Melanie Walters may be best known for playing widowed matriarch Gwen West on the hit BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey. Now, it seems that Stacey’s “mam” has got it going on – over on the dancefloor, at least, as the Welsh actor prepares to compete in the 24th series of Strictly Come Dancing.
Walters, 64, features in the BBC reality series’ new lineup alongside Love Island star Dani Dyer, musician Delta Goodrem, and former England footballer Shaun Wright-Phillips. It will mark the first series since the departures of hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly; they are being replaced with the trio of Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.
Hailing from the Mumbles, near Swansea, Walters got her break in TV with a role in the BBC Wales series The District Nurse in 1987. Her first regular role came two years later, in the Wales-set ITV drama We Are Seven.
In 2007, she was cast as Gwen West in Gavin & Stacey, which went on to become one of the most popular BBC series of all time.
open image in galleryHer character was known for her propensity for making omelettes – a quirk that also bled into real life. “I didn’t think about omelettes before Gavin & Stacey but since all the fuss about them I’ve really got into them,” she told Metro.
Walters also said that she regularly receives requests from fans to make the dish when they encounter her.
“It’s usually a tap on the shoulder and ‘Make us an omelette!’ and they fall about laughing and then I do too because they do it out of enjoyment,” she said.
“I’m a bit wary if I’m in a pub and people get really drunk because they see me and say, ‘Oooh, it’s Gwen!’ They seem to think they can pick me up and take me home because I’m so small. I’m not remotely as sweet as Gwen in real life so they get a shock!”
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As well as Gavin & Stacey, Walters has featured in shows such as Hollyoaks, playing the character Bonnie Bevan, and the recent BBC crime mystery Death Valley. She has been a familiar face on the British theatre scene, performing in plays and pantomimes around the country.
Outside of acting, Walters also runs a pilates studio, having started learning the exercise while living in London, training at the Pilates Institute. She opened up her own business when she moved back to Mumbles.
open image in gallery“I am obsessed with it,” she said, in an interview with Arts Hub. “It’s all about rebalancing the body and I can see how it really helps people with bad backs. I see people in the workplace as well as with the over 60s.”
Speaking about her prospects on Strictly Come Dancing, Walters claimed: “Performing in Pantomime for the last 15 years, my Strictly ‘fix’ has always been watching in a dressing room rather than my front room.
“This year I am completely thrilled and happy to swap my fairy wand for sequinned dance shoes. I just hope I don’t follow Cinderella and leave one on the Ballroom stairs.”
Among those wishing her luck was Gavin & Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones, who sent a message in the voice of her sitcom character, Nessa.
“This is amazing news!!” she wrote, “And I’ve got a message here from Nessa: O’ Gwen. I hears you’re donnin’ the dancin shoes. Tidy.
“Shirley Ballas learnt all she knows from me back in the 70s. So if you needs any tips on rhythm just call. And don’t take no crap from Craig Revel Horwood. He’s a p***y.”