Hayley Tamaddon interview 2023

Blackpool Gazette

Hayley Tamaddon on growing up in Cleveleys and her favourite things to do on the Fylde Coast

Transcript

00:00 Me and my little boy, we live together with my mum and dad.

00:15 And thank God for them.

00:16 They are like permanent babysitters while I go and do the work.

00:21 My mum and dad have Jasper.

00:24 And it works, you know.

00:25 I'm very lucky to be in this position as a single parent.

00:30 You juggle as a single parent.

00:31 You have to juggle.

00:32 And it's very, very difficult.

00:35 But I feel very blessed to have my parents, you know.

00:39 And the fact we live with them is a bonus.

00:41 I get to come home to home-cooked food every night.

00:44 It's amazing.

00:45 I was going to say, how often do you visit Blackpool?

00:48 But now that I know you still live in Blackpool, basically what's your favourite things to

00:52 get up to on your down times?

00:55 You know, that's another thing about Blackpool is how lucky we are to live here.

01:01 There are so many brilliant things to do right on our doorstep.

01:05 And a lot of them don't have to cost very much money, you know.

01:09 Me and Jasper, we love to go to Softplay.

01:12 And obviously, Dan Whiston, Jasper's uncle Dan, owns Thingamajigs.

01:18 I mean, that was the best thing he ever bought, you know.

01:20 Dan's bought a few things.

01:22 But when I had a baby, he told me he was opening a Softplay centre.

01:24 I was like, OK, this is everything.

01:28 So we spend a lot of our time there.

01:31 And Jasper just loves it.

01:33 And there are a few brilliant places that we go to.

01:36 He loves the arcades.

01:39 And he loves Cleveley's Arcade, which is where I grew up, you know, going to those arcades.

01:45 We go for ice cream.

01:46 We go to Infinity, which used to be Freeport.

01:50 We go there.

01:51 There's a little free park there and a little kids' play area.

01:54 He has a ball in Blackpool.

01:56 We go to the beach all the time, all the time.

01:59 Even in the winter, we go to the beach.

02:01 And then we get a hot chocolate from the little cafe on the beach.

02:04 And we sit at the front and we watch the sunset together.

02:07 And yeah, our favourite place for breakfast is Truly Kitchen in Poulton.

02:13 I don't know if you've ever been, but Jasper loves the pancakes.

02:18 So we go there.

02:19 We have breakfast.

02:20 We have pancakes and a hot chocolate.

02:22 Yeah, we are best mates, me and my little boy.

02:26 We do everything together.

02:27 Yeah, I feel very lucky.

02:28 And living in Blackpool, it's like you're living on holiday, isn't it?

02:32 Pretty much.

02:33 I mean, I wouldn't get in the sea, but apart from that, we have an absolute ball.

02:40 Yeah.

02:41 Obviously, Wikipedia says you were born in Bisbam, but did you grow up in Thornton then?

02:46 I was born in Bisbam.

02:49 Yeah, that's odd, isn't it?

02:52 Because my mum and dad had a guest house when I was a baby.

02:57 Now, did they have that before the cafe?

03:00 Yes, I think they did.

03:02 So I was-- yes, I probably was born in Bisbam.

03:06 And then we moved to Cleveleys very early on.

03:10 And then that's pretty much where we've stayed the whole time.

03:14 So yes, home, you know, it's where I grew up.

03:18 What primary school did you go to?

03:21 I went to Norbrook Primary School, and I loved it.

03:25 Absolutely loved it.

03:26 It was a great little school.

03:29 And now, you know, I'm looking at what school to send Jasper to, because he's at that age.

03:34 And you know, obviously, Norbrook would be one I looked at.

03:37 But I want to send him to a school his friends are going to, because obviously, being a single

03:42 parent, I need some support, shall we say, from other mums.

03:49 So it's nice that maybe he goes to school with his mates, and one of the mums could

03:52 pick him up if I can't get there, or, you know, something like that.

03:56 So there's all those challenges to think about the older he gets now.

03:59 But I think we're very lucky in Blackpool to have great schools.

04:04 And did you know when you were back in primary school that you wanted to become an actor?

04:08 Yeah, I always knew.

04:10 I knew from the age of three.

04:13 Always knew.

04:14 It was all I ever wanted to do.

04:15 That and ride horses.

04:17 So it was either horse riding or dancing and acting and singing.

04:21 And I couldn't do everything, because it was too expensive for my parents.

04:25 So I did the horse riding as a hobby, and then continued to do the performing.

04:30 Are you glad you chose performing?

04:33 Yeah.

04:34 Yeah, it's in my blood, this, you know.

04:36 I live and breathe it.

04:38 Everything about it.

04:39 I love it.

04:40 And it's nice now, you know, just watching Jasper dance and sing and play and things.

04:47 I think to myself, I wonder what he'll do when he gets older, you know.

04:52 I don't think he's going to be a performer.

04:54 I think if anything, he would be a comedian.

04:57 But he can turn the tears on in a way I've never seen a child do it before.

05:03 It's amazing.

05:04 Like, he should have an award.

05:06 That's like a soap star in the making then.

05:10 Probably.

05:11 Probably.

05:12 But let's see.

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