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Blue Peter’s Mark Curry reveals it’s his dream to star in Emmerdale: ‘It’s me – I’m Yorkshire’-Sue Crawford-Entertainment – Metro
The former Blue Peter presenter still gets asked about his most embarrassing Lego moment.
Blue Peter presenter Mark Curry is returning to his role as The WIzard of Oz in Wicked! (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
TV presenter and actor Mark Curry, 61, talks keeping in touch with Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan and Yvette Fielding, his most humiliating moment on Blue Peter, his Hollyoaks stint and whether he will ever retire.
After three years as a Blue Peter presenter, are you a dab hand with sticky-back plastic?
I was the cock-up artist! It was live TV and I used to get very excited, so a few things did go wrong.
The most famous one was the time I knocked the head off a life-size Lego model. I’m saying to the camera, ‘This is made up of 50,000 pieces of Lego,’ and as I did, I just touched the head and it rolled off.
The first person I met when I came out of the studios was a taxi driver. I got into his cab and he said, ‘Are you that prat who just knocked the head off the Lego man?’ I did some great things on the show but they all remember the Lego man!
What was one of the best things about Blue Peter?
The camaraderie. I’m still in touch with Janet Ellis, Peter Duncan and Yvette Fielding.
And the late Caron Keating was such a close friend. There’s not a day goes by when I don’t think about her – she was a great presenter and friend and she was taken too soon [she died of cancer, aged 41].
I miss her. I’d love to sit down with her and laugh and talk about those days.
Mark thinks about his late friend Caron Keating every day (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
You’re returning to play the Wizard of Oz in the musical Wicked. Why are you coming back to the role?
I got a call out of the blue asking if I’d be interested. I thought I’d been long enough away. It would have been different if I’d finished a year ago but six years is a long time, so I said yes.
Did you have to re-audition?
I had to go in and see them again, just to prove I can still walk! I had to have a little sing and do a couple of scenes and show that I can still do it. And I wanted to approach it differently.
I’m older and there are many ways to play a character. On the face of it, the Wizard is a lovely, warm, charming guy, who everybody thinks is wonderful. But there’s also a darker side to him.
Why has he accepted this adoration from everybody, why does he like being powerful, is he a bit narcissistic? There are different levels.
Mark last tread the boards as The Wizard of Oz six years ago (Picture: Wicked/Troy David Johnston)
Were you nervous?
The Apollo a big theatre – it holds 2,000 people, it’s the West End and the show has such a fantastic reputation.
You’ve been given this responsibility, this second chance, so there’s a lot of pressure – you feel like you’ve got to prove yourself. But I’m glad I feel nervous and excited after all this time. If I didn’t, there’d be no point doing it.
Why did you leave the show six years ago?
I’d done 15 months and it felt long enough. It impacts your life and also you have to challenge yourself, this business is about variety and I’ve never stayed in a job just because of the money. It’s important to leave when you’re enjoying it.
Is it true that you first appeared on TV when you were seven?
I was a regular performer on Junior Showtime. I’ve no idea where it came from.
My mum used to look at me and think, ‘Have I really produced this?’ She was a maternity nurse, so not at all showbiz and I was this child who was jumping about, singing songs and miming to Cilla Black and Dusty Springfield.
One of her friends knew somebody at Yorkshire Television.I auditioned for one show and I was on it for six years, singing, dancing and presenting.
Mark was a performer from a very young age, and loved miming to the legendary Cilla Black (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
How did you celebrate turning 60 last year?
I was born in 1961 so I decided to have a 1960s-themed party. Some of the outfits were wonderful, people really went to town.
My former Blue Peter colleagues were all there: Yvette Fielding came as a Beatle, Peter Duncan came in a flowery shirt and Janet Ellis was a flower child. I wore flowing robes and went very Hare Krishna!
Will you ever retire?
I’ve never done anything else and I can’t think I could do anything else. Sometimes I wonder if I should take it easy but then a job offer comes and I’m still excited by it.
Where is home?
By the sea in Eastbourne on the south coast. I moved there seven years ago. I love the fresh air, the pubs and the walks – there’s something about being by the sea that is really relaxing. I think as you get older the peace and quiet appeals more.
More: Sixty Seconds
What do you enjoy away from work?
Tennis is my great passion. I won an Equity tournament one year and I’ve got to the finals of quite a few events.
I’m pretty handy but I’m self-taught, so a really good, coached player will beat me very easily. I’ve commentated a bit and every year I’m the centre court presenter for a big women’s tournament in Birmingham.
Is there anything left on your bucket list?
I always talk about Emmerdale, because I grew up watching it and whenever I see it, I always think – I’d love to be in that.
I did a few episodes of Hollyoaks and enjoyed it, but Emmerdale is me – I’m Yorkshire.
Get tickets to see Mark in Wicked.
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