Latest news with #MotorhomeMarilyn
Edinburgh Live
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
BBC EastEnders star 'crazy' as one-woman show set to debut at Edinburgh Fringe
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A BBC EastEnders star is set to take her one-woman show to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Speaking on This Morning, Michelle Collins who plays Cindy Beale in the popular soap, said "she knows she is crazy" for performing at the festival. The 63-year-old actress admitted she always wanted to go to the Fringe but the opportunity never happened. Now she is set to be in the capital from July 30 to August 25 as she makes her debut in 'Motorhome Marilyn'. Speaking on the ITV daytime show, Michelle said: "BBC have kindly given me one month off to do the Edinburgh festival and I have never done it. "I always wanted to go and it didn't happen and then this opportunity came up. It's a play called Motorhome Marilyn. "I met this woman who was dressed as Marilyn and she was my kind of age and she was driving a motorhome in LA by the Chinese Theatre. "I was really intrigued by this woman. How did she get to this place? Who is she? "I never saw her again and then I wrote a play about her. I know I am crazy, I am mad. Don't worry because if you don't like Cindy it doesn't matter because I am not Cindy, I am playing someone else." A description of the show on Gilded Balloon reads: "Michelle Collins makes her Edinburgh Fringe debut in Motorhome Marilyn, a dark comedy by Ben Weatherill. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox "The play follows Denise, an aspiring actress with an obsessive relationship with Marilyn Monroe, hoping to live up to the icon's fame and beauty. In the 1980s, she heads to Hollywood, but as her dreams falter, she is forced to confront the painful truth of unfulfilled aspirations. "Inspired by Michelle's real-life encounter with a woman known as Motorhome Marilyn, the play reveals the toll of living in the shadow of an icon, exploring failure, aging, and the heartbreaking cost of unattained dreams." Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Michelle Collins has many notable TV roles including in the BBC dramas Real Women, Sunburn and Two Thousand Acres of Sky. She first appeared in Eastenders in 1988. You can find out more about the show here.
Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
EastEnders favourite's long-awaited comeback addressed by icon in new plea
EastEnders legend Michelle Collins, who plays Cindy Beale on the BBC soap, has addressed hope for one character to make a comeback amid fans predicting it might happen There's one return fans of EastEnders have been calling for for a while now, especially after icon Cindy Beale's comeback almost two years ago. The character in question has been mentioned a fair bit and has even made contact with people on the Square, while Cindy also left Walford to see her in scenes. Of course this all happened offscreen, leaving viewers disappointed. But with cast and viewers constantly wanting Cindy Williams AKA Cindy Jr to return to the BBC soap, wanting drama with her mother Cindy Snr, could we finally get the big comeback? Cindy Jr last appeared on the show in 2015 after the murder of her sister Lucy Beale. She fell out with her stepfather Ian Beale and fled, with her living with her partner Liam Butcher in Germany. Only recently there was an update and some thawing between the mother and daughter. When Cindy had initially gone to see her daughter for the first time since her birth, with her believed to be dead for decades, it didn't go very well. So when Cindy Jr sent her mum a sweet message not long after it sparked new hopes of a comeback. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror at the British Soap Awards, Cindy actress Michelle Collins has addressed her own hopes to see her onscreen daughter back on the show. With a plea to co-star Mimi Keene, who played the character most recently, Michelle addressed her thoughts on the potential twist. The return does not seem to be on the cards for now, while of course if it was the soap wouldn't exactly reveal all. But it's been long-awaited by viewers for years, so could we see a comeback at some point? Michelle referenced actress Mimi's successful acting career away from Walford, unsure if she would come back. She told us: "I have never met Cindy Jr so it would be quite nice if she came back. She's probably too busy, but maybe she can fit us in for a week!" Actress Michelle also spoke about her upcoming break from the BBC soap, with her getting a month off from filming. She said: "Well I'm going off in the summer. I'm doing my one woman show at the Edinburgh festival, called Motorhome Marilyn. "I don't think she's anything like Cindy. It's a play about a woman impersonator lookalike who lives in a trailer and dresses as Marilyn Monroe. But she's 60, it's kind of strange. "It's about failure, lost dreams, and feeling like life has passed you by. She's an interesting character. I'm really excited to play it. EastEnders have let me have a month off so I'm very excited." Michelle also defended her character's dark ways, adding no one was perfect. She revealed to us: "She's complicated, she's complex, she's chaotic but she's passionate. At least she's not boring. We need imperfect people, we don't wanna see perfect people on TV all the time. She's a bit of a mess."
Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Michelle Collins admits being 'exhausted' playing EastEnders' Cindy Beale
Michelle Collins has opened up about her upcoming break from playing Cindy Beale on EastEnders and even admitted that playing the character was 'exhausting' Michelle Collins has revealed that playing infamous Cindy Beale is "exhausting". The actress left EastEnders fans gobsmacked when she returned from the dead in 2023, and since heading back to Walford, she's left no stone unturned in her plan of destruction. Since returning, Cindy has certainly made her mark – reuniting with her former husband, George Knight, and their children, Anna and Gina, after completely vanishing from their bar in Marbella, and even leaving her mother-in-law, Kathy Beale, speechless when she first appeared in her kitchen. Cindy also found herself having an affair with George's son, Junior, leaving the Knights' and Beales' in a state of disbelief when the bombshell was announced. Over Christmas, she was almost killed when Kathy hit her around the head with a shovel, leaving her for dead in the middle of the square. Now, she's opened up about playing the controversial character and admits she finds Cindy "exhausting." Speaking to Ed Balls and Kate Garraway on Good Morning Britain, Michelle said: "I am loving it, Cindy has taken over The Prince Albert which is really fantastic, so we're kind of seeing another side to Cindy, a lighter side – which I think, Cindy can be exhausting for people to watch and exhausting for me to play. "Which is why it's nice to go off and do something nice. Years ago, they didn't let people go off and do many things – maybe the odd panto or something but we have a very new lovely producer and I was very quiet." Speaking about taking a break to pursue another project, Michelle said: "When I broached the idea, he said 'Maybe we can make it work' and he has made it work, which is really exciting. "You go off and I am going back, you go back and feel re-engergised, you bring something else to the table." Michelle added: "You're doing a continuing drama, continuing throughout the year, it's good for the soul. It's good to go and do something else." But now, the actress, 63, is heading towards taking a break from the BBC One soap opera and will be turning her hand to a live stage production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Michelle will be taking part in a one-woman show, which she says is "exciting." Michelle will be performing in Motorhome Marilyn, a dark comedy following Denise, an aspiring actress, who had an obsessive relationship with the late Hollywood pin-up. The show has been inspired by Michelle's real-life encounter with a woman known in Hollywood as Motorhome Marilyn, who is often spotted on Hollywood Boulevard cosplaying as the movie icon. But Michelle admits she "wasn't obsessed" with Marilyn. Speaking about her break, Michelle told the Mirror at the British Soap Awards: "Well I'm going off in the summer. I'm doing my one woman show at the Edinburgh festival, called Motorhome Marilyn. "I don't think she's anything like Cindy. It's a play about a woman impersonator lookalike who lives in a trailer and dresses as Marilyn Monroe. But she's 60, it's kind of strange. It's about failure, lost dreams, and feeling like life has passed you by. She's an interesting character. I'm really excited to play it. EastEnders have let me have a month off so I'm very excited." Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX. EastEnders airs at 7.30pm each weekday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
South Wales Argus
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- South Wales Argus
EastEnders star confirms exit from BBC show for new role
Michelle Collins, who plays Cindy Beale, will leave the show for a month after playing a prominent part in the programme's 40th anniversary earlier this year. She revealed the news at the British Soap Awards, an event that was dominated by the London-based show. Michelle Collins confirms exit from EastEnders for 'strange' new role Speaking with The Mirror , the EastEnders actress said: "Well, I'm going off in the summer. "I'm doing my one-woman show at the Edinburgh festival, called Motorhome Marilyn. "I don't think she's anything like Cindy. It's a play about a woman impersonator lookalike who lives in a trailer and dresses as Marilyn Monroe. But she's 60, it's kind of strange. "It's about failure, lost dreams, and feeling like life has passed you by. She's an interesting character. I'm really excited to play it. EastEnders have let me have a month off, so I'm very excited." However, the Cindy Beale star remained silent about how she would be written out of the show by BBC bosses. She told fans that her character would be focusing on her business and would not be getting involved in love interests for the time being. Despite this, the star added that there would be "fun stuff" coming up with Elaine and Cindy with George. The actress first took on the role of Cindy Beale all the way back in 1988 for a two-year stint. She then returned to the show in 1992 for six years before taking a longer break. After being on rival soap Coronation Street, she made yet another return to the soap opera. Fans slam EastEnders showrunners for handling of Cindy Beale character This comes after fans of the show slammed show bosses for the way they handled her return to the soap. One fan took to the EastEnders subreddit to say that there has been "no progression" to her character in the years she has been absent from Albert Square. They went on to dub her "a lying manipulative cheat who only cares about herself." Recommended Reading: Another penned: "I hated them bringing her back because of exactly this, she's exactly the same character no change. It's exhausting every time she's on screen." While many fans agreed with this, one user said: "Unpopular opinion: I am loving Cindy being back." They added: "As she is constantly bringing the drama and now she is involving half the Square in her family shenanigans like Jean & Harvey."
Metro
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
EastEnders legend confirms she's taking a break from the BBC soap
EastEnders legend Michelle Collins has revealed she is set to take another break from the BBC soap. The actress, 63, first appeared as devious Cindy Beale in 1988, with her most recent stint kicking off in 2023. Despite being presumed dead for 25 years, the schemer made a shock return and revealed she had been in witness protection. After settling back into Walford life, she's had an affair with former step-son Junior Knight (Micah Balfour), shot ex-husband Ian (Adam Woodyatt) and inadvertently caused an explosion at The Queen Vic when she pushed him in front of a car which crashed and ignited the boozer. She was also attacked by former mother-in-law Kathy Cotton (Gillian Taylforth) with a shovel at Christmas, which led to an extended break between February and May of this year. After discovering that Kathy wanted her dead, and the events of The Vic disaster, Cindy fled the area and wasn't seen until she gatecrashed son Peter's (Thomas Law) engagement party to Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa). Now, Michelle is set to depart once again – but she'll be back. Swapping The Square for the stage, she'll be appearing in one woman show Motorhome Marilyn at the Edinburgh Fringe in August. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video It's unknown whether she'll be written out again, or if we'll simply see Cindy vanish from our screens. 'I'm going off in the summer. I'm doing my one woman show at the Edinburgh Festival,' she explained to The Daily Mirror. 'I don't think she's anything like Cindy. It's a play about a woman impersonator lookalike who lives in a trailer and dresses as Marilyn Monroe. But she's 60 – it's kind of strange. 'It's about failure, lost dreams, and feeling like life has passed you by.' She continued: 'She's an interesting character. I'm really excited to play it. EastEnders have let me have a month off so I'm very excited.' In a recent interview with BBC Breakfast, she spoke about the importance of shows like EastEnders empowering older women. 'I'm just really happy that we are embracing older women on screen' she said. 'I think that's really important, and giving them big stories, which is what EastEnders did when Cindy came back. Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who's leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale? Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro's WhatsApp Soaps community and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we've just dropped the latest spoilers! 'I think that's really important, and for the Edinburgh Fringe to be – you know, it's quite scary doing a one-woman show at my age and, also, why not? 'Why can't we be ambitious at my age as well and be scared and out of our comfort zone?' On her soap alter-ego she added: 'But she's, kind of, been named as 'The Queen of Chaos', I think, and loves the drama in her life. 'But she's a multifaceted figure, she's a strong woman. 'I think she actually is an unapologetic character and not frightened to speak her truth. Her truth may not always be what other people like about her, but I think people, kind of, love to possibly hate her. More Trending 'Listen – nobody's perfect. Every woman has their flaws.' In scenes that air this week, Cindy prepares to reopen The Prince Albert gay bar – which she forced Kathy to sign over to her – but her launch party is initially a failure. After some support from her ex-hubby George Knight (Colin Salmon), things start to take off… much to the annoyance of his current spouse Elaine (Harriet Thorpe). EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer. View More » MORE: Coronation Street star Barbara Ferris dies aged 85 MORE: EastEnders split confirmed for major couple as a family is torn apart MORE: Patsy Kensit reveals Emmerdale and EastEnders return chances – and which she'd like more
