TELLY royalty Katie Price and Kerry Katona are headlining this year’s Northwich Christmas panto.
The playful pair are confirmed to play the wicked stepsisters in an all-new production of Cinderella at Northwich Memorial Court.
The reality TV stars and former glamour models would rather not be known as ‘the ugly stepsisters’, preferring to be called ‘the wicked stepsisters’.
Katie said: “We don’t like the word ‘ugly’ because nobody will believe it."
Kerry, from Warrington, has ‘lost count’ of the number of pantos she's starred in, having started when she was just three.
Katie is a rookie by comparison, though Cinderella at Northwich will be her fourth.
The girls have been ‘like sisters’ for 25 years, even going on holiday together with their 10 children.
But this will be the first time they’ve worked together since appearing on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here 20 years ago.
Asked what they think of their new roles, Katie said: “Well we haven’t had our scripts yet, but I don’t think we really need them, do we?
“We’re both just funny people, and we’re not scared to take the mick out of ourselves.
“We’ve always been close. We have one of those friendships where you can go a year without talking, but when you pick up the phone, it’s like you talked to them yesterday.
“We’re even spending Christmas Day together this year.”
“Oh my God, that’s going to be a nightmare”, said Kerry
She added: “I know for a fact we’ll have great lines because I know who’s written it. I’ve worked with AB Productions for six years, and I keep coming back.
“I always say you’re not a proper actor until you’ve done panto. It’s so full on and such hard work.
“Me and Katie are fantastic friends. We were in the jungle together back in 2004, when I won.
“Once you’ve shared a witchetty grub with someone, you’re friends for life. But we met each other years before that.
“Our lives are so mirrored. We’ve both been married three times, and we’ve both got five kids, we both married popstars, and we both started out in glamour modelling.
“We’re like Tweedledum and Tweedledee."
Katie added: “Kerry’s actually a really good actress. I couldn’t be working with anyone better. The rest of the cast are great too.
“People who don’t know think panto’s easy, but it’s not. You don’t just walk on stage and do it. You’ve got to learn where you come on stage, your points, the lighting, and the lines have got to flow.
“And most of all, you’ve got to be funny.
Kerry said: “Cinderella’s a classic. She gets her knight in shining armour, but Katie and I have always ended up with losers in tinfoil helmets.
“But we both had Cinderella carriages at our first weddings, with six white horses.”
Joining Katie and Kerry will be Northwich panto legends Ryan Greaves as Buttons, and Steve Moorewood as Dame Hard-Up, plus Mary Shanker as Fairy Dotty, Cara Healy as Cinderella, and further cast members to be announced.
The show runs from December 8 to 31, with tickets – including for a number of special ‘adult only’ shows, can be booked at Brio’s website or in person from Northwich Memorial Court.
A spokesman for Anton Benson Productions said: “Audiences can expect two and a half hours of toe-tapping songs and dance, stunning costumes, fantastic sets and effects all wrapped up in a hilarious laugh-a-minute script.”
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