Kate Winslet has revealed the ‘awful, awful’ moment she was convinced she had defecated on stage at a leading Manchester theatre.
The Oscar-winning actress appeared on The Graham Norton Show and spilled all the details of the hilarious near-miss incident.
Kate explained that she was in a production of What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton at the Royal Exchange Theatre, which is right here in the heart of Manchester.
She told the audience, as well as enraptured fellow guests Sir Lenny Henry, Nadiya Hussain and Jack Whitehall, that she was ‘convinced I’ve totally sh*t myself’ live on stage.
Speaking on the show on Friday night, the Titanic star said: “Well I nearly did a poo on stage once.
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“I’m just sitting here realising that you’re now going to make me tell that story.”
Kate Winslet. Credit: BBC, The Graham Norton ShowCredit: Royal Exchange Theatre
Of course, the entire audience and her fellow celebrity guests immediately start to egg her on.
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Kate explains a part of the play where her character is asked to strip for a physical examination in a medical setting – and the logistics of the theatre’s stage that made the whole scenario so much worse.
“This theatre was in the round,” she said. “So little me, I go behind the curtain and I do what I’ve done for nights on end and I take everything off, and I’m behind this curtain sort of shaped like [a semi-circle] so all the people above me are looking straight down at poor little Kate.
“I have to lie on this bed and I would lie there really kind of uncomfortably and awkwardly, and I’m lying there and suddenly… “
At this point, she grips the couch and starts writhing, saying: “‘It’s happening, it’s happening, it’s happening. Oh my god I’m gonna sh*t myself.’
“And I’m lying on a white sheet, naked on a stage!
“I’m convinced I’ve totally sh*t myself. So I think ‘Well what am I gonna do, because in a minute I have to stand up, come out from behind the curtain, and look for all my clothes that he’s hidden in the plant pots, and I’ve done a f***ing poo! This is horrific!’
“So I start to sort of runkel the sheet, I try and skrunkle up this sheet as best I can, I do this kind of ninja flip move and I twist myself and I bind this sheet all around myself, and I’m still thinking ‘Ah, happening, happening, behind the curtain’ standing in front of an audience who can see me from every f***ing angle, and I’m absolutely just convinced that if I move my body, there’s going to be poo on the floor.
Kate Winslet on the Graham Norton Show. Credit: BBC
“This is the most awful, awful thing.
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“Honestly, I practically slither off the stage, and I hide in a corner thinking ‘I’ve gotta check this sheet’.
“Ladies and gentleman, I had not actually done a poo. But the second I got into my dressing room and I ran into that bathroom – gunfire.”
You can watch the full clip here:
On YouTube, one person said: “Kate should get an award for that story. That’s why she so beloved.”
Another commented: “I knew Kate was talented but this is beyond hysterical.”
Someone else wrote: “Ladies and gentleman, witness the creation in real time of an all time classic Graham Norton Show story.”
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
More adult virgins needed for next series of Channel 4’s hit reality show Virgin Island
Emily Sergeant
Channel 4 is back looking for more adult virgins to take part in the potential next series of its hit reality show Virgin Island.
You may remember that early last year, we brought you the breaking highly-important news that Channel 4 was currently in the process of producing a new reality TV series that, at the time, had the working title of ‘The Intimacy Retreat’ and was looking for a group of adult virgins to apply to take part, if they were brave enough.
But now, well over a year on, we all know that show turned out to be the hit show Virgin Island – which has just finished airing its first series this week.
Channel 4 needs more adult virgins for the potential next series of its hit reality TV show Virgin Island / Credit: Channel 4
If you’re unfamiliar with Virgin Island, it’s unlike anything ever seen on TV before, as it follows the journey of a group of adult virgins who are whisked off to a Mediterranean island retreat to learn life-changing skills in the art of intimacy.
Working with leading international therapists, the aim is to help the young people overcome their fears and insecurities when it comes to intimacy and sex.
Channel 4 said it chose to commission the show after a recent study into intimacy found out that one in eight British 26-year-olds is, apparently, still a virgin.
Virgin Island aims to help young people overcome their insecurities around intimacy and sex / Credit: Channel 4
A casting call for the new series on the Channel 4 website reads: “Are you a virgin and do you need help and guidance with your fears and insecurities around intimacy and sex? Double Act Productions is casting adults for a potential second series of Virgin Island.”
You just need to be over 21 years of age to take part in the show.
Fancy it then? Or know someone who may be up for the ride? Applications for the potential next series of Virgin Island are now open, and there’s still plenty of time left to put your name down.
Daisy Jackson -
13th December 2022 
