Emmerdale star Lucy Pargeter - best known for playing Chas Dingle on the soap - revealed she had a secret pop career before starting out on the ITV series.
She also opened up on her wild antics with famous ex-flatmate Sammy Winward during a new interview.
When Lucy joined the show aged 24, she would spend hours over her appearance for a night out on the town with co-stars, when it was a regular event.
“Me and Sammy Winward used to be the gruesome twosome – we were out every night,”
she recalls.
“I lived with Amy Nuttall for a bit, we had a little cottage in Leeds and the front door was always open waiting for a taxi.
“There was only wine and crumpets in the fridge and the whole place stank of fake tan.
“We’d finish work, go home, order the taxi, get ready and be in town half an hour later.
“Life has changed. Now at the end of the day I go home, feed the kids, learn my lines and go to bed.”
Lucy, from Nottingham, almost had a pop career rather than acting.
After leaving school she formed the band Paperdolls with friends and they signed to a record label and toured with Boyzone in the 1990s.
She says: “A lot of actors are described as a triple threat, meaning you can act, sing and dance.
“If you have that gene and one thing doesn’t work, you’ve always got something else to fall back on.
“The singing took off and then didn’t, so I focused on my acting.”
After a brief time in Crossroads, she then auditioned for the role of Chas, the estranged mum of Aaron.
