A Benidorm cast member has revealed he swapped his role of singing and acting on TV to secretly becoming an ASDA delivery driver throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
But some eagle-eyed superfans still spotted who he was.
Asa Elliott – best-known for appearing as a bar singer in the ITV cult sitcom, which ran from 2007-2018 – was left without work when singing jobs on cruise ships were cancelled in as a result of lockdown restrictions being put in place last March, just two weeks after the birth of his first child, but fears over his income pushed him to apply for ‘normal’ jobs, and since July he’s been delivering shopping to Hull residents, all without publishing anything on social media.
The 39-year-old – originally from Denton in the Greater Manchester borough of Tameside – has work booked on a number of P&O cruises booked for June, but until then, he’s been perfectly content singing in his van and only mentioning his career when asked about it.
Although when he finally revealed the secret of his new career direction to his 21,000 Twitter followers last week, it didn’t come as a total surprise to some of his local fans.
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Some had recognised him at their doorstep, and even a few of his new colleagues recognised him in work.
“I didn’t tell anybody at first about the job I did or who I was, but there were a few Benidorm fans who worked in-store and they started to pull me to one side and we’d have a natter.” Asa explained.
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“When the customer gets a text message telling them who’s delivering it and it has my name on, it’s not a run-of-the-mill name so some fans have thought it might be me.
“I delivered to one lady and she just had this big smile on her face and she said she thought it was going to be me delivering it, but don’t worry as she wouldn’t tell anybody on the Benidorm forum. I’ve [also] had people who’ve found out and they’ve messaged me saying they’re starting to get Asda deliveries now in the hope that I deliver their shopping.
“I was like ‘oh my word’.”
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He continued: “I’ve had a good laugh and chat with everybody and told them some Benidorm stories. It’s great because you get to know the customers because you do the same rounds every week.
“I’ve got a Christmas album that I did and I gave out a few CDs to the regulars and they were chuffed with that.
“There was [even] a bloke in work who didn’t know I was a singer, and I was singing away normally and he said I should go on The Voice as I’m ‘pretty good’.
“I just thought, ‘if only you knew’.
“I didn’t put it out there at first, not because I didn’t want people to know, but more that I didn’t want anybody to think I was doing it for any other reason than supporting my family.”
Asa and his wife Natalie were sadly both out of work by March of last year.
While the government freelance support scheme and Natalie’s maternity pay from her sexual health job helped, it wasn’t enough to make ends meet, and so Asa decided to join Asda, saying: “We’d stretched ourselves as much as possible to get the best house we could, and I was thinking 2020 was going to be the year that I made big strides in my career.
“I envisaged being away for a couple of weeks every month and I’d take the family sometimes, but we ended up just sitting around the house.
“I’d cleared my diary to spend some time with my wife and the baby at first, but after that there was real panic stations about what I was going to do. It was really stressful. I had a cruise booked for May and there was a glimmer of hope that was going to happen, but when that got cancelled I had zero in the diary for the whole year.
“We needed the break from just sitting around the house and we needed the money [and] what we were earning at that time just about covered the mortgage and that was it.”
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Kennedy News & Media
Asa has appeared in 13 episodes of Benidorm, with the first coming in 2010’s Christmas Special before he became a regular character in series five and six, where he could often be seen singing on stage at Neptune’s Bar as drama unfolded around him.
He also performed in Benidorm Live’s theatre tour in 2018 and 2019, and was spotted to appear on the show while performing on the Benidorm circuit in real life.
“I’ve only been fully employed as an entertainer on and off for the past 15 years, so because I’ve had all kinds of jobs, I wasn’t scared to get my hands dirty.” Asa continued
There were a few people in the entertainment industry that started at the same time as well, [and] people who have had all sorts of jobs before [the pandemic].
“Everyone has a story to tell.”
His wife will return to work in February, so he’s proud to claim “the end is in sight” – but until he’s back on the cruise ships, he’ll continue to enjoy his delivery work at Asda.
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PrettyLittleThing founder marries model in star-studded £20m wedding
Daisy Jackson
The founder of Manchester fashion brand PrettyLittleThing, Umar Kamani, has married his model love in a lavish four-day wedding celebration.
The entrepreneur married Nada Adelle in the south of France in a glittering event reportedly costing £20m.
Among the guests were a-listers like Naomi Campbell, Anthony Joshua, and Rio Ferdinand, with performances from Mariah Carey and Ronan Keating.
Umar, originally from Manchester, also invited fellow Mancs like all three Thomas brothers Ryan, Scott and Adam, and fellow entrepreneur Steven Bartlett.
The stunning wedding took place three years after the happy couple announced their engagement (he proposed with a diamond ring worth £1.45m).
Umar, 36, co-founded online fashion giant PrettyLittleThing with his brother Adam. His bride Nada, 31, is a model.
And while he’s famed for creating affordable fashion, this wedding leaned the other way – Nada wore an haute couture Dior gown designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, which took 540 hours to make.
The PrettyLittleThing founder’s wedding kicked off with a poolside welcome party where all guests dressed in white.
Celebrity guests at PrettyLittleThing co-founder Umar Kamani’s wedding included Naomi Campbell. Credit: InstagramRio and Kate Ferdinand at the lavish wedding in the south of France. Credit: instagramScott Thomas with Steven Bartlett at Umar Kamani’s wedding
Then came a black tie wedding celebration, where Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sang The Prayer as Nada walked down the aisle.
The reception that followed took place inside a huge ballroom, where Mariah Carey sang several of her biggest hits to delighted guests.
On the third day of the wedding, it was time for the traditional Indian wedding celebration, Nada this time dressed in a sparkling gown in contrast to her more simple Dior dress.
And guests were treated to a barbecue on Sunday before heading home from France.
Mariah Carey performing at the Kamani wedding. Credit: Instagram, Lucy MecklenburghScott Thomas shared a glimpse into the lavish black tie wedding reception of PrettyLittleThing founder Umar KamaniAndrea Bocelli performing at the Kamani wedding. Credit: Instagram, Ryan ThomasAdam Kamani’s sweet message to his brother and PrettyLittleThing co-founder Umar on his wedding day
Many of the celebrity guests have been sharing snaps from the big day(s), including Scott Thomas, who wrote: “There is nothing quite like a Kamani Wedding. Congratulations @umarkamani @nadakamani. Memories for a lifetime…”
Umar’s brother and PrettyLittleThing co-founder Adam also shared a sweet message from the wedding, writing: “Walking down the aisle to see you at the end of it stood there so handsome and strong before you got married. A feeling i can’t describe. I really am so proud of you. Love you so much @umarkamani.”
Naomi Campbell posted: “My chosen family ! Would not want to be anywhere else than with you on this day , TO WITNESS THIS BEAUTIFUL UNION OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE MR&MRSKAMANI WE LOVE YOU !!”
The supermodel icon also described it as a ‘divine weekend of love’.
The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
— Stockport (C)ounty (@StockportCounty) May 3, 2024
No one ever takes those pitch invasion ‘warnings’ seriously – not even the players.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?