Sooty bear looks set to finally crack America with own TV show 75 years after UK debut-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Sooty and his sidekicks Sweep and Soo might soon be seen on screens around the world (Picture: PA)

Another famous British bear is looking to replicate the success of Paddington overseas, with Sooty set to finally have his big break in the United States.

He might be 75 years old, but age is just a number for the beloved yellow bear, who could soon be seen on screens outside his home in the United Kingdom.

The mute glove puppet is the subject of advanced talks about a show with a top network, according to his puppeteer.

Sooty host Richard Cadell, 53, has revealed that the plan is to try and make the puppet as popular as Paddington.

‘We had a phone call from an American television producer who said, “I’ve been told Sooty is as iconic in the UK as Sesame Street is in the US”,’ Cadell told the Sun.

‘It is about time. They love everything else that we do like Paddington and the Royals.

Richard Cadell took over the responsibility for Sooty in 1998 (Picture: PA)

‘King Charles and Camilla have made no secret of the fact Sooty is their favourite TV character – that’s why we’ve done their birthday parties.’

‘I think it would smash America. Is America ready for Sooty and Sweep? That’s the question,’ he added.

In 1948 the original puppet was purchased by magician and puppeteer Harry Corbett to entertain his kids.

Harry Corbett’s Sooty started out as some entertainment for his kids (Picture: PA)

First appearing alongside his other friends Sweep and Soo on TV in 1952, Sooty was taken over by Cadell in 1998, where he has since worked on television series’ and live shows.

Despite being mute, Sooty has also kept busy releasing his first Christmas single this year, The Most Magical Time of the Year, to raise money for Dame Esther Rantzen’s charity Childline.

‘We’d always talked about a Christmas single as a joke because obviously he doesn’t have a voice,’ Cadell added.

‘We thought, wouldn’t it be great to release three minutes of silence? Or Silent Night? Or a song with no vocals at all.

‘But we have done this to align it with a charity which people know and trust because it makes a difference.’

King Charles meeting Sooty in 2018 (Picture: Julian Simmonds – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

While Sooty is now synonymous with many childhoods, the puppet caused a stir back in his younger days when he got a girlfriend, Soo.

At the time the show’s producer Trevor Hill penned Corbett a letter in which he suggested that such a move would ‘allow sex to creep into the programme’.

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BBC Director General Hugh Carlton Greene eventually got involved and permitted the storyline under one condition—they weren’t allowed to touch.

Years later some of the original puppets released to the public to buy are now collector’s items, with some picking up prices of more than £5,000.

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