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Former Bill actress Kim Tiddy makes her debut appearance in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks in a fortnight's time as the matriarchal figurehead of producer Paul Marquess's second new family, The Costellos. Strong, glamorous and slightly insecure, ex-model and WAG Heidi arrives in the village with her footballer husband Carl and two sons Riley and Seth. Moving straight into The Dog In The Pond as its new owners, The Costellos make their presence felt from their first scenes. In her first ever interview since joining the show, 32-year-old Kim reveals all about how she landed the role without an audition, how she feels to be spearheading the show's rejuvenation and what's to come from Heidi and her screen family.
Did you know Paul was working at Hollyoaks before you got the part?
"I heard that he'd gone over there but then I was off travelling for a couple of months. I'd worked with Paul before - he employed me at The Bill - and everyone's like, 'You're lucky - you didn't have to audition, he offered you the part', and I said, 'Well yeah, he obviously likes what I do and also I know I'm a nice person to work with. I'm easy on set, I know my lines'. He wouldn't just have given me a job because he likes me. I'm also a respectful actor to work with and quite professional in that sense."
So there was no audition, you just got offered the part? That's virtually unheard of...
"It is but I always say to younger actors to be aware of who you're working with. These people can employ you again."
What was your reaction when you found out?
"Disbelief, really - I was staying with an aunt in Sydney, I was speaking to my agent and she said I'd been offered an audition but I couldn't get back for it. Anyway, I went to Thailand to visit my cousin and my agent who contacted me in Australia called my aunt in Australia, my aunt called my grandad in England, my grandad called my mum, my mum called me in Thailand, my brother called me in Thailand, my other brother called me in Thailand. I thought it was a wind-up! I spoke to one of my brothers first and he was like, 'Mum's spoken to your agent', and I'm like, 'Mum doesn't have my agent's number! Why would my agent call her?' So I was about the seventh person to hear it. I was saying to my cousin, 'Why would they wind me up and say I have a job to come back to - they wouldn't be cruel, would they?' I was out having a meal with my cousin and his girlfriend and I couldn't relax - I had to go back and check my email. It still didn't sink in for a few days but it was so nice!"
Did you accept straight away?
"Straight away! I've worked with Paul before and I love what he does and just to be a part of Hollyoaks is great, especially such a glamorous role and completely different to The Bill as well."
Knowing that the show hadn't been on top form did you have any reservations about joining?
"I was absolutely happy to be part of the rejuvenation process. It's such an exciting time to join a show. You're part of that moving it one step forward or in a different direction. It's nice. And there's lots of us coming in. There's a bit of a buzz about the place. For me it's not important what's gone on in the past. I've joined, I've got a great family, a great group of actors to work with, it's a lovely place to work and it's all very positive and buzzy."
Do you feel any pressure knowing that you've been brought in as one of the three families to 'relaunch' the show?
"Of course. With every role you don't go, 'This is going to be plain sailing and really easy!' because you care. Any good actor cares about what they're doing and wants to do the best job they can. At first I was really worried that I had an 18-year-old son. I'm 32 as Kim but as the character I'm playing 35 so in make-up it's important to look a bit older but also in my acting - I'm not a mother, I don't have kids so you have to draw on your acting ability there but I do have people I have unconditional love for, people I'm protective over and would die for, so you let those feelings kick in. My biggest worry was playing a mother but it seems to have come quite naturally and I'm really enjoying doing the mummy bits."
You've been filming as Heidi for a good number of weeks now - how would you describe her?
"She's an extremely strong woman. She's got a lot of inner strength. She's completely in love with her husband and loyal to her family."
Does she have any quirks?
"Actually I've just seen a clip of my first episode and I don't put them on but I do these little looks. I said to the director, 'Oh God, I didn't notice I did that!' but he said it was great. I think it's really awful to be a self-conscious actress so you just come and you do your thing. She's very glamorous and wouldn't ever go out without a full face of make-up. Always brilliantly turned out, hair, make-up, shoes - always immaculately dressed. Quite protective over her husband as well. She's running the show now, she's in control because of the past."
What can you tell us about Heidi's husband Carl?
"Carl is an ex-footballer. They are very much in love and attracted to one another and supportive. Obviously he's had his wandering ways in the past but she's one of those women who stands by her man. He's never had a long-term affair, it's always been flings and I can't understand why or justify why but he's a good husband to her in every respect except that. There are things to be explored there through storyline. Paul is fantastic - he's brilliant - we have good chemistry on screen. The whole family has a good dynamic."
Is it easy forging that husband and wife dynamic?
"I guess we're just lucky we don't have to work hard at it. Sometimes it's not naturally there and you have to work extra hard at it but we just seem to have it - the whole family does really. I'm so pleased with the casting. It's a joy to come into work every day, knowing you're going to be working with good people that you respect and bounce well off."
What about Heidi's children?
"My eldest son is Riley. He's following in his dad's footsteps. He's a bit of a Jack-the-lad. Seth is younger - 15 - and doesn't quite have as much going for him in that respect as Riley does."
Heidi also has another child, Seth's twin sister Jasmine who arrives a couple of weeks later.
"I'm very excited by Jasmine's GID storyline. I think it's really important for shows such as Hollyoaks to bring these taboo issues to the forefront. We've had such a positive response from viewers, charities and transgender teens already. I know that so much work has gone into the storyline, so it'll be scripted with real honesty and sensitivity. The young actress who's playing Jasmine - Victoria Atkin - is fantastic and she's taken all the research really seriously, so I know she'll do the story justice."
Do you think the Costellos fill a gap in Hollyoaks?
"There hasn't been a major glamorous family in Hollyoaks has there? With a lot of money and actually some class as well. They all look good - there's nothing tarty or outrageous about Heidi. She's had her day, back in her modelling days - she's probably trying to cling onto it a little bit but not in a grotesque, mutton-dressed-as-lamb way. There's a lot of different families coming in and I think Paul's filling gaps that needed to be filled. There's the glamorous family, there's a complete Scouse - sorry, Liverpudlian! - family coming in, the Sharpes - a new black family. There's another family. All the strong female characters too!"
Did you start going to the gym or anything when you found out Heidi was a former model?
"No, I haven't done anything. I'm not overweight - obviously I'm not fit at the moment because I was travelling for two months but I didn't instantly think I should eat rice cakes and eat like a rabbit! That wasn't what the part was about really. She's a wife and a mother and, as in life, health is probably more important in those situations than trying to look thin."
She enjoys the WAG lifestyle, then?
"Yeah - there's always that she's dressed well, sunglasses, wanting the best of everything - 'We're going to get this place redone' - that slight, not snobbery, but she's had a taste of the better life. She gets her nails done, her hair done. She doesn't really want to get involved in the cleaning. She wants to have as easy a life as possible."
Are you pleased with her as a character?
"She's a fantastic character and I'm really grateful for her. There's lots to work with. You can have all that front and that show and you can have what's going on underneath. There's a sadness there and an insecurity. All things that as the scripts come in you get more to play with, and as an actor you can decide what direction you're going to play that in. It's really exciting. I've got a lot more to get my teeth into than The Bill."
How do they end up in the village?
"Without giving too much away, my husband Carl is familiar with the area - it's where he grew up. It was all part of new start. We wanted to put our old life behind us and his cheating ways. This is all part of drawing a line under the past and starting again."
You can't say specifics but do you know what seeds they're planting? Are you excited by what's coming?
"Yes, very! That inner strength you discover as a character which I myself wouldn't have or wouldn't forgive. My cousin turns up, Mitzeee, and something's gone on between her and Carl but who knows if the truth will out... That's a big huge hoo ha and tests Heidi's loyalty and strength and dignity and love."
Heidi sounds like she's quite insecure, too…
"It's very underlying. I think she puts on a tough front but she's had to over the years, being married to a philandering footballer, to put that shell up and stand by her man. She doesn't want to lose everything she's got. There's lots of insecurity there but a lot of strength too."
How does Mitzeee fit into the jigsaw?
"She's Heidi's cousin. She's a wannabe glamour model. She's trying to fight to be the best. Possibly following Heidi's footsteps but she's much more - she's much larger than life than Heidi and really out there. She has no shame! She's a great character and Rachel plays her fantastically. I really enjoy the scenes we have but she's there to cause trouble because, again, there's more stuff in the past that went on. It's so exciting - there's so many storylines and layers to peel off! I'm loving it. I'm busy and I love being busy."
Does Mitzeee want to be what Heidi was?
"Yes, I think so. She's got an insane jealous streak inside of her. Heidi's a very nice lady, she sees Mitzeee as family and loves her as such. "
And Rachel who plays Mitzeee looks the spitting image of Cheryl Cole!
"She does! She's very beautiful. I saw a picture of her on the wall and I was like, 'My god - that girl!' You can tell the difference and Rachel's beautiful in her own right and very funny but she does look like her - there's no denying that. It's the hair, the big long hair."
The Bill stopped filming recently after 27 years - were you sad to see it go?
"I think it's a real shame. Apart from the fact there's a lot of cast and crew out of work now and it's a difficult business to get a job in anyway, it gave so many people their first job. It gave me my first regular job. A lot of actors it gives them their first episodes out of drama school. You did an episode of The Bill, you'd get a bit of camera experience and it'd give you something to talk about in your next interview. Hundreds or thousands of actors have passed through over the years. It's such a shame."
