Latest news with #FreshMeat
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Emmerdale's Jay Kontzle's popstar past and 'best times' on Britain's Got Talent
Emmerdale fan favourite Billy Fletcher, played by Jay Kontzle, may be part of action-packed storylines in the Dales – but Jay's past career was quite the adventure too. The 34-year-old burst onto our screens in 2018, and has been at the centre of major storylines since then. However, Emmerdale isn't the first time Jay has been known for his TV appearances. Jay was a member of boyband The Mend, formed in 2008 by former Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith. They first appeared on TV on The X Factor in 2011, but left abruptly when it was revealed that having a management deal was a rule break. Jay pictured with The Mend on Britain's Got Talent in 2012. (Image: ITV/ Britain's Got Talent) In 2012 The Mend then auditioned for Britain's Got Talent and made it all the way to final – receiving praise from head judge Simon Cowell. Although The Mend broke up in 2015, they went on to tour with the likes of Little Mix and secured a dedicated fanbase. While reflecting on his popstar days, he told Cheshire Live: "Being part of The Mend was a huge life experience for me and some of the best times of my life. "Obviously, being on tour and performing live on TV gave me so much experience, but as we grew older, we realised that as a boy band that catered for teenagers, we couldn't keep re-inventing ourselves." Recommended reading: Emmerdale's Matthew Wolfenden hints at return to ITV soap Emmerdale's Oliver Farnworth's partner is EastEnders star Emmerdale's Bradley Ritches almost played this ITV soap star Jay decided to take a different career route after his boyband days, and made the role of Billy his own in Emmerdale. Viewers were keen to tune in to see his on-screen antics with wife Dawn and the challenges they faced. Jay's acting credits before Emmerdale include Fresh Meat with Jack Whitehall, a role in Diana and I, a Moonpig advert and behind-the-scenes work on the films Underwater and Bring Back My Bonnie, reports The Mirror.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Emmerdale's Jay Kontzle's Britain's Got Talent popstar past
However, Emmerdale isn't the first time Jay has been known for his TV appearances. Jay was a member of boyband The Mend, formed in 2008 by former Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith. They first appeared on TV on The X Factor in 2011, but left abruptly when it was revealed that having a management deal was a rule break. Jay pictured with The Mend on Britain's Got Talent in 2012. (Image: ITV/ Britain's Got Talent) In 2012 The Mend then auditioned for Britain's Got Talent and made it all the way to final – receiving praise from head judge Simon Cowell. Although The Mend broke up in 2015, they went on to tour with the likes of Little Mix and secured a dedicated fanbase. While reflecting on his popstar days, he told Cheshire Live: "Being part of The Mend was a huge life experience for me and some of the best times of my life. "Obviously, being on tour and performing live on TV gave me so much experience, but as we grew older, we realised that as a boy band that catered for teenagers, we couldn't keep re-inventing ourselves." Recommended reading: Jay decided to take a different career route after his boyband days, and made the role of Billy his own in Emmerdale. Viewers were keen to tune in to see his on-screen antics with wife Dawn and the challenges they faced. Jay's acting credits before Emmerdale include Fresh Meat with Jack Whitehall, a role in Diana and I, a Moonpig advert and behind-the-scenes work on the films Underwater and Bring Back My Bonnie, reports The Mirror.
Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Faking It review: Surrey posho turns Bolton trader — and it's loveable fun
Another day, another telly reboot. Are there no new ideas around? Still, if there is one thing to turn the frown of the modern-day TV viewer upside down it's the sight of Rex Adams, a floppy-haired, almost impossibly posh Surrey estate agent, trying to say the words 'big bad bastard' in a Bolton accent as he sought to pass himself off as a northern market trader. The Channel 4 Noughties format Faking It has been nicely dusted down by 5 even if at first it felt as if the producers had taken the show's go-to subject of plummy person tries something working class to rather heavy-handed extremes. 'I'm going to some place up north called Bolton,' Rex told his friend 'Annie, darling' in a Battersea wine bar called aspen & meursault, which is so well heeled it doesn't need capital letters. 'Where's Bolton?' brayed Annie, who, it had been established, had last seen Rex 'at the polo'. Was Rex real or a central casting hire? Perhaps he was a reincarnation of Tomothy, the brother of Jack Whitehall's well-off dimwit JP in the university sitcom Fresh Meat, only even more staggeringly high-born. Either way, Rex was prime meat for the show that has always played to the nation's social obsessions with its My Fair Lady twist. Although here the rain did not fall mainly on the plain but on poor old Rex's head. Bolton, he soon discovered, wasn't the 'really cute, quintessential lovely little town' promised by Annie darling, but a rainy grey battlefield for tough men and women like Tony, the bullet-headed, broad-shouldered Bolton trader who naturally had his doubts about Rex. 'Bit foppy, bit soppy,' said Tony, who was none too impressed with Rex's packaging of meat: there were 'more wrinkles in that than my granny's stocking'. Rex dropped his first set of chicken legs on the floor and confessed to being puzzled when people asked for everyone's dinner orders, when of course they meant lunch. The smirks from everyone around him were telling. But Rex was deeply likeable, game and ready to learn, and his mentors — Tony, his workmate Elliot (another lovely bloke) and the Ilford trader Tom Skinner, who had a grin broader than the Dartford tunnel — couldn't help warming to him. While this show seemed more interested in the comic set pieces than in getting under the skins of the participants in the way the Channel 4 original managed, it was the decency of everyone involved that carried the day. Rex's mentors really did teach him something because he passed the test (which took place in Barnsley) in front of a panel of three experts, which seemed extraordinary given how his accent earlier veered from Yorkshire to Durham to, the obviously well-travelled Tony noted, Sumatra. Selling most of his meat when it mattered probably helped, as did his new name, Rob ('Rob on the job,' according to Tony; 'Rob the knob,' said an offscreen heckle). Some temporary tattoos and a short haircut completed the look that, in Elliot's estimation, made him 'one of us … a normal lad'. Being a class-conscious country hasn't done us many favours over the centuries, but the sheer kindness and warmth of British people can be cheering. And it certainly made this work. Like Rex's steaks, I'm sold.★★★★☆ Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows , the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer , the best shows on Sky and Now, the best shows on ITVX, the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows. Don't forget to check our critics' choices to what to watch this week and browse our comprehensive TV guide
Sunday Post
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday Post
Charlotte Ritchie on life imitating art and thriller Code of Silence
Get a weekly round-up of stories from The Sunday Post: Thank you for signing up to our Sunday Post newsletter. Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up Charlotte Ritchie is recognisable to comedy fans as the star of Ghosts, Fresh Meat and Feel Good, but it's fair to say her profile has changed a little recently. In 2023, she joined the cast of You, Netflix's hit thriller series, for its fourth and fifth seasons, in which she played the icy and unsympathetic Kate. She's also about to star in tense drama Code of Silence – opposite Rose Ayling-Ellis – which begins tonight on ITV. Actors who zig instead of zag probably wonder what audiences make of it. Generally it's a bit of a no-no for them to outright ask the fans what they think in public, however. Yet Charlotte couldn't help it. In what was an out-of-character moment she did just that while in New York recently. 'It was a bizarre thing. I heard two girls next to me talking and they said: 'She looks a lot like the girl from You,'' she recalls. 'They were talking about me and I just had this urge to find out what they thought. So I leaned over to say: 'I'm actually in the show. What do you think of it?'' The girls were complimentary and, you would imagine, quite surprised. Perhaps taking the risk of speaking to a fan in real life is more rewarding than scanning through the bear pit of online comments. 'Even if that girl had thought I was really bad, I think that the necessity of social kindness that doesn't exist on the internet does still sometimes exist in real life,' Charlotte ponders, before adding drily: 'Maybe asking in person shielded me from her honesty. 'Yes, perhaps it's better to ask people face to face, because they're less likely to be rude…' © ITV Asking some fans what they think of her show then pretending it's so they can't be rude? Charlotte, it seems, is equal parts droll and self-effacing. When asked about working on Code of Silence, she would rather talk about her co-star's performance than her own. Rose plays deaf caterer Alison, who works to support her mother, when she is asked by the police (one of them played by Charlotte) to lip-read conversations between dangerous criminals. Charlotte was drawn to the role because it was a chance to work with 2019 Strictly Come Dancing champion Rose, who has been deaf since birth. The unusual telling of the crime drama from Alison's perspective was what attracted Charlotte. 'We're seeing this story told through the point of view of Alison, a young deaf woman who's struggling with multiple jobs and looking to kind of find a way to just get a bit more out of life,' she says. 'There was that, but also I liked the writing, and I loved that character, and I liked the detail around Ashley, my character. 'But also the real clincher is when they told me that Rose was playing Alison, and I'm a big fan of Rose, both as an actor and as a person. One of the perks of this job is working with really interesting and lovely, thoughtful people, and I really would count Rose as one of them, and I wasn't proved wrong. She's brilliant.' © BBC/Monumental Television Charlotte prepared for her scenes with Rose by studying some rudimentary British Sign Language. 'She was reading my lips actively, so if I was to turn away or she couldn't see me, she would tap me on the shoulder if she hadn't heard or understood what I'd said,' she adds. 'So it wasn't put on. It was a real-life interaction happening between us, which is what's lovely about working with her. She's very natural. 'She doesn't have to be, but Rose happens to be very generous with her time and patience around hearing people.' © BBC/Neal Street Productions Charlotte appears in episode one wearing a fetching sleeveless jumper. Her knitwear game, as Ghosts fans know, is second to none. Now, following her starring role in You, Charlotte has graced the likes of Harper's Bazaar in some dazzling photoshoots. She looks more than at home in front of the photographer's camera, but this wasn't always the case. 'I used to worry: 'I look awful, this is embarrassing,'' she explains. 'I still feel it, but I let it get in the way less. 'I think I'm also just bored of my own anxiety. I feel more confident than I have before. Doing You helped, because the character had to be confident in her clothes.' Charlotte explains how for years she battled anxiety but age helped, as did some practical measures. 'I do therapy and meditation, which helps,' she adds. 'Now I can observe my thoughts a bit more. Sometimes I watch these thoughts, it's like a mad person having five conversations. It's actually kind of funny.' © David Reiss The hit series You is about Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a dangerously charming book seller whose infatuations turn to murder. Over five seasons, the show's fandom gleefully followed the dark story, veering between feelings of delight and disgust for its anti-hero. Critics questioned the morality of following someone like Joe, and even rooting for him. 'The show treads a fine line which it sometimes crosses, and sometimes doesn't,' Charlotte says, considering the fans' strong reaction to the twisted storylines of You. 'What's essential is that watching You is optional. You can stop watching! You can have a distance and control over what's going on – that's important.' Charlotte also wants to give viewers credit where critics perhaps don't. 'The fans seem to have so much self-awareness. They know what it is,' she says, before adding: 'Honestly, that conversation about the influence of TV is too big for me. What matters is our individual relationship with the content and whether we understand why we're engaging with it.' Sitcom Ghosts, where Charlotte played Alison, the only person who can see the spectres haunting her stately home, began in 2019 and quickly became a viewer favourite, spawning five seasons and a US spin-off. Between that, Fresh Meat and You, Charlotte looks as if she enjoys being part of an ensemble. I wonder if she wants to be the central star in a TV show. 'The biggest pleasure in acting has always been in the company of people,' she says. 'It's the whole experience – the crew, the cast. 'I love ensemble work. Couldn't imagine leading a show on my own, maybe that would be just too much pressure? I don't know.' While Fresh Meat and You had a blackly comic streak, Ghosts was adored by viewers because it was wholesome. 'I look back on Ghosts and love it so much,' Charlotte adds. 'I feel the same way about it as fans do. It has so much heart – about community, compromise, empathy, being silly. 'It sneaks all that in under the guise of silly humour, but it also resonates. To me, that's the best.' 'I just love going to Scotland' Fresh Meat was a comedy created by Jesse Armstrong following his success on Peep Show, and before the screenwriter created the iconic drama Succession. Charlotte Ritchie starred as Oregon, a student who had a relationship with her lecturer and then his son. She shared the screen with Gary: Tank Commander star Greg McHugh, who played Howard, her socially inept housemate. The series ran from 2011 until 2016 and Charlotte, unprompted, singles out Greg for praise. 'My first big job was Fresh Meat, which was an incredible ensemble. Greg McHugh was amazing – I learned a lot from him,' she says. 'He's such a lovely man.' Although she grew up in England, Charlotte's family origins in the Borders make her, she says, an honorary Scot. 'I've been to the Edinburgh Festival most years since I was 18 and I first did a play there at 16,' she says. 'Scotland is probably my favourite place to visit. 'I love Glasgow – it's got a particular personality about it. I won't get into Edinburgh vs Glasgow though… 'I've toured to different places with theatre shows – Inverness, Orkney, Ayr. 'I just love going to Scotland.' Charlotte stars in Code of Silence, which begins tonight on STV at 9pm, with episodes available on STV Player.
Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Call the Midwife star teams up with EastEnders favourite in surprising role
ITV launches a compelling new crime titled Code of Silence, fronted by former EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis. But another very familiar face is also in the cast. Ever since she won over the voting public and became the champion of Strictly Come Dancing in 2021 as the programme's first deaf contestant, Rose Ayling-Ellis has become a beacon for the deaf community in the entertainment industry. It took years of hard work for her to be taken seriously in the acting world and along the way she had a variety of jobs where her disability saw her sidelined. Now a household name, Rose, 30, is leading ITV 's Code Of Silence, a groundbreaking six-part series in which she stars as Alison, a canteen worker at a police station whose life is turned upside down when she's asked to help with a criminal investigation. The police are tracking a dangerous gang and Alison must use her lip-reading skills to help them decipher their plans. For fans who loved Rose in EastEnders and more recently Reunion, the show is a major evolution - it's her first leading role. Joining Rose in Code Of Silence is Charlotte Ritchie, who plays DS Ashleigh Francis, a character who forms a sisterly bond with Alison. Andrew Buchan is also in the cast, playing DI James Marsh, a police officer more concerned with cracking the case than understanding Alison's specific needs due to her deafness. Andrew teases high stakes for his character. 'The last time this gang was active, an innocent man died,' he says. 'My character carries that burden with him every day.' Charlotte's character is torn between her duty and her budding friendship with Alison. 'She's in a difficult position,' Charlotte says. 'They are in sync with each other, but there's also that sisterly frustration. She doesn't know how far to let Alison go. She's often trying to rein her back in.' Having starred in shows like Fresh Meat, Call The Midwife and Ghosts, Charlotte was delighted to join Netflix 's American hit You for its last two seasons. But she insists there's no place like home. 'My home is the UK,' she says, 'There's a closeness in British TV. I've been very lucky with this show, it felt really local.' The series doesn't just focus on crime. It also delves into Alison's personal life. Enter Kieron Moore, who plays Liam, Alison's main romantic interest. For Rose, it was important to portray every area of a deaf woman's experience, including love and her chemistry with Kieron was instant – the actors didn't even need a chemistry test. 'We met on the first day of filming,' Kieron says. 'We shot a scene from a later episode and it's one of my favourite scenes because it shows that chemistry is undeniable when you're truly invested in someone. I felt so safe with Rose.' Behind the scenes, the cast shared a tight bond, with Rose keeping spirits high. During filming in Canterbury – where Rose attended college – she took it upon herself to teach the crew a new sign language word each day, helping bridge gaps in communication. But she refrained from teaching rude words.
