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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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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Rúben Amorim’s Man United press conference interrupted by Old Trafford roof leaking – again
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim has been given plenty doses of reality since arriving at Old Trafford but surely there can’t be any more telling than the stadium’s roof leaking into his press conference?
Poetic irony timed to perfection.
Not only did the new head coach have to sit in front of journalists as he tried to wrap his head around another Premier League implosion following the 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth – a team now sat in fifth, it’s worth noting – but he also got to witness the condition the stadium first hand.
And when we say first hand, we mean literally right in front of his face.
In case you wanted a summary of how much work there is to be done at Man United, the roof started leaking during Ruben Amorim’s press conference. 💦
In this instance, not only was the leak internal but Amorim’s post-match press conference was actually briefly interrupted as drops of water fell on the desk in front of him.
You can hear reporters asking what it is (they knew full well) before United’s press officer can be heard off-camera asking them to quickly move on. Sports writer Sanny Rudravajhala quipped, “A new meaning to the leaks at #mufc”, in reference to dressing room talk and lineups still being fed to the media.
Make what you will of Amorim‘s expressions in this moment but let’s just say he can’t have been expecting to have to worry about things like this when he accepted the job.
A penny for the Portugueseman’s thoughts when he looked up and saw that leak coming from the ceiling:
The moment Ruben Amorim's press conference is interrupted by a leak at Old Trafford pic.twitter.com/gqc8fW20Om
Although many are deeply reticent to let the iconic Theatre of Dreams go after more than a century of history and sporting memories, scenes like this certainly go a long way to arguing the case for a whole new home ground rather than simply renovating as it appears to be in such a sorry state of disrepair.
But even with a brand-new state-of-the-art footballing arena, it doesn’t do anything to address improving performances on the pitch as even with eye-watering sums invested in the squad over recent years, they still look way off it and serious work needs to be done for them to catch up with the pack.
You can watch the highlights from Man United vs Bournemouth below:
The leaking roof wasn’t the only thing raining down on Amorim as the derby day high was followed by a frustrating festive low.
Featured Images — BeanymanSports (screenshot via YouTube)
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A new study has revealed the exact age that ‘hangovers from hell’ begin
Clementine Hall
Still nursing a Christmas hangover? There might be a reason for that.
That’s because a new study has officially revealed the exact age that “hangovers from hell” start and begin to ruin our lives.
Picture this, you’re a 20-something-year-old who’s woken up after a night of heavy drinking only to feel a faint headache and a craving for greasy food. One fry up and one lucozade later, you’re feeling right as rain by 3pm and ready to go again.
Fast forward a few years and a glass of red wine or two will knock you out for days as you reach for the paracetamol and hide away from any bright light whilst you swear to never ever drink again (until the next weekend).
Gone are the days where you could stay out all night and only feel a slight hangover the next morning.
But at what age does this drastic decline take place? When does our ability to handle alcohol slip through our sticky, tequila covered fingers? Well, a new study carried out by greeting-card company Thortful has found that the age of 34 is where it all starts to go downhill.
A new study has revealed the exact age that ‘hangovers from hell’ start / Credit: Kraken Images (via Unsplash)
A survey of 2,000 people aged from 18 to 65 found this to be the age where hangovers really start to sting and you begin to question whether that last gin and tonic was really worth it, and it doesn’t just stop there, as age 35 was found to be the year when hangovers last for two days which is the ultimate punishment.
We all know there’s nothing worse than rocking up to work on a Monday morning still feel hazy eyed and more dehydrated than a cactus.
Sadly, it’s not until age 37 when we finally learn from our mistakes (supposedly) and start to recognise our limits – with the consensus being that people feel ‘too old’ to go out at age 38, and subsequently start to feel more drunk after just two drinks at age 39.
At least it’ll be a cheap night out.
Long gone are the days when you would wake up feeling fresh as a daisy / Credit: Kinga Cichewicz (via Unsplash)
The science behind it is as follows – Dr. Deborah Lee of Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, said little research has been conducted on the severity of hangovers with regards to ageing, but explained they worsen due to ‘the breakdown of alcohol and the persisting presence of its toxic metabolite – acetaldehyde – in the body’, the Metro reports.
“Hangovers are likely to worsen with age because the activity of the key enzymes involved in alcohol breakdown becomes less efficient with age,” Dr Lee explained.
“Also, older people have less muscle and more fat, plus the distribution of water within the body alters as we age.
“The end result is higher levels of blood alcohol which take longer to metabolise.”
So, if you’re still in your 20s and deliberating whether or not to have that extra shot of tequila then use this information to your advantage and go for it, as sooner or later that extra sip might have you bed bound and out of action for a few days, so enjoy it whilst you can.
Emily Sergeant -
19th January 2021 
