Zöe Lucker has shared the reason she ‘turned down a £250k contract’ to stay on a rather raunchy ITV show.
The actress, 49, was catapulted to fame in the 2000s when she took on the role of Tanya Turner in Footballers’ Wives. Zöe also had an iconic stint on EastEnders between 2010 and 2011 playing the legend Vanessa Gold.
But on Footballers’ Wives, as the chain-smoking and conniving WAG, Tanya became a firm-favourite with viewers. The show follows the lives of the footballers at Earls Park Football Club and their wives and girlfriends.
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Packed with juicy bed-hopping antics and epic plot twists, the programme ran for five series from 2002. It also spawned an even racier spin-off Extra Time on ITV2 for two series.
(Image: ITV)
And it’s fair to say the undisputed star of the show was Zöe who played Alpha WAG Tanya. Never without a ciggy between her perfectly manicured fingers, wild Tanya was married – and widowed – three times on the show.
She also had her fair share of racy on-screen moments too. From plane bonks with future Corrie star Ben Price, to drug-fuelled romps, Zöe didn’t mind getting down and dirty as Tanya.
However, in 2005, Zöe revealed she had turned down a new contract worth a reported £250k, to stay on the ITV show. And she shared the reason she turned down the rather rather eye-watering amount.
She told People: “I have put Tanya to bed. I’m definitely not going back to Footballers Wives. The nude scenes always come back to me. People talk about them an awful lot.”
“They were right for Tanya and that storyline. But as an actress that’s not what I am about. Away from the cameras I am a normal woman, worried about how she looks semi-naked. I won’t go around parading myself naked.”
In a recent interview with Attitude magazine, Zöe explained how she has since “taken a step back” from the showbiz and acting world. She revealed: “I’ve been in a space the last few years where I’ve taken a step back from it all. I’m not saying I’m not ever going to act again, but I don’t look at myself in roles at the minute.”
Aside from Footballers Wives’, Tanya also appeared on BBC’s EastEnders as Vanessa. And in one famous scene, Vanessa thrashed lover Max Branning’s living room before raging “bubblies in the fridge!” The moment has since become a viral meme online.
Speaking about the scene Zöe told Attitude magazine: “That scene was originally just one line, and the stage directions were ‘Vanessa trashes the house’, as she’d just come from finding out that Max was having an affair.
(Image: BBC)
“When I was standing at the curtains, it was almost like I needed to build up a momentum. I didn’t know I was going to say it three times, but it just happened like that. We did it in one take.” Zöe then revealed how she gets sent “versions of ‘Bubbly’s in the fridge’ all the time.” She quipped: “It’s brilliant; I love it!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
