Eurovision’s Olly Alexander recalls forgotten role where Bond girl whipped him

Eurovision hopeful Olly Alexander was once whipped by a former Bond girl in a forgotten TV role.

Loyal fans of the 33-year-old hitmaker may know him as the frontman in the pop band Years & Years with his No1 UK singles including Desire and Sanctify. But what viewers may not know is that the star also has an established acting career.

Fans saw the full extent of his talents when he took on the lead role of Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 series It’s A Sin. The TV series, written my Russell T Davies, was set in London between 1981 and 1991 and depicts the lives of a group of gay men and their friends during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

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In an impromptu Q&A with his adoring fans on Reddit, the musician lifted the lid on some of his smaller roles on the silver screen before he made it big as a musician. One user asked: “Love that you’re also an actor, what were your favourite roles?”

He recalled: “So definitely playing Ritchie in It’s A Sin was the role of a lifetime,” before he shared a smaller role he played with actress Eva Green. He went on: “I also played an undead zombie vampire in a series called Penny Dreadful and Eva Green whipped me, and that was quite exciting too.”

The 2014 TV series is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together classic horror origin stories in the adult drama. The show follows the life of Ethan Chandler, an American gunman and roadshow artist, who was hired by adventurer Malcom Murray and Vanessa Ives to help rescue his daughter from a strange creature.

Although the musician only appeared in a handful episodes, he has also made several appearances in many major films and TV shows. His other film credits include Gulliver’s Travels, Great Expectations and The Riot Club in addition to his TV roles in Skins and Lewis.

The star has also been the face of several TV programmes throughout his career. Most recently, the musician appeared on EastEnders for a Eurovision special and even paid a visit to the Queen Vic.

Arguably the most memorable was in 2017 when he presented a BBC Three documentary called Growing Up Gay. The show explored the mental health issues that members of the LGBT+ community can face.

He also made several appearances on the celebrity edition of Gogglebox where he freely shared his thoughts on the biggest shows hitting the airwaves each week. Viewers will have to stay tuned to see how the pop star will fair in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest Finals set to take place this weekend.

Earlier this week, this year’s UK entry took to the stage in the Swedish city of Gothenburg for the event’s semi-finals. Despite the catchy single, fans were divided over his performance with many accusing him of being “off-key” and “out of tune”.

But the star explained that he suffered an unfortunate wardrobe blunder during his routine. Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on Wednesday (May 8), Alexander was all smiles as he shared his thoughts on his performance via video link.

Reassuring him that his song Dizzy is a “banger”, Alexander chuckled: “Thank you Lorraine, you are welcome to join me on stage if you want, you’re more than welcome. This whole Eurovision experience is wild.

“Last night was amazing. It was the first time performing in the arena and on TV. It was just… yeah, it was amazing.” He then revealed: “I had a slight wardrobe malfunction – my mic pack fell off – and had to improvise but that’s fine – it’s live TV, it happens.”

Fans will have to stay tuned to see if he has enough to steal the win at the Eurovision Song Contest finals this weekend.

The Eurovision Song Contest final airs on Saturday night (May 11) on BBC One from 8pm.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk