Lesley Joseph: ‘Gimp – I think that’s what you call them’

Lesley Joseph is back on our TV screens as uber-cougar Dorien Green in Birds of a Feather – and from March to May she’ll be touring the UK in the intriguingly-titled Hot Flush! The Musical. We gave the 68-year-old actress (yes, she looks bloody amazing) a call to find out more.

What’s the premise of Hot Flush! The Musical?
“If I say menopause plus music, that might put people off! It’s actually about women of a certain age. It’s in the same sort of genre as The Vagina Monologues, which brought women into the theatre that might not have been before. They go and have a pizza and a bottle of wine, then come and have a really good time and maybe recognise some of what they see on stage. It’s about four women and a man, and it’s a series of vignettes linked together through the story of my character, Myra, who’s a divorce lawyer who just behaves appallingly. It’s got some fantastic songs; it ends on a very positive note, and it gets what I call rolling laughs: real belly laughs.”

As well as women, have you noticed many gays coming along?
“Not particularly, but I think everybody should come! Birds is on TV now, so hopefully that will bring some different people in – maybe some people will come because they want to see me! I think anybody that likes theatre and wants to have a laugh, whoever you are and whatever your beliefs, will find something to enjoy in this show. It’s a really good night out.”

On the poster it’s billed as “the naughtiest musical in town”. Is it quite risqué?
“Well, it’s all innuendo! A couple of bits go near the knuckle, but it’s all within good taste and the audience loves it. There’s a speed-dating scene and it features a gimp – I think that’s what you call them. Matt [Slack, co-star] comes on as a gimp wearing a rubber mask and a thong. And of course the audience goes berserk! That number brings the house down, and you don’t often get that in a show.”

You mentioned Birds of a Feather – are you pleased with how the new series has been received?
“I am! We did the stage show twice – the first time, we did it because we were asked to and we all adore working with each other. But the second time, we hoped it might drum up some interest to bring it back to TV. And that’s exactly what it did. The BBC only wanted a Christmas Special, but ITV offered a full series and they’ve been fantastic – they’ve really promoted the show. The viewing figures are great and people seem to be really loving it. I’m not on Twitter, but Linda [Robson] is and she said we were trending the night the first episode went out.”

Have you heard anything about a second series yet?
“I think phone calls have been made. I don’t think anybody will say anything definite until these eight episodes have been aired because people, quite rightly, want to wait and see how the viewing figures are at the end. Because the figures could suddenly drop between episodes four and eight to two million – I don’t think they will though, not in a million years. But if it keeps going as it’s going now, hopefully they will come back and get another one.”

Have any potential storylines been mooted?
“If we did another one, it would be slightly more difficult because this series has taken you up to where we are now. The next one would be where we are now, so therefore you’d have to make decisions about whether to come up with another story arc, make it sort of like a serial, or simply have one-off funny episodes. In this series Dorien came back and she was wealthy, but then she found out she was being sued for plagiarism and in episode eight you’ll see the court case. There’s a real story arc in these eight episodes. That could be more difficult in the next lot unless you decide something like, I don’t know, Tracey’s lost all her money and has to sell the house or something.”

Would you, Linda and Pauline definitely be up for another series though?
“Oh, I’m sure we would. I think the only way we’d never be up for it is if you were flogging a dead horse, but that’s so much not the case. I mean, people have really loved it – people tell me that the tweets and everything are fantastic. And I think while that goes on we’d be stupid not to love doing it because it’s still got legs.”

Speaking of tweeting, why aren’t you on Twitter yet? I think you’d go down really well on Twitter.
“Because being a bit obsessive, I’d probably spend all day on it! You know, Linda missed a show because of tweeting, so God knows what I’d be like! We were doing a show in Newcastle, and Pauline and I had already got there, but Linda was supposed to get a flight that afternoon. She missed the first flight because of bad traffic, but that was OK because she was going to get the next one. And shen she missed that one too!  We heard later that she’d gone into the terminal, sat in a cafe near one of the gates and started tweeting. And then at about 4.15pm she looked up and said, ‘Gosh, the Newcastle plane is really late’.  And they said, ‘No, it isn’t – it went on time. This plane is going to Brazil’. She was so busy tweeting she missed the flight!  The understudy had to go on that night; the poor thing was traumatised!”

Finally, could you be tempted back onto Come Dine With Me for a third time?
“No! I lost hysterically and I won hysterically. I can’t do another – I’ve told my agent. The first time, I was terrible, and the second time I got asked back because it was  ‘the best of the worst’, and I won it! I’m not as bad a cook as I was in the beginning. But you know, the crew turn up at 8am in the morning and don’t leave your house until 3am the next day. When the dinner is ready, they want to take a pack shot. And you’re saying, ‘No, I have to serve it up now!’ Then you take it in to the guests, and someone says, ‘Well, this is a bit cold’. And I’m like, ‘Well yes – because they’ve been taking their pack shot for the last ten minutes!”

Hot Flush! The Musical tours the UK from March 4 until May 23 – full dates and ticket details are available here.