Spotlight on...

 

'Tommy Cowell at The British Soap Awards 2015'

 

Hello lovelies! Hope you are all well and looking forward to the bank holiday weekend? I know I am. Tonight I get to introduce you all to another of my fabulous guest bloggers... Tommy Cowell. When I first heard Tom was going to be at the Soap Awards I literally launched myself at him to see if he would do a special post for all of you. Being the legend that he is, he agreed. 
As soon as I read Tom's finished piece I loved it immediately and I hope you do too. Links to his website and youtube channel are included so feel free to go check out more of his work. Over to Tommy...


Justine and I are from the city of Preston, which means we both began writing for the same reasons; to give us something to do whilst avoiding the nuclear devastation outside, waiting for the all clear siren to sound.
I’m a film maker, having worked with the likes of Bill Nighy, Frances Barber and Annette Badland. Now let me just bend over and pick those names up.
You can find out more about me on my website:
http://tommycowell.weebly.com/

THE SOAP AWARDS!

I was outed! In the Manchester Evening News!
It was a Saturday afternoon and we were lining up outside the Palace Theatre. That evening we were due to watch the British Soap Awards being filmed. The queue was never-ending. The one saving grace was, across the road, we could see the soap stars (all of whom wore sunglasses, even though the light was dim at best) entering their hotel.
So, of course, my best friend Joe and I ran across to meet telly’s finest. I remember being quite excited to see Marlon from Emmerdale; a character whom I have never taken any interest in, ever. But when the actor was stood right in front of me, I found myself shouting: “Marlon! MARLON!!!”
Seeing the general public swarm and devour these people was like watching a live-action twitter. It was fascinating, and also a little scary. The actors and actresses themselves looked slightly stressed by the attention they were receiving. Especially Marlon. (MARLON!!!!)
But most importantly, I got my photo with Gavin off Corrie. (Or rather, Andy. No. Let’s not get into that. He’s Gavin.) A stunningly beautiful man, and when we met I could see his longing for me within his eyes. It was either that, or pure dread. No – it was longing. We’ll go with longing...

Tommy with Andy Carver aka 'Gavin' from Coronation Street

As you can see, he’s far more excited about seeing me than I am him. Quite frankly, I’m embarrassed for him.
The show itself was a laugh, and it didn’t drag on as much as some other TV show recordings I’ve been to (Corrie V Emmerdale, I’m looking at you…) It was treated as an almost live performance, but still took about three hours to film. (Reasonable.) Phillip Schofield is a pro. He only stumbled in his autocue once. (Which brought us the hilarious moment when Jessica Hines – AKA Cheryl from the Royle Family - came out and gave him a bit of grief for this slip up.)
It was exciting knowing all the major players from Soap-land were sat beneath us. We couldn’t see them all the way at the top, but we could see their reflection in the set, directly in front of us. We spent ages, squinting our eyes, trying to make out who was who. (“I spot Natalie Cassidy!” “No you don’t, that’s a fridge.”)
As for the seating; the leg room was bloody dire. I made the suggestion to one of the ushers that they should knock the Palace Theatre down and re-build it with added space for legs. I’m sure they passed on my comment to their superiors.
I won’t spoil who won what – but Eastenders did extremely well. Ridiculously well. In fact I’m certain it’s the only soap opera on TV at the minute – it might as well have been after the amount of awards it won! And well deserved, I say. The 30th anniversary live week was incredible.
Patrick Duffy (AKA the legendary Bobby Ewing from Dallas) awarded the final trophy of the evening, which evoked much excitement from the crowd. I’ve got to say, even though I’ve heard of the character’s name, I couldn’t point him out in a room. And I can prove it, cos he walked past me on Oxford Road after the show, and I didn’t even realise.
It was a fun evening. Very showbiz, darrrrling. And with extremely sore legs, I ubered my way home, climbed into my bed, and took to Twitter. This is when I noticed I suddenly had more followers. And a notification from the Manchester Evening News – they included the photo of me and Gavin off Corrie as part of their coverage on the Soap Awards!
Outed! I’m outraged. And I kept my homosexuality secret, so well.
The next morning, I made a vlog about soaps – are they all the same? You can watch my wittering on my youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-M4Gy7KYU
Please like, subscribe and share. And all that jazz.

Website:  http://tommycowell.weebly.com/

Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq7RIE0D30juPMVh1aMrCjQ


Did you all enjoy? Please feel free to leave comments or feedback for Tommy below. And as for me... I'll hopefully see you all this time tomorrow evening when I'll be sharing a brand spanking new post! For now I'm off to continue watching the Soap Awards!! GGD xx