. It’s not like she’s trying to get attention. But she has her own vision and doesn’t really care what’s going on. She knows what’s cool,” says Staunton, who cites Kurata as the biggest “inspiration” for the store.
Inside the quaint red brick building, blue L.A. hats are embroidered to read “Larry David,” acrylic shelves are packed with Snoopy figurines (for display only), trays of l.a. Eyeworks frames fill the tables and each clothing tag is a different elaborate doodle illustrated by Staunton. He adds that everything in the store is meant to have a “rabbit hole” effect, where shoppers can give in to their curiosities.
“We wanted a place where like-minded people could come here and have it be a space to hang out. They don’t have to buy anything,” says Kurata. The attached patio is complete with a mural of a man floating in space, pipe in hand, and the coolers are still filled with chilled beers and sparkling waters from their most recent get-together. She tells me about how many times they’ve allowed musicians and artists to transform this peaceful outdoor space into a lively venue.
“Having that connection with a community of creatives in the city is essential. Having that sort of human interaction is really good for your soul, and for your creativity,” she shares. “Having this store has been one of the most fulfilling things that I’ve done, and it’s not like we’re not making a ton of money off it.”
From the cactus out front, which Kurata and Staunton planted themselves, to grabbing lunch at the taqueria down the street, she explains cultivating a space like this and being an active part of the neighborhood has made her into a more “enriched person.” Kurata, who is of Japanese descent, brings up the lesser known history of East Hollywood. In the early 1900s, the neighborhood, then called J-Flats, was where a sizable group of Japanese immigrants settled. It was once a bustling community with Japanese boarding houses that offered affordable rent and home-cooked meals. Today, only one of these properties is operating.
“Having that connection with a community of creatives in the city is essential. Having that sort of human interaction is really good for your soul, and for your creativity,”
For Kurata, being a part of this legacy means trimming the nearby overgrown vegetation to keep the sidewalks clear and running over to the locally owned convenience store when Virgil Normal needs supplies, instead of immediately turning to Amazon. She pours everything she learned from being raised in this city back into the store, and in turn, its surroundings.
Kurata was born and raised in Monterey Park, a region in the San Gabriel Valley with a primarily Asian population. The neighborhood is a small, homey stretch of land, known for its dining culture, hilly roads and suburban feeling (but not-so-suburban location). These days, she’ll often find herself in the area, as her mother and sister still live there. Together, they enjoy many of the surrounding dim sum-style restaurants.
Even from a young age, she was encouraged to treat the entire city as her stomping grounds. She attended elementary school in the Arts District, which she describes as quieter and “more industrial than it is today.” She also spent a lot of her childhood in Little Tokyo, shopping for Japanese magazines (where she found a lot of her early inspiration), playing in the arcade and grocery shopping with her family.
Shirley wears Leeann Huang lenticular dress and shoes, Mary Quant tights and l.a. Eyeworks sunglasses.
For high school, she decided to branch out even further, making the trek to an all-girls Catholic school in La Cañada Flintridge. “It was the first time where I felt like an outsider,” Kurata says, as she had only previously attended predominantly Asian schools. She laughs a little about being one of the rare “Japanese Catholics.”
“When you’re raised in something, you go along with it because your parents tell you, and it’s part of your education,” Kurata says. Her religious upbringing began to reach a point where she wasn’t connecting with it anymore. “Having that sort of awakening is good for you. I was able to look at myself, early in life, and realize that I don’t think this is for me.”
Her senior year, she discovered vintage stores. (She always knew that she had an affinity for clothing of the past, as she gravitated toward hand-me-down Barbies from the ’60s.) Her coming-of-age style consisted of layering skirts with other oversize pieces — and everything was baggy, “because it was the ’80s.” With this ignited passion for vintage and thrifting, Kurata began to mix items spanning across decades into one look.
“All the colors, the prints, the variety. It just seemed more fun. I would mix a ’60s dress with a jacket from the ’70s and maybe something from the ’40s,” says Kurata. It’s a practice that has remained a major part of her creative Rolodex.
Her lifelong interest in fashion led her to get a summer job at American Rag Cie on La Brea Avenue. At the time, the high-end store primarily sold a mix of well-curated timeless pieces, sourced from all over the world. It was the first time she encountered the full range of L.A.’s fashion scene. She worked alongside Christophe Loiron of Mister Freedom and other “rockabilly and edgier, slightly goth” kinds of people.
“Living abroad is such an important way of broadening your mind, being exposed to other cultures and even learning another language. It helps you grow as a person. It’s the best thing I ever did.”
“Time moved really slowly in that place. But just the creativity that I was around, from both the people who worked there and shopped there, was great exposure,” says Kurata, who recalls seeing faces like Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp browsing the selection and Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington trying on jeans.
Kurata continued her L.A. expedition to Cal State Long Beach, where she began her art degree. It wasn’t long before Studio Berçot, a now-closed fashion school in Paris known for its avant-garde curriculum, started calling her name.
“Living abroad is such an important way of broadening your mind, being exposed to other cultures and even learning another language. It helps you grow as a person,” says Kurata. “It’s the best thing I ever did.”
Her Parisian studies lasted around three years and it was the closest she had ever gotten to high fashion. Sometimes, she would be able to see runway shows by selling magazines inside the venue or volunteering to work backstage. Other times, she relied on well-intentioned shenanigans. She used to pass around and reuse an invitation within her group of friends. She once snuck in through a large, unattended hole in a fence. In one instance, she simply charged at the entrance when it began to rain. All things she did in the name of fashion.
“I would just do what I could to see as many shows as possible. All of the excitement is hard to explain. When I worked backstage, there’s this labor of love that’s put towards the show. It’s this contagious energy that you could feel when the models start coming,” says Kurata, who saw everything from Jean Paul Gaultier to John Galliano and Yves Saint Laurent. When she was backstage for a Vivienne Westwood show, she recollects seeing this “shorter model, and thinking, ‘Oh, she’s so tiny,’ and then realizing that it was Kate Moss who was still fairly new at that point.”
“We wanted a place where like-minded people could come here and have it be a space to hang out. Having this store has been one of the most fulfilling things that I’ve done.”
Staying in France was intriguing to a young Kurata, but the struggles of visas and paperwork deterred her. She instead returned to L.A., freshly inspired, and completed her bachelor’s degree in art (to her parents’ satisfaction). She didn’t plan to get into costume design, Kurata explains. But when it became clear that designing her own line would require moving to somewhere like New York or back to Europe, she realized, “Maybe fashion is not the world I want to get into; maybe it’s costumes.”
“I felt comfortable with that decision,” shares Kurata. “I do love film, so it was just a transition I made. It was still connected [to everything that I wanted to do].”
Without the aid of social media, she sent letters to costume designers, hoping to get mentored, and started working on low-budget jobs. She quickly fell in love with how much the job changed day-to-day. On occasion, there are 12-hour days that can be “miserable,” but her next job might be entirely different. One day she’s styling the seasonal campaigns for her longtime friends Kate and Laura Mulleavy, owners of Rodarte, and the next she could be styling for the cover of W Magazine, where a larger-than-life Jennifer Coolidge stomps through a miniature city in a neon polka-dot coat.
Whenever Kurata takes on a project, Staunton says she “just doesn’t stop.” Sometimes, he’ll wake up at 3 in the morning and she’s emailing people in Europe, attempting to hunt down a rare vintage piece. Her passion is the kind that simultaneously consumes and fuels her.
“There’s a lot of times [with her work] where I’m like, ‘That’s just straight out of Shirley’s closet.’ It’s not like she has to compromise. It’s something she would wear herself. She doesn’t have to follow trends,” explains Staunton. “People seek her out, because she has such a unique vision.”
“I always tell people, L.A. is like going to a flea market. There’s some digging to do, but you’ll definitely find some gems.”
Kurata thinks of herself as “someone who gets bored easily.” It’s a quality that’s reflected in her eclectic style, busy travel schedule, Virgil Normal’s constantly changing selection and even the common feeling she gets when she’s sick of all of her clothes. It’s a good thing being bored and being in Los Angeles don’t go hand in hand.
I ask Kurata a somewhat daunting question for a born-and-bred Angeleno.
“Do you think you could ever see yourself calling another place home?”
She lets out a deep sigh and tells me it’s not something she’s closed off to. Though, she takes a moment to reflect on how everyone came together to provide support during the Palisades and Eaton fires earlier this year. Or how good it feels when they have events at Virgil Normal, to be surrounded by a diverse group of creative minds “who don’t judge.” She even thinks about how she currently lives in a Franklin Hills house, a neighborhood she never thought she would be able to afford.
Time and time again, Kurata and this sprawling city-state have looked out for each other. From the way she speaks of different areas with such an intrinsic care, to showcasing her unique creative eye in Tinseltown, L.A. has made her into a permanent seeker. Whether she chooses to stay in Franklin Hills for the rest of her life or packs up everything tomorrow, she’ll always keep an eye out for hidden gems — just like at the flea market.
Gogglebox stars Dave and Shirley Griffiths have been married for 49 years and have been a part of the Channel 4 show since 2015 – but they were cruelly trolled online
Joe Crutchley Screen Time Reporter
18:17, 22 Sep 2025
Gogglebox legends Dave and Shirley defended after being trolled with cruel comments (Image: JUDE EDGINTON/CHANNEL 4)
Gogglebox viewers have come together to defend cherished stars Dave and Shirley Griffiths after nasty internet bullies took aim at them online.
The Welsh duo initially appeared on the Channel 4 programme back in 2015 – and it wasn’t long before they captured viewers’ hearts.
Throughout the years, Dave and Shirley – who have been wed for 49 years and are mum and dad to two youngsters – have left audiences in hysterics with their side-splitting quips and observations about the newest television offerings.
Beyond the programme, Dave and Shirley consistently update their supporters via their Instagram account – which boasts a remarkable 208k followers.
On Friday (September 19) the couple posted on the social media site and revealed a sweet snapshot of themselves whilst on their overseas getaway, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Dave and Shirley displayed their affection in the photograph as they grinned towards the lens. They wrote alongside the image “Happy #gogglebox Friday everyone #fresheveryfriday don’t forget tonight #channel4 9pm drinks and snacks out it’s gogglebox time.”
Nevertheless, whilst numerous Dave and Shirley admirers were thrilled by their post, the duo faced a barrage of vicious remarks from online tormentors.
Racing to the couple’s defence, one supporter penned: “These are funny people on Gogglebox but why do people have to make comments about her face we are all getting older and you can’t do much if you’re prone to wrinkles give her a break.”
The backing wasn’t missed by Dave and Shirley who ‘liked’ the message. Another devotee also commented: “People can be so mean.”
To fans’ absolute joy, Dave and Shirley have made their comeback for the fresh Gogglebox series – which kicked off earlier this year. Nevertheless, things are looking rather different, as it was confirmed in July that cherished stars Roisin Kelly and Joe Kyle wouldn’t be making a return.
The pair etched their names into Gogglebox folklore as the inaugural Scottish duo to join the programme back in February 2022.
Breaking the news of their exit from the Channel 4 programme, Roisin turned to TikTok to deliver the disappointing news, penning: “After three and a half years of sitting on the sofa channel 4 have decided it’s time for Joe and I to stretch our legs and have not asked us back for season 26.”
Gogglebox continues every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.
Shirley Whitney, 89, leading Republican volunteer in the San Fernando Valley who designed popular political buttons. Whitney was a Democrat for many years until the murder of Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles in 1968 changed her view of her party. A longtime member of the National Rifle Assn., she was sitting in a Democratic candidate’s headquarters watching the news report of Kennedy’s assassination when “everybody turned around and looked at me, as if I was to blame,” she recalled years later. Realizing that her conservative views didn’t belong in the Democratic Party, she re-registered as a Republican. She became known to major Republican candidates throughout the Valley for her skills at organizing candidate headquarters, heading Republican women’s clubs, supervising telephone campaigns and fund-raisers, and registering voters. She was best known for a sideline of developing political pins. Her most famous button depicted the head of former Gov. Jerry Brown on the body of an insect with the inscriptions “Fruit Fly of the Year,” followed by “Governor Moonbeam,” a design that delighted conservatives who seethed over Brown’s handling of the 1981 infestation of Mediterranean fruit flies in Northern California. She sold 15,000 of the pins for $1 each, enough to rent office space for Republicans in the Valley for part of 1982. Another Whitney button that circulated during 1984 showed two women holding a banner with the bright-red letters E, R and A, which stood for “Elect Reagan Again,” not Equal Rights Amendment. “I’m waiting for some ERA supporter to bop me on the head for that one,” she said at the time. On Thursday of Alzheimer’s disease and kidney failure at a Pomona nursing home.
EXCLUSIVE: Actress Kellie Shirley has revealed how appearing on BBC One’s EastEnders changed her life and helped her purchase her first home following her success
Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
15:26, 09 Jul 2025Updated 07:16, 10 Jul 2025
Actress Kellie Shirley has revealed how EastEnders changed her life
Former EastEnders actress Kellie Shirley has praised the show for completely changing her life. The actress appeared on the programme as Carly Wicks between 2006 and 2008, before making her final appearance on September 7, 2012.
Throughout her time on the programme, Kellie’s character faced a string of huge storylines, including fights, romances, and even secretly giving birth to a son behind her mum, Shirley Carter’s, back. Although she’s not been on screens in over a decade, Carly was last mentioned in 2022, following the death of her brother Mick Carter.
As Mick’s mum’s Shirley struggled to cope, she and Carly rekindled their bond and Shirley went to stay with her. Speaking about her time on the soap, Kellie exclusively told the Mirror: “I auditioned for it exactly 20 years ago, it changed my life as an actor because you’ve got a tiny bit of a profile that can open doors for you.
Kellie admits that EastEnders completely changed her life(Image: BBC)
“I’m very grateful for that. I had a really good time there. Matt Di Angelo got in touch with me to ask for some advice,” she said of the friendships she made on the show. Kellie added: “That’s the best thing for me about the show, apart from being able to get on the property ladder.
“There are friendships that have stood the test of time for 20 years. Emma Barton (who plays Honey Mitchell), I always talk to her; she’s a friend for life. I don’t see her all the time, but when I do, it’s great. I’m grateful to the show.” But could fans expect to see Carly back on the show any time soon?
“People always ask me that, who knows?” she said. Kellie went on to say: “Anything’s possible, isn’t it, if they’re bringing people back from 20 years ago. But I’m enjoying my career, the variety, independent films and doing my own writing – that’s something that I really love as an actor. I feel like I’m getting somewhere with it, finally.”
The actress played Carly Wicks on the BBC soap opera(Image: BBC ONE)
Kellie has just written and starred in a short film, Croydon Cowgirl, set in Barry, South Wales, focusing on the life of two lonely strangers. Speaking about the career change, Kellie revealed that she was part of a roundtable with Stephen Graham at a BAFTA Elevate event, who offered invaluable advice.
She said that the Liverpudlian explained that actors shouldn’t moan if they want to play a certain part, and if a script doesn’t appear, they should write it themselves. “It just kind of dawned on me that all the people that I really respect have created it themselves. It was a lightbulb moment.
“I just started writing with a friend of mine, Phoebe Barron, and we work really well together. We’ve got three other projects that we’re working on. Croydon Cowgirl is doing various BAFTA BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) qualifying festivals, we’re developing it into a feature film, which is really exciting!” The actress is also set to play all seven characters in the production, Two, at Greenwich Theatre between August 21 and September 12, with Peter Caulfield playing all the male characters.
The actress is fronting the Omaze Million Pound House draw on behalf of Anthony Nolan
Kellie, who is an ambassador for Anthony Nolan, is now fronting the Omaze Million Pound House draw for the charity. “Ever since I was in EastEnders, I ran the marathon for them in 2008,” she said. Kellie added: “I went to see the amazing work that they were doing with stem cell transplants and I’ve met so many people along the way and different events and really seeing firsthand the work they do.
“They literally give people a second chance of life if you have blood cancer, the proof’s in the pudding. And when you hear people’s stories, you cannot help but have that connection and want to raise awareness and do as much as you can for the charity, because without them, it’d be really quite frightening.
“I think it’s four people every day they help, who have blood cancer and can save their life because of the register.”
Kellie Shirley is an Anthony Nolan Ambassador and is backing the charity’s partnership with Omaze, which is giving away a luxury contemporary home in Cheshire worth £4 million – along with £250,000 in cash – to raise money for the charity. Draw entries are available now on their website. The Draw closes at midnight Sunday July 27th.
Linda Henry, Shaun Williamson and Rula Lenska are just some famous faces set to make a guest appearance on Sky’s Mr Bigstuff alongside Danny Dyer, Ryan Sampson and Harriet Webb
Danny Dyer and Linda Henry will both appear in the second series of Sky’s Mr Bigstuff(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron/Jack Barnes)
Danny Dyer’s EastEnders mother Linda Henry is joining him for the second series of Mr Bigstuff.
Soap icon Danny, Brassic favourite and series creator Ryan Sampson and Big Boys star Harriet Webb return in series two of the comedy, premiering this July on Sky and NOW.
Series one earned Danny his first-ever BAFTA TV award for his performance as Lee Campbell, the estranged brother of Glen, played by Ryan.
Set in suburban Essex, the series was a huge hit with audiences, becoming Sky Max’s highest-rated new original comedy in three years.
Series two picks up two weeks after the shock news that the brothers’ dad’s not actually dead, and Lee and Glen are handling it very differently.
Series two picks up two weeks after the shock news that the brothers’ dad’s not actually dead
But, with chaos mounting and questions piling up, the brothers unite on a mission to track him down.
Meanwhile, Kirsty’s taking charge in the bedroom and the boardroom, but one badly timed kiss – and a mysterious blackmailer -threaten to bring it all crashing down.
With secrets spilling and tempers flaring, it’s only a matter of time before the family blows up – again.
The brothers aren’t the only ones bringing chaos – first-look images tease guest stars including Danny’s former EastEnders co-star Linda as Pam.
Linda plays Pam, a no-nonsense, hands-on mechanic at the family haulage firm(Image: Sky)
Known for her portrayal of Shirley Carter in EastEnders, Linda reunites with Danny to play Pam, a no-nonsense, hands-on mechanic at the family haulage firm.
Fellow EastEnders legend Shaun Williamson, who played Barry Evans, will also make a guest appearance as an angry clown in episode five.
Guest-starring in episode two, Rula Lensk, renowned for her roles in Coronation Street and her memorable appearance on Celebrity Big Brothe, delivers high comedy as Rita, an eccentric and flirtatious woman the brothers believe is connected to their missing dad, Don Campbell.
Rula Lenska delivers high comedy as Rita(Image: Sky)
Also joining series two are Ryan’s Brassic co-stars Tom Hanson and Parth Thakerar, as well as Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street) David Mumeni (Stath Lets Flats) and Alan Ford (Snatch).
Returning cast include Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey), Fatiha El-Ghorri (Taskmaster), Victoria Alcock (Bad Girls), Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders) and and Clive Russell (Ripper Street).
The new series of Mr Bigstuff starts this July on Sky and NOW
