The Teletubbies quickly became a children’s TV phenomenon (Picture: BBC)
One of the original stars of children’s TV classic the Teletubbies has revealed the grim reality of what it was like to don her character’s famous costume.
When the show first launched in 1997 – starring the lead characters Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po, the hoover Noo-Noo and the Sun Baby – it quickly became a phenomenon.
The BBC Two series originally aired for four years until 2001, before it received the reboot treatment in 2015 for another three years on CBeebies.
One of the stars who was catapulted to fame from behind a mask was Nikky Smedley, who played the cheerfully yellow role of Laa-Laa in the original programme.
In a new interview, Nikky has lifted the lid on the reality behind transforming into Laa-Laa, and how drastically her life changed when the public found out her identity.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the performer – who’s set to star in an Edinburgh Fringe spoken-word production called Confessions of a Teletubby in August – recollected how some early reactions to the Teletubbies were ‘quite derogatory’ as parents weren’t happy about the characters’ ‘goo-goo’ speech.
Laa-Laa was a fan-favourite character (Picture: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock)
Nikky seen in New York in 2004 promoting Fitness For Children With Boohbah (Picture: Fernando Leon/Getty Images)
Nikky explained that the cast members were ‘upset’ for the show’s creators Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport, ‘because they were trying to do something brilliant’ and it was ‘getting slagged’.
As for the hefty Laa-Laa costume that she wore for her role, it was a very sweaty business.
‘We were concentrating on doing the work. We were working long days. You didn’t have time to lie about and read the paper and watch the news,’ she said.
While it might have been a difficult task to transform into Laa-Laa for long filming days, Nikky revealed that the people behind the series were ‘generous’ as they allowed her to be involved with shaping the character and her personality.
The show originally aired for four years before returning for a reboot (Picture: Mousse/ABACA/Shutterstock)
When Tinky Winky actor Dave Thompson left the show, this subsequently led to the identities of the other cast members also being revealed.
‘I started getting [letters] from a grown man telling me what a saucy little Teletubby I was and what he would like to do to me – with Tubby custard,’ Nikky said.
‘I let the bosses know, in case I came to a grisly – and sticky – end, but after a few months, the letters tailed off and it became apparent that I was no longer starring in the stalker’s fantasies.’
She added that they were ‘very well protected’ with safeguarding measures put in place by the production company Ragdoll and the BBC, ‘which filtered things out’.
Earlier this year, Teletubbies co-creator Anne spoke to Metro.co.uk, during which she compared making children’s TV decades ago to the content that many kids are able to access today.
‘We live in a completely different world and what saddens me is we quite happily let children watch YouTube and nobody is saying, “Is this suitable?” Whereas for BBC, everything was checked by many people,’ she said.
Anne also joked in the interview: ‘Some people understand that it is quite difficult to write children’s TV but unfortunately, the rest of the world just thinks that we are on drugs.’
Teletubbies is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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