All five series of ITV’s fondly remembered Footballers’ Wives are now finally available to stream, on BritBox. Fans can also catch up on the drama of its spin-off show Extra Time.
Running from 2002 to 2006, the brilliantly far-fetched show was packed with juicy bed hopping antics and camp plot twists. It also summed up the blingtastic culture of the time.
The iconic series is finally coming back with a bang after it finished in 2006, and many of the characters look incredibly different compared to the early noughties debut.
For many of them, you might recognise them, because a lot of the famous faces on Footballers’ Wives also featured elsewhere, but to make it easier to recognise them, Daily Star has divulged into the careers of the stars prior to the show’s return.
Zoe Lucker
(Image: Shed)
The undisputed star of the show, Zoe Lucker played scheming Alpha WAG Tanya Turner who was ruthless and calculating, and fans loved her for it. Always wielding a cigarette between perfectly manicured talons, wild Tanya was married – and widowed – three times on the show.
Tanya was so popular that she made an iconic crossover appearance in ITV’s prison drama Bad Girls. While on Footballers’ Wives she also clashed with Dynasty legend Joan Collins, who also appeared on the show.
Yorkshire-born Zoe made her name on the show, and three years after it ended she appeared on Strictly, partnered with James Jordan, finishing tenth.
She played Max Branning’s highly strung lover Vanessa Gold on EastEnders from 2010 to 2011, which included that famous “Bubbly’s in the fridge” meltdown.
Zoe also appeared on Waterloo Road and elsewhere played messed-up McQueen matriarch Reenie on Hollyoaks from 2015 to 2016.
Cristian Solimeno
Cristian played brooding Earls Park captain Jason Turner, who was the cheating bad boy of the show when it started. His wicked ways caught up with him when he fell to his death after sitting on a roof and being hit by a champagne bottle.
Cristian has played a variety of roles since then, appearing in The IT Crowd, Highlander: The Source and having a small role in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
His latest role is in the historical epic drama series Glow & Darkness, alongside Joan Collins, Denise Richards and Jane Seymour.
Gary Lucy
Fresh faced Gary played star player Kyle Pascoe, whose glamour model wife, the brilliantly named Chardonnay, had a shocking storyline where she set her silicone breasts alight with a candle.
After his time on the show, Gary went on to appear in The Bill, Casualty and 2014’s series of Dancing On Ice, where he came second.
Since 2017 he has been back on Hollyoaks as the tortured Luke Morgan, a role he first played from 1999 to 2002.
In 2018 Gary shared scenes with his former Footballers Wives’ co-star Susie Amy (aka Chardonnay), when she played Luke’s ex-wife Scarlett.
Gillian Taylforth
Alongside Zoe Lucker, Gillian was the only cast member to appear in all five series as her character Jackie Pascoe-Webb.
She was already a soap icon when the show began, having played the long suffering Kathy Beale on EastEnders for nearly 15 years.
Jackie was Kyle’s mother who had sex with his teammate Jason on a snooker table, became pregnant and passed off the baby as Kyle and Chardonnay’s and whose second husband Roger dies falling down a lift shaft.
After the series ended, Gillian went on to appear on Strictly, Celebrity Big Brother and Hollyoaks before Kathy Beale returned from the dead in the 30th anniversary episode of EastEnders.
Laila Rouass
Laila played former Bollywood actress Amber Gates who was Tanya’s nemesis thanks to Tanya sleeping with Conrad, Amber’s bisexual husband. (Played by Ben Price, now best known as Corrie’s Nick Tilsley).
Amber faked her own kidnapping, had several catfights with Tanya and was also the victim of a baby swap.
Outside of her iconic role, Laila appeared on Strictly in 2009 and went on to have two stints on Holby City as Shameem Shah.
She has been engaged to snooker ace Ronnie O’Sullivan for eight years.
Charles Venn
Charles Venn played Tremaine Gidigbi on the show and only appeared in the show’s final season, marrying his supermodel partner Liberty Baker in a lavish Egyptian-themed wedding.
Charles, who used to work under the stage names Chucky Venn and Chucky Venice, appeared on Strictly in 2018, finishing sixth.
Charles also played Ray Dixon in EastEnders for a year from 2012, who was the father of Bianca Butcher’s son Morgan and two years later joined Casualty as nurse Jacob Masters. He is still on the show.
Alison Newman
Alison played no nonsense agent Hazel Bailey who was responsible for plenty of power moves on Footballers’ Wives. She even had an Andy Warhol-style portrait of herself on her walls.
Alison went on to appear on EastEnders as fan favourite inspector DI Keeble, who investigated the murder of Lucy Beale.
She also played roles on Call The Midwife, Whitechapel and Endeavour.
Alison was also the co-creator of Georgian brothel drama Harlots.
Footballers’ Wives S1-5 is available on BritBox
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
