Stephanie Davis on Liverpool's TV Boom, Why Soaps Still Matter & Emotions of Acting
Stephanie Davis shot to fame as a teenager on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC talent show Over the Rainbow before becoming a Hollyoaks favourite, and when she sat down with the home of the best bingo sites WhichBingo, we were happy to see she was in a candid mood, ready to revisit the “cruel” reality of being voted off live TV, the Saturday-night shows she thinks are long overdue a comeback, and the difficulty portraying certain scenes in soaps.
The “Cruel” Reality of Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow saw a teenage Stephanie compete to play Dorothy in a West End production of The Wizard of Oz, and while she looks back on it fondly, she’s strikingly honest about how tough the format was on its young contestants, not least the elaborate, harness-free send-off each week.
“I look back and think it was actually so cruel.
“You had to sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow when you got voted off, while taking the shoes off your feet. And then you have to sit on a moon with no harness. No health and safety back then. You were holding on to a strap, singing with no shoes on, getting lifted up to the top of the BBC studio and having to belt out that final note, distraught that you’re being kicked out of the show.”
Terrifying as it was for a girl her age to perform live, Stephanie is quick to add that it was an experience she’ll always be grateful for, opening doors that shaped the career that followed.
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“Simon Should Bring the Talent Shows Back”
With the X Factor and the Lloyd Webber shows long gone and Britain’s Got Talent now flying the flag largely alone, Stephanie feels a real void has been left in British entertainment, and she has a clear message for one man in particular.
“I think they need to come back. I think Simon should do a Celebrity X Factor, and I’ll go on. As a kid, that was your weekend, wasn’t it, Saturday night. And it’s gone now, just because we’ve got so many different channels.”
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Flying the Flag for Liverpool
These days Stephanie is passionate about championing her home city, singling out Jimmy McGovern’s This City Is Ours and the wave of Scouse talent coming through.
“Liverpool is booming with talent. And Jimmy McGovern is one of the best minds that I think there is as a writer. He’s just a genius.”
She name-checks Adolescence and G’wed too, and says she’d love nothing more than to be part of a project rooted in her hometown.
A Storyline That Hit Close to Home
Stephanie was also refreshingly open about the emotional toll of hard-hitting soap storylines.
“I have been involved in some heavy storylines. Scenes might only be on for a few minutes, but I’m doing that storyline for months and months, and crying every single day. Your brain almost tricks you into thinking something really bad has happened in your life.”
“Soaps definitely still have a place in TV, 100 per cent. I used to be sat down at six o’clock with my tea, ready to watch Hollyoaks when I was young, or Corrie. Times are changing, but I can only hope that they do continue to run.”
She believes soaps handle sensitive subjects with real care thanks to writers’ rooms full of different perspectives, and remains hopeful about their future despite changing habits.
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