Steph McGovern is recalling her recent night out at the launch of ABBA’s Voyage live show and is being typically down-to-earth about the fact she was considered a VIP guest.
“I felt quite honoured actually. I was like ‘how did I manage to blag this?’”
It’s this genuine “she’s-one-of-us” charm that has helped the Middlesbrough native go from the Beeb’s business reporter to hosting her own daily Channel 4 show. Since its launch in September 2020, the show has gradually won over more and more viewers thanks to its mix of real issues, real people and lots of laughs, and earned a Bafta nomination in the process.
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“I always wanted it to be a place where… I kind of liken it to a blended family,” Steph explains. “Slightly dysfunctional and you’re not necessarily going to like all of us all of the time and you might find one or two of us irritating, but you liken them to your annoying auntie who you still wouldn’t throw out of your family even if you don’t agree with them.”
“Fundamentally at our core is just people who like having a laugh and who are nice to each other.”
“Fundamentally at our core is just people who like having a laugh and who are nice to each other,” she says of her “gang”, a quality she feels is sorely missed from a lot of what’s on the box these days.
“You might think on paper that’ll make for boring telly, because everyone seems to be obsessed with people fighting and controversy and people going up against each other with opposing views, but that’s not my style at all.
“I don’t really like confrontation and I’ve had to do a fair bit of it when I’ve interviewed politicians in the past, but for me it’s just about learning from people who have had different life experiences.”
Despite leaving the notoriously bureaucratic BBC in 2020 after 13 years, Steph hasn’t got a bad word to say about her former employer.
“I absolutely loved my time at the BBC,” she insists. “I think the difference doing Channel 4… it’s a bit more freeing in the sense of it’s my own show. But I didn’t feel like I was ever silenced or censored at the BBC.”
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That said, we can’t imagine the Beeb ever signing off on her having a smear test done on live TV, and she’s typically candid about doing just that on Packed Lunch.
“I’ve literally got my muff out on the telly so once you’ve done that I don’t think there is anything that can be really embarrassing,” she laughs.
“Because I’ve always done live telly, there’s been loads of things over the years,” she adds. “When I was on BBC Breakfast my dress once split down the whole back of it and we had to do a camera angle where someone could gaffer tape it to stop it from totally exposing me.
“I was talking about really serious stuff as well like the economy and I’m nearly flashing me boobs. But anything that happens on Packed Lunch I can normally just have a laugh about it.”
As well as being up for almost anything on her show (“I’m not an animal person”), Steph has been juggling the success of Packed Lunch with being a first-time mum.
“I was never asked if I’m honest,” Steph says about her sexuality. “I think because I didn’t necessarily look like a gay woman I don’t think people ever bothered to ask me.
“And so my kind of coming out was being pregnant, because obviously everyone then asked questions. Also, I grew up in the era where, although there weren’t that many gay women on telly, I felt like there were loads around me in my social setting, so I didn’t feel like I needed to do a big thing of ‘hello I am gay’.”
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Despite being out to her friends and living in an era where someone’s sexuality – regardless of their fame – is usually about as interesting as what they had for their (packed) lunch, Steph admits she was still “anxious” about the story breaking.
“A paper found out and they wanted to publish that I was pregnant and I managed to bat it off for a while,” she recalls. “And then eventually I couldn’t, and so me and my partner didn’t know how it was going to go down because I had another friend – she’s high-profile – when she came out she did get a bit of abuse.
“I just thought for my unborn child, I’m already really protective of her and I’m really super protective of my partner as well, and so I thought ‘right, let’s just take ourselves away and escape what madness might come from this’. And so we went to a place I love in Wensleydale, a really quiet country hotel.”
That decision proved to the presenter and her partner that they really had nothing much to worry about – apart from their unborn child.
“We were there for a night and the next morning we knew the story was going to be in the papers and when we came into breakfast this little old couple sat opposite us and I thought they’d recognised me and they just lent over to both myself and my partner and said congratulations to both of us,” Steph recalls.
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“I get emotional because that made everything alright, because it was a couple you could have easily assumed would have frowned upon it, but the way they were so inclusive to say that to both myself and my partner instantly made us feel that actually this is a brilliant world for our little girl to be born into.”
“Our job as happy, confident gay women is to tell people and make them aware of where they’ve got it wrong, because it’s not malicious.”
That said, Steph acknowledges that despite being “amazing at tag-teaming” with her partner in the care of their two-year-old, there will be unique challenges ahead as same-sex parents but sees it as “our job as happy, confident gay women to tell people and make them aware of where they’ve got it wrong, because it’s not malicious”.
She adds: “We don’t do it in a big ranty way, it’s just reminding people. And I’m really lucky that I’ve lots of friends who have done it before us and paved the way. It’s not as scary as you might think.”
Although she’d be too modest to say it herself, Steph is blazing a trail of her own, simply by being her own authentic self on a primetime daily show and being a role model for young queer people in the process.
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“On telly and stuff [growing up] it didn’t really feel like there were many gay women who looked like me because you know, I’m quite girly and love my hair and make-up and stuff.
“Of course I love people like Sue Perkins and Clare Balding and Sandi Toksvig but I didn’t really feel like them. Like I think they’re amazing and I guess they are role models for gay women but they’re older than me and I didn’t feel like they represented me.”
So what does the future hold for the star? Right now she’s got her hands full with a five-day-a-week show and a toddler, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t fancy following in the footsteps of her Packed Lunch mates John Whaite, Denise Van Outen and Gemma Atkinson by taking to the Strictly dance floor.
“I love the show and so many of my mates have been on it and they’ve all loved it,” she says.
“If I do it I want to totally commit to it and as things stand, it would be near on impossible. I would worry about my little girl and not seeing her for so long. It’s interesting because the very first time I was asked to do it was probably when I should have done it, but then I had a baby. I’ll always say never say never but I’d just want to give it my all if I ever do it.”
I ask why she thinks he’s managed to survive for so long.
“No comment,” she laughs. “Well, you know, I work for Channel 4 so it’s not in my interest to go to war with the man who’s deciding whether we get privatised or not. I learned from the past.”
Our money’s on Steph.
Steph’s Packed Lunch airs Monday to Friday at 12.30pm on Channel 4 and All4.
Steph’s Packed Lunch Pride Special – Friday 1 July, 11.30am, Channel 4 & All 4.This episode of Steph’s Packed Lunch is part of Channel 4′s season of landmark programmes and specials marking 50 years of Pride in the UK, reflecting on the incredible achievements and challenges of advancing LGBTQ+ rights and visibility over the last half century.
But the presenter has revealed there’s actually one thing she always says ‘no’ to when it’s suggested by producers of her show.
“I’m not great with animals because I’m not an animal person,” she tells HuffPost UK.
“So normally you will notice now that I’ll often avoid being the person holding a pet in a pet item so I do say no to stuff like that.”
But before all you animal lovers start, Steph is quick to point out that there’s a very good reason why she doesn’t want to do anything involving the feathery or furry.
via PA Features Archive/Press Association Images
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“I also don’t want to look like I don’t know what I’m doing either because it’s an animal, so I don’t want to hurt it or be scared of it and drop it.
“But I’m just not very good with dogs because I don’t have a very good rapport with them and they sense that.
“The worst thing I ever had to do on the telly was wash a dog. I had to wash a poodle and I just felt really sorry for it. I thought ‘I’m doing a terrible job, you’re not enjoying yourself, and I’m not enjoying it’, so there we are.
She continues: “I get Denise [Van Outen] to do the animal things, or Kate Bottley.”
However, there is a certain type of animal that Steph has no issues with.
“Weirdly, I can do exotic pets,” she reveals. “I’m alright with the snakes and the frogs and the tarantulas.”
Read our exclusive interview with Steph in full this weekend on HuffPost UK.
Anne Hathaway has recalled an incident earlier in her career in which the people around her failed to tell her that her red carpet outfit was see-through.
During a recent sit-down with Interview magazine, the Oscar-winning star was asked questions by a host of celebrities, including fashion legend Marc Jacobs.
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Marc asked Anne for the “one thing you regretted wearing that you look back on and wish you could erase”.
“Marc Jacobs, I love you and I love your wickedness,” she responded, before sharing an anecdote from years earlier.
Anne explained: “There was this one time where I was very young and dressed myself for an event, and I stepped onto a red carpet and did not know my dress was see-through, and I wasn’t wearing a bra.
“It was a very long carpet, and at no point did any of the people in that wall of photographers stop to give me a heads-up or offer me a jacket.”
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She continued: “I’m not naive. I don’t expect that, but it’s something I would do for another person if I saw it. And so I would erase that, just because it sucked.”
Elsewhere in the interview Mindy Kaling asked Anne about the “cancelled” public figure whose work she still enjoys (“Aziz Ansari,” she said), as well as the stars she thinks emit BDE.
Other co-stars of Anne’s to contribute to the piece included Dame Julie Andrews, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Awkwafina and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Regé-Jean Page has shut down reports he is set to reprise his role as the Duke Of Hastings in the third series of Bridgerton.
The actor played one of the romantic leads in the first series of the hit Netflix period drama, but did not return for the second, which was released earlier this year.
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Reports recently claimed that he was in talks about reuniting with co-star Phoebe Dynevor, who plays his wife Daphne Bridgerton, in the next set of episodes.
However, those holding out hope of seeing Regé-Jean back in action as Simon Basset will be disappointed as he has said there is no truth to the rumours.
After hanging out with former co-star Jonathan Bailey, who plays Anthony Bridgerton, at Milan Fashion Week, Regé-Jean posted some snaps on Instagram, writing: “The boys are back in town (No, I’m not going back to the show btw – the papers made that one up.)
“But we had the best, and most stylish, catch up I’ve had in a while over some truly excellent Italian coffee and sunshine.”
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Last month, it was revealed the love story between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) will take centre stage in Bridgerton’s forthcoming series.
This is a deviation from the order of the original books, as the third instalment in the Bridgerton novel series by Julia Quinn focuses on Benedict Bridgerton’s romance with Sophie Beckett.
The couple will take the lead roles in the show’s third season
Explaining the change in an interview with Variety, new showrunner Jess Brownell said: “I really feel like it’s Colin and Penelope’s time. Because we’ve been watching both of these actors on our screens since season one, we’ve already invested in them a little bit. We know who they are as people,” she said.
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“I feel like, especially in the last season, there are these moments of tension between them where it’s like, Colin walks up to the line of almost realising that Penelope has feelings for him but doesn’t quite get there.
“Instead of treading water on that dynamic, we wanted to push it into their season. It really felt like the perfect moment to tee it up.”
Dr James Greenwood was a guest on the BBC daytime show on Tuesday morning, where he was joined by his two labradors Dolly and Olly for a pet-themed segment.
However, Dolly appeared keen to get involved in another item later in the show, when former Strictly pro dancer Janette and her husband Aljaž Škorjanec led a Strictly Fitness feature.
Unfortunately for Dolly, she approached Janette and Aljaž just as they were performing a spin to see out the programme, with Janette’s foot making contact with the pooch’s head.
Audible sounds could be heard from others in the studio, before the show’s title card flashed up on screen.
Luckily, Dolly was okay with owner Dr James replying to concerned viewers on Twitter after the episode aired.
“She is totally fine! Getting stuck into a chew stick on the way home,” he tweeted.
He added: “I can confirm she is 100% all good. No harm done.”
Laura Whitmore has defended her interview with eliminated Love Island contestant Remi Lambert after facing criticism on social media.
During Sunday night’s instalment of the ITV2 reality show, Remi became the latest Islander to leave the villa, and later spoke to the presenter via video-link on companion show Aftersun.
At the end of the interview, Laura told the panel: “Everything in me just wanted to cuddle him.”
Remi leaving the villa on Sunday night
ITV/Shutterstock
The following morning, one Love Island fan commented that Remi looked “broken” during the interview, accusing producers of asking him to rap “in bad faith” to “humiliate” him.
Laura then insisted: “Remi is a rapper and [was] asked in good faith in advance if he’d rap and prepare something which he did.
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“Live telly is nerve-wrecking, believe me, so maybe he was a bit nervous but he deserved to have his time.”
Remi is a rapper and asked in good faith in advance if he’d rap and prepare something which he did. Live Telly is nerve wrecking, believe me, so maybe he was a bit nervous but he deserved to have his time. Also I want to make Remi & Afia happen! ❤️ https://t.co/Rw3KWdp9b7
Prior to this year’s Love Island launch show, Laura decided to get ahead of her usual detractors with a TikTok video addressing some of the criticism she claims to have faced every year since she took over as host.
This included comments about her salary, her decision to fly between Mallorca and the UK over the course of the series, her interview technique when she speaks to the Islanders and claims she’s “never in” the villa.
Gareth Thomas is undeniably one of the most prolific and celebrated LGBTQ+ figures in the world of British sport.
In addition to his impressive, record-breaking career on the rugby pitch – which included serving as captain of the Welsh national team – Gareth has also received praise for having raised awareness of issues around queer identity, mental health and destigmatising HIV.
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For his latest venture, the rugby pro has teamed up with Ford for a new video series which aims to fight discrimination in industries that are stereotypically male-dominated.
Gareth Thomas pictured in 2020
ITV/Shutterstock
“Tough Talks is all about sitting down with people and giving them a safe place where they feel they can air the problems that are around what is a very very macho and sometimes toxic masculinity kind of environment,” he explains.
“What we’re trying to do is get the culture of this industry up to speed with 21st century thinking and 21st century living. And try to create change, because culture can break people down and stop people being authentic. And to be successful, you need a diverse work environment, you need people to be able to be authentic, you need people to be able to be the best version of themselves.”
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To mark Pride month, HuffPost UK spoke to Gareth about how Queer As Folk provided an insight into a world he’d “only ever dreamt of” before coming out, why It’s A Sin proved to be both an “addictive” and “disturbing” watch and his admiration for Blackpool’s Jake Daniels…
Who was the first queer person you can remember looking up to?
I kind of feel like I used to shelter myself away from many iconic LGBT figures when I was growing up, because I was afraid of being “guilty by association”. So I kind of hid myself away.
But someone I would say now is H Watkins from Steps, who’s a really good friend of mine. He’s probably not somebody that people would think [I would say], because he’s not someone I grew up watching. He’s even younger than me! It sounds like a really bizarre one, because I’m sure people would think, you know, Peter Tatchell or Ian McKellen or somebody like that.
But for me, he has the same lived experience as me, he’s from the same area, he’s always celebrated who he is and he’s very active in fighting for the rights of LGBT people in the community and the area that I know.
H on stage earlier this year
Joseph Okpako via Getty Images
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What was the first LGBTQ+ TV show or film that you remember resonating with you?
Oh my word, well, I wasn’t out at the time, but I remember watching Queer As Folk when it first came out about 20 years ago. And it was like an insight into a world that I’d only kind of ever dreamt of exploring or being in. It was a very interesting watch for me.
It pushed the boundaries and got people’s attention and got people talking about what it’s like to live in that community. I’m not sure if it scared me, or whether it excited me about the potential of, “OK, that’s what’s on the other side of the door if I dare ever unlock it”.
Queer As Folk
What’s a song you associate with your own coming out?
The Freemasons’ remix of Here Comes The Rain Again by The Eurythmics, and I’ll always remember it because it was playing the first time I ever walked into my first gay club experience.
The reason it resonated with me was because that was the first moment where I really saw people not worrying about what other people were thinking about them. It felt like, for the first time in my life, I was standing there, looking around, and feeling really liberated. Whenever I hear that song, I have that memory of seeing people smiling, seeing people holding hands, seeing people not afraid to be themselves.
What was the most recent LGBTQ+ show or film that made an impact on you?
It has to be It’s A Sin, without a shadow of a doubt. For me, watching It’s A Sin, as much as I found it addictive and wanted to binge-watch it, I also found it quite disturbing. I live with HIV myself, and through the work I do now, I know a lot of people who are from that generation. They’ve told me stories, but to see it played out and the reality of what it was brought it to life a lot more.
I became very appreciative of the times I live in now, the fact that I can live on medication now. But also, I felt so connected to, and helpless for, the people who lost their lives in horrific, horrific ways. They spent the rest of their lives, after diagnosis, being locked in a room or being discriminated against or with people not wanting to touch them.
[Seeing] the reality of what happened, and with my connection to it, I wished I could have done something then, but also it made me more determined to realise, “at least I can do something now”. That gave me a sense of motivation, but also a sense of sadness that people had to live through that.
And I made sure that everybody that I spoke to watched it, because I wanted to make sure that we never go back to times like that. There is always a chance in society that if we relax or if we stop talking about things, it’s easy to fall back to the way things were.
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The cast of Channel 4’s It’s A Sin
via PA Features Archive/Press Association Images
Who is your ultimate queer icon?
Growing up, I loved Dennis Rodman so much. He was a great athlete, he was a great basketball player, but he also always pushed the limits. He would wear a dress if he woke up and felt like he wanted to – it didn’t define him, he just felt like he wanted to wear one. He had tattoos and piercings and it felt, to me, he was someone who had no shame around his identity. And if his identity didn’t match what someone else thought it should be, that was somebody else’s problem to deal with, not his.
I was such a sports fan, and I think to have a sporting icon – which he was at that time – pushing the boundaries and the limits of what people assumed every sports person should be, or look like, or wear, or say, it was very iconic to me. He didn’t follow the rules, and he didn’t break the rules, he just made his own rules.
Dennis Rodman at the VMAs in 1995
Ron Galella, Ltd. via Getty Images
Who is a queer person in the public eye right now that makes you excited about the future?
It has to be Jake Daniels, the footballer. It kind of blew me away, reading about him coming out. It was such a brave decision – he’s 17 and he’s only just signed a professional contract. At 17 I was so immature, so to show that maturity and bravery at such a young age, makes him such a positive role model for that generation – and everyone else.
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And now, whether he’s successful or not, he’ll be able to look himself in the mirror and say, “I gave myself every opportunity”. Because if he failed, and he hadn’t spoken about his sexuality, he could have been left wondering, “would I have been successful if I had been authentic?”. The fact that he’s willing to put himself under that spotlight and that pressure, he’s willing to take the failures or successes and through all of it being himself, I think that is such a positive message for the future.
Jake Daniels
Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images
Why do you think Pride is still so important today?
There are so, so many reasons. For me, Pride was not created or born out of a need to celebrate but being gay, it was born out of a need to fight for the right to exist without persecution. And we still live in a world where there is discrimination, nobody in this world can sit down and say there is zero discrimination against the LGBT community. There are still 69 countries where it is still illegal to be gay.
There are far-reaching messages from these Pride festivals and marches, that transcends borders and transcend communities. And it gives people hope. If I go to a Pride, I don’t go there to celebrate me being gay, I go [to celebrate] my right to exist without being persecuted for it.
Gareth Thomas
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
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What’s your message for the next generation of LGBTQ+ people?
Everyone goes through life wanting to be liked by everyone. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But I’d like the next generation of people to realise that it’s OK to be disliked for being authentic, but it’s not OK to be liked for being a version of you that’s a version that other people think you should be.
I feel that if people didn’t feel the need to lie about who they are, life would be a lot easier for everybody.
Watch Gareth Thomas and Ford’s Tough Talks video below:
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Boris Johnson has said Ukraine should be given the opportunity to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, as organisers confirmed that they were beginning discussions about holding the event in the UK.
Speculation soon began about whether the competition would be able to take place in Ukraine in 2022, amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
On Friday, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a public statement that they had conducted a “full assessment and feasibility study” with Ukrainian state broadcaster UA:PBC.
However, it concluded that after “exploring all scenarios” with the network, they shared “their sadness and disappointment that next year’s Contest cannot be held in Ukraine”.
“As a result of this decision, in accordance with the rules and to ensure the continuity of the event, the EBU will now begin discussions with the BBC, as this year’s runner-up, to potentially host the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom,” they added.
Speaking to reporters shortly after returning from an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Johnson explained: “I have just been to Kyiv. I won’t say it is completely jiving and buzzing and popping but it is far, far more lively. People are much more confident. People are out in the streets eating in cafes and restaurants in a way that they weren’t even few weeks ago.
“The Ukrainians won the Eurovision Song Contest. I know we had a fantastic entry, I know we came second and I’d love it to be in this country. But the fact is that they won and they deserve to have it.”
He added: “I believe that they can have it and I believe that they should have it. I believe Kyiv or any other safe Ukrainian city would be a fantastic place to have it.”
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Boris Johnson
Leon Neal via Getty Images
Following the EBU’s statement, a representative for the Ukrainian broadcaster claimed they’d been “denied the right” to host the contest and called for negotiations on a new location to be put on hold.
“We are disappointed with this decision of the EBU,” they said. “During this month, a large number of people in Ukraine have thrown all their efforts to fulfil the conditions for holding Eurovision in our country. Security is, of course, our first priority.
“The team of UA:PBC, state and local authorities did a thorough job and offered different options. It is a pity to see such an unappealable statement, therefore, we ask our partners to hold further negotiations.”
Since debuting in the competition in 2003, Ukraine has racked up three wins, with Kyiv consequently hosting the Eurovision live final in both 2005 and 2017.
This article has been updated to include a comment from UA:PBC.
A year since Pose left our screens for good, the show’s presence is still being felt thanks to the conversations it sparked, the joy it brought to those who loved it and the success its cast members are continuing to enjoy.
Among its stars is Angelica Ross, best known to fans of the Emmy-winning show for her portrayal as ballroom staple and lip sync queen Candy Ferocity.
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Since her character exited the show in 2019, Angelica has remained booked and busy. She played three markedly different characters in two seasons of American Horror Story, contributed to the must-see documentaries Disclosure and Framing Agnes and, more recently, has been releasing music.
Angelica Ross
James Anthony
However, it’s for her performance as Candy that Angelica is still best known, even though she admits now that she almost missed out on Pose completely.
“This is what they mean when they say, ‘what is for you will not pass you by’,” Angelica tells HuffPost UK. “I initially said no to the audition. I looked at the [script] and the pages were for Blanca and Elektra. Blanca – I felt like, the name alone, I was like, ‘well Blanca is a Latinx girl’. And Elektra – the only person who could have played Elektra is Dominique Jackson.
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“But what I didn’t realise was the Pose team was using those roles to figure out who else would be in the house. So even though I passed up on it, my agent was like, ‘no no, you need to audition for this’.
“And so I did a self-tape, and I got a call back and they flew me to New York to audition in front of Ryan Murphy and 16 other network executives, it was very nerve-racking.”
Angelica in character as Candy in Pose
Having aced her audition, Angelia reveals her “spiritual practise” had led her to believe she was going to land a part, explaining: “There were a couple of things that just happened serendipitously that told me that I was going to be on the show.
“But I did not get the role of Blanca, which was the role that I was reading for. And I was devastated. I remember crying and really letting it all out, because everything in my being told me I was going to be on the show. And when it didn’t happen I was like, ‘are my spiritual senses off?’.
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“And then a month or two later, I get word from Pose that they want to give me an offer to play Candy, a role they’d written for me. And that blew my mind.”
In the future, Angelica says she wants to see “myself and other trans actors be involved in romantic comedies”, and personally wants to branch out into the action and musical genres.
“I’d love to be in a James Bond film,” she reveals. “I think I’d be a wonderful James Bond girl. I would bring the sex appeal and the fierceness.
“There are some things I have my eye on in the superhero world, that I’m working on manifesting, but I’m honestly just open to all the different types of roles. And I’m really looking forward to doing comedy work. Even though I do drama, comedy is my backbone. And maybe some stuff that involves music. Some musicals.”
For Pride, we spoke to Angelica about her unsung heroes in the LGBTQ+ community, enjoying Pose like a fan and her “radical” advice for the next generation of queer people…
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Who was the first queer person you can remember looking up to?
When I was really young, maybe 18 years old, I remember living in Rochester, New York and I went to this club, Marcella. That was back in the day when I met Pandora Boxx and Darienne Lake, all these Drag Race girls all worked at this club.
There was this queen who worked there called Armani, who was a trans woman. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen a trans woman up close and in person. And I think I sort of immediately rejected the notion, I was like, “I’m not like that”, you know? At first. But getting to know her and watching her perform, I realised that I didn’t have to be afraid. I looked at her and [at first] I was almost afraid that I would see myself, you know? I didn’t really understand how to sort of put the pieces together.
It wasn’t until I got out of the military and met my drag mother, Traci Ross – where I got my last name from, we come from a long line of Rosses – that I did.
These are people that aren’t famous, that aren’t necessarily celebrated in the history books, but they were some of the first people who reflected to me Black trans women who were creating their own life on their own terms.
Angelica Ross
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What was the first LGBTQ+ TV show or film that you remember resonating with you?
Noah’s Arc resonated with me so much. I watched shows like Queer As Folk, because those were the only shows that we had. Or movies like Trick or Mambo Italiano or Billy’s First Hollywood Screen Kiss, but they did not have Black representation. Noah’s Arc had an all Black, gay cast, and it was the first time that I felt that I saw myself, and saw my community, and just laughed and loved.
The cast of Noah’s Arc
What’s a song you associate with your own coming out?
There’s a song called Unspeakable Joy by Kim English, and that song has such a special place in my heart.
I remember hearing it for the first time like it was yesterday. It was my first Pride in Rochester, New York, I was wearing these white bell-bottom-y pants, a white A-shirt and some white butterfly wings, and I just remember the song blaring and her singing “joy, unspeakable joy”. And it still slaps!
It never fails to get me in such a great mood when I hear that song, because that is prayer for LGBTQ+ people around the world – unspeakable joy. Part of my purpose is honestly to be able to create joy for my community and for my people.
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What was the most recent LGBTQ+ show or film that made an impact on you?
I would have to say Pose. Of course, I’m on the show so there’s a little bias there. But in reality, a lot of my experience with Pose was as a fan. I watched the show like the fans did, really sitting my younger self, my inner child, with my eyes wide open, just in awe of what I was watching on television. Watching a love story that ends in a fairytale ending for a trans woman, or when I watch someone like Elektra become rich or Blanca finding love – it felt to me that there was nothing like it.
This is one of those shows that really centered Black and brown folks and everyone else were peripheral characters. The white people were, you know… they were there in season one and I don’t think we saw them in season two! Not to say that they weren’t great additions to the show, obviously. Evan Peters and Kate Mara, they were all amazing. But I think that it was very clear that we weren’t sure if society was ready for a show led by a Black and brown queer cast, so we brought all the bells and whistles to the table in that first season, but then really honed in and focussed in on the characters as of seasons two and three. And the fans every day tell us they miss us. And I miss them too.
Pose stars MJ Rodriguez, Hailie Sahar, Dominique Jackson, Janet Mock (writer and director), Angelica Ross, and Charlayne Woodard
Andrew Toth via Getty Images
Who is your ultimate queer icon?
That’s so hard because I think there are so many icons out there who are iconic in so many different ways. Everyone from Miss Major, who has been iconic as a grass-roots leader in the movement for trans equality and trans rights to people like Raquel Willis, who, even though she might be young, she has been just legendary and iconic in the ways that she represents our community.
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Then you’ve got folks like Janelle Monáe and Lil Nas X and Sam Smith and Shea Diamond and Diana King – even RuPaul! RuPaul is a queer icon, obviously. Sis has created a legendary legacy.
I’m just especially inspired by queer elders, and by every day queer people who have been iconic in the way they live their lives.
Janelle Monáe
Josh Brasted via Getty Images
Who is a queer person in the public eye right now that makes you excited about the future?
Raquel Willis is… I feel like she’s my daughter. She deserves the world. When I did my speech for the State Of The Union address for Logo, I wanted to make sure that Raquel was on the team. She’s a young person who’s on the cutting edge of advocacy – and I’m constantly learning from other people, so those are the people I want on my team, who are going to keep me in the know and keep me fresh.
Journalist and trans activist Raquel Willis
JP Yim via Getty Images
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Why do you think Pride is still so important today?
Pride is so important because it’s a moment when we all get to come together and realise that there’s a community out there so much bigger than ourselves. There are more people going through similar things that we’ve gone through.
But also, it’s an opportunity to ask the question: “Are you proud?”. Are you proud of yourself, are you proud of our community? Because there are times where I’m not necessarily proud of where our community is.
For me, Pride is a conversation around both celebrating, but also checking in and making sure that you have done the work to be proud of yourself. The history books are being written right now. There is an attack on the autonomy of women’s bodies, there is an attack on the autonomy of trans people’s bodies, there is an attempt to roll back even things that gay folks have been taking for granted. So, it really is a question of, while all this was happening, while wars were being raged, while people were being oppressed, while people were being brutalised and killed by police, while all that was going on… what were you doing?
That’s what I want folks to focus on. What are you contributing? How are you helping to create the world that we all want and need? The peaceful world that we want is not just going to happen. We have to make it happen. So what are you going to do to make it happen?
Angelica Ross at the opening night of Blues For An Alabama Sky
Paul Archuleta via Getty Images
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What’s your message for the next generation of LGBTQ+ people?
My message for the next generation of queer people is to understand that there are laws and then there are universal laws. And sometimes, the law of the land is not moral and it’s not just. Sometimes, the law of the land approves slavery. Fights wars. All these different things. So, you don’t always have to subscribe to the laws of the land.
And I know that this is going to sound so radical. But as our elders would say, as my friend Candice Benbow would say, “govern yourselves accordingly”. All these laws were not made for you, sweetie. They weren’t made for you to succeed, they were barely made for you to breathe and live. So once you understand that, you will govern yourselfaccordingly.
If you strive to be a good person, and to be great at something so you can contribute to the world that we are all building together, that is all you need to focus on. You don’t need to focus on what anybody else is saying.
Watch the music video for Angelica’s song Only You below:
The new sequel series following the character is in early development with HBO, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety both reported.
Jon Snow became a fan favourite during Game Of Thrones eight-season run, which came to an end in 2019.
He was the illegitimate son of the Stark family, but the final season saw him learn that he was in fact descended from the dreaded Targaryen family.
Jon previously took up a post in the Night’s Watch to guard the realm of men from the sinister White Walkers, and after journeying north of the wall, he returned to be named Warden of the North.
Kit was nominated twice for Emmy awards for his portrayal of the character, and starred alongside his wife Rosie Leslie, who played his lover Ygritte in the series.
News of the show’s development means there are now seven Game Of Thrones spin-offs currently in the works.
Another – the prequel House Of The Dragon based on George R R Martin’s Fire And Blood novel – is set to debut in August.
The 10-episode series follows the rise of House Targaryen, taking place 200 years before the events of Game Of Thrones.