Telly talk: Off to bingo with a bump

SHERIDAN Smith has enjoyed one of the longest pregnant pauses in the history of television.
The third series of Wythenshawe-set The Royle Family saw the engagement of her character, Emma, to Antony, played by Bury's Ralf Little.

"And then in the Christmas special Emma was expecting," explains Sheridan. "But we never got to find out what happened because that's when the series finished."

Now Sheridan's pregnant on screen again - as number checker Sandy in Eyes Down, a new sitcom which begins on BBC1 at 9pm tonight. "She's not the brightest spark and doesn't really understand what the pregnancy entails.

"It's been very weird running around with a bump. A prosthetic tummy has been made for me, which is so real. It even has my little mole next to my belly button."

Has it made her broody? "No it hasn't," she laughs. "It's done the opposite. No thank you, not just yet. I've got a long time to wait."

At 22, the Yorkshire-born actress is happily single and looking to swap a full house for a place of her own. When she first moved down to London she set up a flat-share with fellow teenage actress, Hannah Spearritt.

Hannah went on to fame with pop band S Club and recently moved out to set up home with former group member Paul Cattermole, who left before the group split up earlier this year.

"They've bought a place together, but it's only down the road, so I still see lots of her. I've lived there since I was 16, so now I think it's time to buy a place of my own.

"I had a big party when I was 21. Hannah was in Barcelona filming with the band but she flew back to surprise me. I was in tears."

Sheridan's mum, Madeleine, and dad, Mark, perform in northern clubs and pubs as a country and western duo called The Daltons. It wasn't long before the showbusiness bug bit Sheridan. "I was dancing from the age of four and singing with my mum and dad when I was about seven."
Debut

At 14, she made her professional debut in Annie at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, alongside Coronation Street star John Savident as Daddy Warbucks. Three years later, she made her first TV appearance in Granada's Dark Ages.

"The director of that went on to do The Royle Family and put me forward for it. I went along and met Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, read for the part of Emma and got it, which I was over the moon about. I'd watched the first series and loved it."

She's since teamed up again with Ralf as Janet and Jonny in three series of Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps (BBC2, Monday, 9.30pm) as well as roles in dramas like Anchor Me, Blood Strangers and Fat Friends.

The latter saw her guest starring as a young woman who bullied a garden centre worker, played by Lisa Riley. "It was very weird at first when I knew it was Lisa that I was going to 'bully'. I'm so small - 5ft 2ins - and I wondered whether it was going to be feasible. But it's words, isn't it? It's often the little ones who are the terrors."

Her research for Eyes Down included a trip to the local Mecca. "I'd never been to bingo before. I didn't realise how seriously people take it. It was just unbelievable.

"On the night we went, they did a link and teamed up with lots of other bingo halls and played for loads of money - but the link wasn't working and there was uproar. One woman was shouting: 'It's scandalous.'

"I didn't win the bingo, but I won £25 on the bandits. I got my membership card through the post the other day. I haven't been back yet - but I will."

[source]