One ITV soap star refused to cover up her privates with tape while stripping naked for a raunchy role.
Gaynor Faye is best known for her role as Megan Macey in Emmerdale – a role she held from 2012 until 2019 – and as Judy Mallett in Coronation Street from 1995 until 1999. She’s also appeared in everything from sitcom Fat Friends to Playing the Field.
But her raciest role yet came in 2003, for mini-series Between the Sheets. Gaynor played Georgia Lovett in the racy series, alongside stars like Norman Wisdom, Alun Armstrong and fellow Emmerdale star James Thornton. It was John Barton star James who Gaynor had to drop her robe in front of.
he revealed back in 2003: “[The script] said: ‘Georgia looks at Simon. She drops her robe to reveal she is completely naked…’ My first thought was, ‘When is this being shot?’ When I realised there were only three weeks to go I was straight down to the gym!”
The star added: “Then I thought of those miracle creams and raced round the shops going: ‘What have you got for lift, tuck and emergencies?'” But thankfully, she needn’t have worried, as her co-star James was on hand to reassure her.
Eventually Gaynor felt confident enough to go full frontal with no sticky tape to cover her bits. She said: “We rehearsed and the crew asked if I wanted to cover up my bits with sticky tape but I didn’t bother. The more fuss I made, the more embarrassing it was going to be. It was very quick and anyone who didn’t need to be there wasn’t, so there were only about nine people instead of 40.
“I’d worked with James before so I felt comfortable. He’s loved up with his partner and I’ve got mine so there was nothing to be worried about – I don’t know what it would have been like if one of us was single.”
But to make things slightly more awkward, it turns out the sex scene was written by her drama writer mum Kay Mellor – who was also behind shows like Fat Friends. Gaynor was playing the hostess of a lap-dancing club in the mini-series, alongside professional strippers who got “semi-naked” for the steamy role – leaving Gaynor “tongue tied”.
