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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The Chestergate pub in Stockport is at it again with some of the most wonderfully Manc scenes you’ll ever see
Danny Jones
The legendary Chestergate pub in Stockport is back with another belter of a video, following on from their viral belly-flashing clip of 2022.
The Mersey Square boozer has painted yet another quintessentially Northern depiction of UK pub culture with the latest Manc scenes they’ve captured around the karaoke machine.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of stumbling into The Chestergate in Stockport town centre, the long-standing boozer currently operated by publican chain Blind Tiger Inns, you’re seriously missing out.
While it might not be the flashiest of pubs, when it comes to entertainment, it always delivers.
Whether it’s stunts like renaming themselves ‘The Southgate’ whenever the Euros or World Cup rolls around, or the locals just genuinely having a whale of a time no matter what day of the week it is, it really sums up the best of pub culture.
The Chestergate went viral for some of the most British footage ever caught on film back in 2022 and the videos saw a huge wave of love and support flooding in for the pub, as well as a healthy amount of chuckles. Safe to say we were chuffed to see them pop back up on our feed again recently.
Karaoke night at The Chestergate literally never disappoints.
Forget ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ or ‘Champagne Supernova’ for karaoke songs – we’ll take a cacophony of inaudible throwback pop music, whilst another bloke and his hype man try and MC over a totally ill-fitting beat any day of the week.
And that’s handy because you’ll find those kinds of shenanigans happening at this place all the time.
It’s simultaneously one of the most no-nonsense and somehow a non-stop shenanigan-filled paradise. They also look after their own and consider their regulars part of the family. Case and point: they threw their very own ‘Dancing Queen’ Molly a big bash for her 86th birthday and it’s such wholesome viewing.
At this point, it’s worth flagging that we have nothing but envy for these folks and anyone who’s just out there having the time of their lives on any random weeknight.
Yes, it produced plenty of laughs for those watching online in recent times but this lot won’t mind one bit – not only is the pub seeing more and more new faces through the door but that’s the whole point of a pub, isn’t it? Going for a pint with your nearest and dearest and having a laugh.
Not only is it very Manchester but it’s Britain at its very best.
We hope to see you at The Chestergate pub in Stockport for a pint or two sometime soon and we’re making a bit of a prat of ourselves, don’t worry, we’re sure they’ll have the cameras ready for you.
Tailgaters and middle lane hoggers warned to change their ‘dangerous’ driving style
Emily Sergeant
A warning has been issued to tailgaters and motorway middle lane hoggers urging them to change their ‘dangerous’ driving style.
Do you find yourself guilty of two of the biggest driving sins from time to time?
Well, according to the latest figures released by National Highways, one in three motorists have admitted to middle lane hogging in their lives, while one in four have committed acts of tailgating on some of the UK’s fastest roads.
These shocking survey findings – which were released back in early March as the Government-owned road management company launched a new campaign – showed that lane hogging was among the behaviours that are most likely to cause motorists and passengers to feel ‘frustrated’, and tailgating was most likely to cause feelings of unease, stress, and anxiety.
Nearly a third (32%) of drivers admitted to lane hogging ‘at least occasionally’ while driving on England’s motorways and major A roads, according to the survey – which polled 2,500 adults between the ages of 16-75.
On top of this, almost seven in ten adults in England (67%) said close following or tailgating is a ‘serious problem’ on these types of roads, but nearly a quarter (23%) admitted to doing it from time to time.
Tut-tut.
Tailgaters and middle lane hoggers have been warned to change their ‘dangerous’ driving style (Credit: IPTC/Ronald Hudson)
It’s these very statistics which have led National Highways to issue an urgent warning that calls on these motorists to “carefully consider” their driving habits, as “little changes can change everything”.
Lane hogging and tailgating both fall under the offence of ‘careless driving’ in England, with the country’s police forces having the power to hand out on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points to those who commit such offences.
“Middle lane hogging and tailgating are far more than mere annoyances for drivers,” warned RAC road safety spokesperson, Rod Dennis, adding that these actions “put everyone on the roads at risk.”
If you’re too close to the vehicle in front, you’re tailgating. This is very dangerous and could lead to a collision. Always leave at least a two-second gap and make sure you follow the advice from The Highway Code.
He continued in his reaction to the release of the latest National Highways figures: “Closely following another motorist could easily result in a serious collision should the driver ahead need to brake sharply for any reason, so the fact nearly one in four drivers admitted to doing so on some of England’s fastest and busiest roads is frightening”.
Mr Dennis said he understands that offenders “might find these habits hard to kick”, but that’s why the urgent calls for motorists to make changes are “so important”.
“By understanding that how we choose to drive affects others, we can each make a real difference to the safety of our roads,” he concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
19th January 2021 
