My holiday photos from our family trip to Dubai and the Maldives

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog and for all your comments.

It’s been a few weeks since my last post because I’ve been on holiday with my lovely family. I was so excited and really ready for it as I’d been so busy with Emmerdale and various other things that I was starting to feel really run down, and I have to say that fortunately I wasn’t disappointed! We went to the Maldives and Dubai, a trip that James and I have done before but as you can imagine was a little more daunting with our 10-month-old son Freddie. Thankfully my amazing mum was with us, so I felt a little less nervous.

It was great all round as my mum got to spend some time with Freddie inventing all kinds of new games, with his favourite being ‘monsters sleeping’. She pretended to be a sleeping giant and then frightened him when she woke up!  He seems to enjoy being frightened and frightening other people at the moment – his first proper word and action is ‘boo!’

He suddenly started doing it to everyone whilst we were away, I’m not quite sure what that says about James and I as parents, ha ha. Having my mum around was also lovely because James and I were able to have a bit of time together too. We celebrated his birthday with dinner in a restaurant that was on stilts over the sea, which was gorgeous.

I have to say thank you so much to everyone who sent messages to me about what to pack etc, your advice was fantastic! We really did have a smooth time of it as Freddie had everything he needed and really enjoyed himself. The hotels that we stayed at were also brilliant with him. They both had baby packs for us with extra toiletries and a pushchair for us to loan which made things so much easier when packing and travelling. I’m definitely much more confident now about travelling with Freddie, I think as long as your organised and you get the essentials packed, you’re fine.

I’ve got another very busy week this week, another This Morning trip and of course back to the day job at Emmerdale!

Lots of love,

Natalie

Baby showers, This Morning and my own little water baby!

Thank you soooo much for reading my blog!! This week has definitely been very busy!

My best friend Donna’s baby shower finally arrived and despite the weather we had a brilliant time!! We decorated and planned everything ourselves which was such good fun as we got to have a bit of bonding time and we managed to just about stick to the ‘Arabian Princess Tea Party’ theme which i was thrilled about…I love it when a plan comes together! Donna received some beautiful gifts and it was so lovely to see her with her family and friends, who are all getting very excited for the arrival of her baby girl. I have to say one of my favourite things was getting to spend some time with my amazing friends. I often liken our friendship to a marriage as we’ve been together for 20 years and still love each other just as much as we did when we were young, perhaps even more so now. We’ve gone through school, university, weddings, babies and heartbreak together and come out the other side still smiling and as strong as ever. I think what’s special about our group is that we are so individual, we all bring something completely different to the table which makes for a very interesting dynamic…and some very interesting arguments/situations/moments of mischief over the years ha ha.

I had a visit to This Morning with some of the other Emmerdale cast members this week. Its always so  lovely to see Phil and Holly as they are so nice. I have to be very honest and say I’m a little bit in awe of both of them but for very different reasons. I think Philip Schofield is simply amazing, he’s such a fantastic presenter, he’s always so calm and collected and seems completely unflappable, especially when he’s live.  Holly is just gorgeous, I genuinely spent half of the time she was speaking to me thinking ‘oh my god she’s so beautiful!’. It’s a wonder I actually came up with anything to say. I think she’s a fantastic role model for young women. She juggles work and motherhood and always seems like she’s having good fun, whilst remaining completely professional. She’s definitely the girl you’d like to be friends with.

This morning Matthew Wolfenden and I did a couple of interviews for Daybreak and Lorraine. As we were in the Emmerdale studios it was a ‘down the line’ live link, which is always a bit weird as you can only hear the presenters. You also have to wear an earpiece so that you can hear the director in the gallery down at the London studios. This always makes me feel a little bit crazy as you’ll be having a conversation and suddenly you start hearing voices and people counting down as they get ready to throw to you for your feature. In January I covered the very lovely Richard Arnold’s Entertainment slot on daybreak which was such good fun and a huge learning experience. Having the responsibility of delivering the latest showbiz news in a live environment was quite nerve wracking so much so that even now hearing the daybreak music still gives me butterflies.

Freddie had his final Water Babies lesson this week, which was really sad because it made me realise how much he’s grown and that he’s not a baby anymore. We first started his classes when he was just 11 wks old as we knew we were going on holiday and I wanted him to be confident in the water. I’m so glad we did it whilst he was so young as now he absolutely loves having his baths and swimming. With the Water Babies course you can opt for your child to take part in an under water photo shoot, which we chose to do. It was absolutely amazing to see my little baby, under water and swimming by himself despite only being a matter of months old. I admit I did cry when I saw the picture as he looked so independent!

He’ll definitely be able to put all of his lessons into practice next week as we will finally be on our hols, which means that it will probably be a few weeks before you hear anything from me…enjoy the peace I say ha ha! Love Natalie xx

‘Great Gatsby’ inspired outfit planning and Freddie’s first holiday

Hello everyone,

Hope you’re enjoying my blog. Make sure you leave your comments and any questions for me on here and i’ll do my best to reply to them.

It’s been a bag of pick and mix this week!

Illness, sunshine, filming, photoshoots and the return of….RAIN!! I have never felt more ready for a holiday. Thankfully we will be heading off to the Maldives and Dubai for our first family holiday with Freddie very soon. I am so excited although a little overwhelmed as to what to take.

If I had my way there would be no luggage allowance and I could take my whole kitchen and Freddie’s bedroom to be sure I have everything I need for him, but alas this is not the case and I MUST stick to the airline restrictions! I’ve almost mastered the art of travelling light so fingers crossed I will be able to do the same for Freddie.

When he was born very dear friends of ours bought Freddie his first passport holder, it is so cute and I can’t wait to put his passport in it. I have to say getting the picture for his passport was an experience in itself! Trying to get an 8-month-old little boy to sit still and look straight at the camera with a blank expression is the hardest thing in the world and it took a ridiculous amount of attempts, which created quite a scene in our local post office. In the end we went to a photographer who literally got it in one shot. I definitely recommend others do the same to save yourselves from feeling like the most inept parent in the world, whilst people queue for foreign exchange and stamps!

I’m so excited for our trip because juggling the Emmerdale filming schedule, Freddie, home improvements and a new project I’m working on has definitely taken its toll this week and left me with the worst cold! I have been walking around the studios stinking of Olbas oil and carrying a handbag that could put Boots out of business with its contents!

Thankfully the beginning of the week was so lovely and sunny and we were filming outside, so I was able to get some much needed Vitamin D in between takes. The Emmerdale village is such a beautiful place to work when it’s sunny (but horrendous when it’s cold and it is mostly cold) it puts everyone in a great mood! We were slapping on the sun cream because it was so hot. I always laugh at our crew when they get really bad t-shirt tans.

I also managed to do a lovely photoshoot this week with Fiona Wade (who plays Priya) and Matthew Wolfenden this week, which was great fun because it was inspired by the release of Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of  F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Now we all know I love a bit of old fashioned glamour so you can imagine I was completely in my element with all of the clothes and head pieces, not to mention the jewellery! They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, well I definitely made friends with an amazing pair of earrings!

It’s the British Soap Awards next week and i’m thinking of taking a little bit of inspiration from the shoot for my hair and makeup. Dark eyes and softly curled hair will hopefully work with the dress I’ve chosen. I’m so excited to see the film as I’m a huge fan of both Baz Luhrmann and Leonardo DiCaprio, and of course the era in which the film is set.

James and I also went to our friend’s birthday party, which was really lovely. It was so nice to spend some time together and with our friends. I did a bit of recycling with my outfit as I’d worn the dress the previous week to the ‘Wreck my dress’ experience. I’m so terrible for wearing things to death. Once I find an outfit I love I tend to wear it to everything. I’m a great believer in good value for money!

Well it’s going to be a very busy week next week because it’s my friend Donna’s baby shower, The British Soap Awards and I’m taking a little trip to see Phil and Holly at This Morning. I will definitely get pictures of that to share with you all.

Have a lovely weekend — let me know what you get up to!

Love Natalie xx

A week of filming and glamorous photo shoots

Hello all,

Thanks for reading my blog.

It’s been quite a hectic filming week, but in and amongst the long days I’ve still had chance to partake in the odd bit of fun!

First up, Matthew Wolfenden and I did a very glamorous photo shoot for TV Times magazine to promote our current Emmerdale storyline. We are so used to being in our character clothes that it was actually quite nice to glam up our characters, David and Alicia.

We had such a brilliant team working with us, the gorgeous Lorraine McCulloch styled the shoot, while the very lovely Tally Bookbinder was in charge of hair and makeup. I loved the look — it was very old Hollywood. I’m such a huge fan of that era, as I grew up watching films from the 30s and 40s with my grandad — it’s where my love of acting and musical theatre began. I completely believe my grandad when he used to say it was the ‘Golden Age of Cinema. I’m inspired by the likes of Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.

I also attended the launch of the ‘Wreck My Dress’ experience in Manchester with some of the other Emmerdale girls this week. It was such a fun evening, not only because of the entertainment but because it was a lovely chance to have a girly night out with a few drinks. As we all have a lot of early starts it’s quite difficult to get us all together on a school night.

The idea behind the event itself is absolutely brilliant! Basically the ‘Wreck My Dress’ experience gives people the opportunity to create their own short film or flashmob piece which they can then use to add a bit of Hollywood to an event. For example, it could be recreating a fight scene from a James Bond film, which is then acted out in the middle of an 18th birthday party or creating a short film starring yourself as a proposal or invitation. I have to say the ‘scene’ at the launch party definitely got my attention — there were fights, fireworks and fake police!

It’s been quite a week for photo shoots as I had another one just this morning. It was so much fun because the clothes were really bright and they totally got me in the mood for summer, especially as we’ve had such a fantastic week of sunshine. It’s always great to have a selection of different looks on shoots as it helps me create different characters as it can feel quite boring just being myself!

One of my favourites from today was a hot pink neoprene dress that had quite a 50s feel (there I go again with the old school glamour) — all I needed was an apron and a cupcake to complete the ‘perfect housewife’ look which is actually quite hilarious because I’m anything but! I’m so terrible at cooking — I can just about manage a very simple spaghetti bolognese but that’s about it!

I also managed to have a good catch up with my friend from school, X Factor’s Carolynne Poole. We were having a laugh about how we used to have to sing duets in school plays….we do quite a good rendition of Enough is Enough (No More Tears).

After a hectic week, I for one am definitely looking forward to the bank holiday weekend. Hope you all have a great time and let me know what you get up to!

Love Natalie x

Filming ‘All Star Mr and Mrs’, ‘Emmerdale’ nominations and toddlers’ birthday parties

Hello everyone,

Thanks for reading my blog and thanks for your lovely comments, I’ve really enjoyed reading them and can’t wait to hear what you think of this post.

I’ve had an extremely busy and fun week.

My husband James and I filmed the Christmas special of All Star Mr and Mrs with the very lovely Philip Schofield, Jane McDonald and her fiancé Ed and Jimmy and Pauline Tarbuck. As much as I love Christmas (my tree goes up on 1 December without fail!), it was quite surreal having the audience wearing Santa hats and singing Slade in the middle of April. In fact I would go as far as to say it was a little unsettling! I’m not very good with things being out of order, spring is for Easter and bank holidays and that is that.

However, we had a fantastic time and I have to say I was incredibly surprised at how much James actually knew about me considering he can’t remember what we talked about last night never mind eight years ago. I can’t give away the result but what I can say is that there are some great surprises and it’s a very funny show, with lots of Christmas cheer. But you’ll have to wait until your tucking into your turkey to see for yourself!

The shortlists for the British Soap Awards were announced this week and I’m so thrilled that Emmerdale has been nominated for 15 awards. It would be so lovely if we picked something up at the ceremony this year, particularly as the end of last year was our 40th birthday and we celebrated with an amazing live episode. I was on maternity leave at the time so I watched from home. I could not have been prouder of all of my colleagues, it was incredible! I personally have been nominated for the ‘Sexiest Female’ which is extremely flattering as most mornings you’ll find me in a tracksuit with frizzy hair and covered in baby mess and I feel far from sexy. I have a lot to thank our amazing makeup department and the inventor of ceramic hair straighteners for! Click here to vote for Emmerdale to win at the awards  — we really appreciate your support!

I’m currently on the hunt for an outfit for the occasion and I explored some of my options and indulged in a bit of retail therapy in this fun, short film for the Emmerdale website. I felt a little bit like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman that day because the store was closed just for us.

We’ve had more good news at Emmerdale on the awards front as we have also been nominated for BAFTAs in the ‘Best Soap’ and ‘Best Continuing Drama’ categories which is just brilliant. I’m keeping everything crossed that we win!

I’ve been introduced to the delights of children’s birthday parties this week. Freddie was invited to Matthew Wolfenden and Charley Webb’s little boy Buster’s third birthday party. It was held at the most fantastic play gym and the kids had such a great time. There was face painting, an appearance from Peppa Pig and what I initially thought was a suped up Power Ranger which was actually Bumblebee the Transformer — apparently he’s huge in the world of children’s entertainment, I have so much to learn!

I can’t wait to start throwing birthday parties for Freddie. It’s his first birthday in August and even though he’ll probably have absolutely no idea what’s going on, I’m still getting really excited about what to do for him. I will have to make sure I wear something that’s wipeable as Freddie has a habit of spitting his food out at me, always when it’s tomato based. He did it at the party when I was wearing a very lovely pale pink dress. I’m toying with the idea of a a fisherman theme for his birthday so I can wear waders!

I’ll keep thinking!

Love Natalie xx

Baby Shower

My Friend!

Hello! I’m Natalie.

Mother, wife, daughter, sister, actress, singer, organiser in chief!

I’m all of the above but never 100 per cent perfect at any of my jobs, however I try my best and keep my fingers crossed that I’m ‘doing alright’.

Little Freddie

I have an eight month old little boy called Freddie who is quite simply amazing, although raising him definitely has its challenges for my husband (James) and I… and I know we’re not alone. Quite a few of our friends have small children and now our dinner table talk has become that of teething remedies, sleep deprivation and the varying hidden delights of our little ones nappies. Such is life, ha ha!

And we are about to welcome another bundle of joy into our midst as one of my (six!) best friends, Donna, is expecting a little girl in July. We are all very excited – perhaps she could be a little girlfriend for Freddie…mmmm perhaps I’m getting a little carried away (another thing, I’m such a daydreamer).

Inspiration

As I said earlier I’m a bit of an organiser and so I’m thrilled to be hosting my friends baby shower. We have decided to opt for an Arabian Princess, tea party theme which sounds a bit mixed up but will hopefully combine my friends love of Dubai and Betty’s tea rooms (you can take the girl out of Yorkshire… )

So I’m planning on cake stands filled with cupcakes, Turkish delights and mini macaroons and lots of pretty flowers, lanterns, cushions, and mint tea.

I’m finding it much easier to source things now as baby showers have become so much more popular. I had a safari-themed one just before I had Freddie last year and it was amazing.

We’ve got some great games to play too such as “Guess the size of the bump”, “Who knows mummy best” and one of my favourites “Who this little one?” I like this one as its a great game to get people talking and reminiscing about their own childhood. It basically involves each guest bringing along a picture of themselves as a child and depositing it into a secret box, the host then numbers each picture and places them around the venue, the guests then have to guess which picture belongs to which person….I loved seeing the ones of my grandma and mum! There’s some brilliant websites out there if you need inspiration , I personally like www.showermybaby.co.uk. It’s full of fantastic ideas to suit all budgets.

My Fun Nappy Cake

We are throwing the baby shower in May so hopefully we’ll have an improvement in the weather and be catapulted from the depths of icy despair into the beginnings of a baking hot summer! Stay posted for piccies!

Well I’ve talked enough for now… I assure you I’ll have something else to say in a matter of minutes but I’ll try and save that for next time.

Natalie xx