THIS is your first look at a racy new comedy which features stars from Coronation Street and Waterloo Road.
Smoggie Queens is set to make its debut on BBC Three and iPlayer after the finale of RuPaul‘s Drag Race UK.
The new series is set in Middlesbrough and it follows a gang of friends who are fiercely proud of the town and the small LGBTQ+ community within it.
Alexandra Mardell, 31, best known for her role as Emma Brooker in Coronation Street, leads the cast as self-styled hun Lucinda.
She first joined the long-running ITV soap in 2018 and appeared on the cobbles for four years.
During her tenure, she received a number of nominations at the National Television Awards.
In 2019, she was nominated in the newcomer category and she later received more recognition for Serial Drama Performance a year later.
Now she admitted that she loved playing the ‘lavish’ and ‘feisty’ new character.
“Lucinda is a lavish, lavender, loyal, lady!”, she exclaimed.
“She might look like a doll but she’s smarter than people think. Sometimes!
She is unashamedly extra, wears her heart on her sleeve, but she’s definitely not a push over! I’d say she’s more of a lover than a fighter but she’s still feisty.”
She also teased that the forthcoming series will make viewers laugh out loud.
“When me and my husband read through the audition
script, he laughed too!,” she admitted.
Adding: “It was 100% my kind of humour, and the possibility of being a part of it made it even more exciting.”
Waterloo Road star Mark Benton, 59, also has a starring role in the upcoming comedy show.
He was known for his role as maths teacher Daniel Chalk in the school drama before he took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.
Who was part of the main cast of Waterloo Road series 13?
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Now he looks unrecognisable as the BBC have revealed the first look of the star as drag queen Mam in the LGBTQ+ series.
He explained: “Mam is that matriarchal heart and home of Smoggie Queens. Her house is the base camp where they all gather and she’s very caring.
“You know, she has a past that we see hints of, but we don’t know quite what’s gone on.
“I’ve never played anything like this on screen, and I think I enjoyed it slightly too much.”
It was 100% my kind of humour, and the possibility of being a part of it made it even more exciting
Alexandra Mardell
Speaking of his transformation, he added: “It was great fun because when your costume is on you can kind of do things that you don’t normally do because you look so different!
“You get away with a lot more! For me it was the nails, it changed the way I held my hands and held things, and once the nails were on, I knew I was ready!”
Other stars to make appearances include legendary Drag Race judge Michelle Visage and TV presenter Steph McGovern.
Teesside actors Charlotte Riley (Peaky Blinders) and Bill Fellows (Ted Lasso) will also make cameo appearances.
Smoggie Queens launches on BBC Three and as a boxset on iPlayer on Thursday 28th November at 10:10pm.
