After a 13-year hiatus, Cold Feet is back on our TV screens and the characters are facing up to life in their 40s and 50s.
Actress Fay Ripley, who plays Jenny on the show, tells us about her own Cold Feet moments…
I admit I was apprehensive about returning to Cold Feet. But when I was reunited with the cast, it felt like bumping into a group of old school friends. We hadn’t all been in a room together in over a decade, so the minute we were, it was, “Did you end up with that person?”, “Are you still living in that area?” and cooing over pictures of everyone’s kids – and dogs!
My on-screen husband, John Thomson and I instantly had that shorthand again, like you have in a real marriage – one look and you know exactly what the other is thinking! The only real difference was that the days of turning up to the set hungover were over – instead, at the end of each day, everyone was rushing home to their kids.
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We meet the characters again in their late 40s and 50s, and the focus in their lives has changed – just as it does for us all. The love, lust and passion are all still there, but the priority list is different. There are some wonderful things that come from being in your 50s though, as the new series shows.
For me, it’s that I don’t stress about things as much as I used to. I was at a really low point in my life in my 20s and early 30s – I spent most of that time crying about not having a boyfriend and my career not being what I wanted it to be. But as you get older, your focus changes from, “I have to get into that pencil skirt” to “I just have to have a bath!” – and all those things that were huge issues seem to fall away.
We had some hilarious moments during filming. There’s one scene in the new series where John [Thomson who plays Jenny’s husband, Pete] and I were meant to be having a ‘quickie’ in the toilet. We weren’t nude or anything, so I said to John, “Are you OK if I pull your pants down now?”
He said, “Oh, of course, no problem”, but he thought I meant his trousers and when I pulled down his underpants, too, he looked at me as if to say, “What on earth are you doing?” We then looked to our right and there were about 150 extras all staring at John’s naked bum! We laughed our heads off for a good 10 minutes.
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5 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE SHOW:
- The show has been broadcast in over 34 countries since the first season aired in 1997.
- Over its initial 6 year run, Cold Feet won over 20 major awards, including a BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2001.
- After the success of the first few seasons in the late 90s, star John Thomson struggled with a drinking problem – as a result of the sudden and unexpected fame. Thankfully, he’s in the clear now.
- Fay Ripley was pregnant with her daughter Parker at the same time as her character Jenny was pregnant in Season 5 – no need for a fake preggy belly!
- Helen Baxendale (who played Rachel in the last series) didn’t want to come back as a ghost in the new show – she died in a car accident in Season 5’s finale.
