Theatre
Abi Titmuss in The Naked Truth in Torquay (interview / video)
27th March 2009I’m a bit out of breath, excuse my heavy breathing,” Abi Titmuss said. It was the start an interview that every red-blooded reporter in the country could have hoped for.
But things have changed for glamour girl Abi — she’s not getting her kit off as much.
Abi has a serious passion and what seems like quite a talent for the stage.
It was something that existed before John Leslie, before ‘that’ movie, and years before she adorned the front pages of lads’ mags.
The passion was there before all the media, but how on earth do you convince a sceptical world your heart lies in acting?
It seems a production about pole-dancing is a good ‘halfway house’.
“My life went a bit crazy,” she said. “I trained quite a few years ago. Before I came into the public eye I was a nurse and wanted to get away from home.
“I went to university and graduated and knew I wanted to go to drama school because I had acted all through university, in fact, all through my life up until then.
“I went part-time as a nurse and did three years at Central School of Speech and Drama.
“I used to do nights nursing, and then college at the weekend. I worked my arse off. It was at that point I came into the public eye.
“Then it all went a bit crazy in my life. I didn’t really know what was going on. I didn’t know what was going to happen from one day to the next so I thought ‘well, sink or swim, let’s go with it’.
“Certainly nobody would have taken me seriously for a second if I had then come out and said I wanted a career in theatre at that time.
“It would have been absolutely the wrong time to say that. So I just went along with what was happening and did very well out of it.
“I was quite a good model. People seemed to like me and I enjoyed it very much, but never lost sight of what I wanted to do — even if that felt very far away some times.
“I thought I had to get back to what I trained for and make sure that all those years weren’t wasted.”
Graduating from City University in London, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, in 1998, Abi landed her first nursing job at University College Hospital working on an A&E ward.
Using the money from this, Abi managed to put herself through Central School of Speech and Drama. A screen test for Richard & Judy while still working as a nurse quickly secured Abi her first job in television.
She first came to the public eye standing by John Leslie after a false allegation was made against him. Her profile went up and she ended reporting in front of the camera.
She then posed for topless pictures and hosted a programme for an adult channel. A sex tape was leaked onto the internet and her public profile soared.
“I suddenly found myself a glamour model and doing it every week,” she said. “That was my job. As much as I enjoy it, I didn’t factor it being a big part of my life.
“I wanted to be more than this. That’s why I work so hard.”
In 2003, Abi was indeed busy, appearing on the cover of 38 magazines in just 12 months.
She quickly learned how to take creative control.
“You feel powerless,” she said. “There’s a lack of control. I’d do a photoshoot for a magazine then see the photos in all different places. They’d obviously sold those.
“I thought why can’t I do them myself, then we can sell them on and I get the creative control?
“It cost a lot of money but I used to own the rights to my own shoots. I’d often employ all women. That was a great move.
“If I’m honest, that’s why I did it. To get back a little bit of that control.”
Despite having control of the images, she found the media had an unrelenting passion to report on the highs and lows of her love life — true or not.
Abi said: “Swing with the punches, live to fight another day. I think that’s my motto.
“You’ve got to be prepared to take the highs with the lows. This is a tough business — especially for women.
“I can’t say it doesn’t hurt what is written about me. It’ll knock me for a day. Something silly things in a magazine about what I was wearing hurt a lot. It effects me and I wish it didn’t.
“It doesn’t hurt for as long as it used to but it did get to me. At the end of the day, I don’t get my self-esteem from what someone writes about me. I get it from myself and the work that I do.”
Abi was speaking to me on the day she hit the headlines over her appearance at the Baftas.
She said: “That was hilarious. It’s not like the papers to let the truth get in the way of a good story. Obviously I’m talking to a journalist here.
“This one went around the world. Some quotes that I read I’ve never said, in a place I’ve never been to. Then it is presented as fact.
“Robbie Williams said once: ‘It’s not so much the big things, it’s the constant stream of little things that wear you down.’
“I’m not complaining though. In this business, you have to take the rough with the smooth.”
As part of growing into a household name Abi appeared on many radio and television shows including Hell’s Kitchen, Love Island and Deadline, as well as publishing two successful books, Ten Fantasies and, recently, The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss.
She’s now moving her day-to-day life, and image, away from topless modelling.
“I don’t know what people think about me,” she said. “But I have worked very hard, especially over the past few years, to stay where I am and also to move on and progress.
“I still do modelling. I’ll do the odd sexy shoot. I did the cover of the Star just before Christmas.”
She added: “Three years ago I was asked to do an Arthur Miller play in the West End by a director who taught me at drama school.
“After I did the show I got an award from The Fringe, and The Stage did a piece that I’ve got blown up and laminated on my wall.
“Since then I’ve spent a lot of time knocking on doors not getting anywhere. I was working for free. Then last year I started to get stuff.
“You have to start at the bottom. I’m serious about this. I don’t think that the world owes me a living. I worked for free mostly last year, just trying to get experience.
“Some of the doors opened slightly. You’ve got to prove yourself, earn your stripes and earn respect. I’m up for that.
“For this show, I auditioned like anyone else. When I got the call to say that I had the part I was so over the moon. I literally jumped in the air.”
The Naked Truth is a witty play set in a pole-dancing class run by a skilled pole dancer. Five very different women struggle hilariously to conquer pole dancing for a charity event.
As their lives unfold and unravel, they bond together sharing laughter and tears in this funny, sad and touching play.
“I’ve been training a lot,” she said. “I play Gabby who is a pole-dancing teacher. It’s not a play about stripping.
“I’m a former professional dancer and did pole-dancing to pay the bills and now I teach these five women in the class. They are all ages, all shapes and sizes, and they struggle hilariously.
“They are trying to raise money for a breast cancer charity, and that’s something that is covered in the production.
“And also domestic violence. There are some serious issues but it’s done with a lot of humour and handled sensitively.”
And there is some flashes of flesh as well.
“There’s a finale at the end. That’s all I’m saying but that will probably make it worthwhile for the men. We all do a dance.”
So much has changed in such a short space of time for Abi. After the tour, she says she’s just going to take one day at a time.
“I got fed up of thinking when I get this and when I get that,” she said. “I live for the day. All that exists is today.
“I really am about living in the moment and getting the best out of each day.
“I know it sounds a bit trite but what’s the point in missing what you don’t have, constantly thinking what if?
“I’m happier now than I have been in a very long time — possibly ever. I’m in a play with great people. I’m very lucky.”
The Naked Truth plays at the Princess Theatre from April 1 to 4.
JONPAUL HEDGE
DON'T FORGET... to say hullo to What's On South West on MySpace, Bebo, Twitter and Facebook.
Don't miss a thing - subscribe to What's On South West via RSS
- ADD TO:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
