Eastenders' Lucy Benjamin swops Walford for Croydon

1:43pm Friday 23rd November 2007

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I know that TV stars are often smaller in the flesh than on screen, but ex-Eastender Lucy Benjamin is positively minuscule.

Leading the cast of Dick Whittington, this year's Christmas panto at the Fairfield Halls, Lucy is posing for pictures in Queens Gardens on a crisp but sunny September day.

Decked out in killer heels and a waist-cinching dress of red, white and blue bunting, she does not look like a woman who gave birth to her first baby, Bessie, less than a year ago.

"It's my first big job back to work," says Lucy, 37, sitting down later for a chat out of costume. "So it will be quite hard to leave her properly for the first time. I've done bits and pieces of work but mostly I've been able to spend the time with Bessie and I wouldn't have changed it for the world.

"If you're going to have a baby, why have someone else bring her up. I wanted to watch her eat solids and start crawling and all those things, so it's been fabulous and I've loved every minute of it."

It was during Benjamin's 2006 stint on X-Factor: Battle of the Stars that her pregnancy was first announced, live on air by Sharon Osbourne no less. Lucy went on to win the show, impressing the audience each week with her gutsy performances and honest displays of emotion. And refeshingly for a reality show, no spin-off show or covers album followed.

"It would have been a great time for doing it," she concedes, "but I was pregnant. So I'm looking forward to singing again now.

"I didn't enjoy that live setup - standing in front of those three judges being broadcast to the nation. On the box, there's no room for error. With panto, you can hit a duff note now and again and cover it up with your acting!"

Unlike the wannabes on the main show, Lucy was a famous face before X Factor, thanks to her five years on Eastenders as Lisa Butcher, the central suspect in the Who Shot Phil?' storyline.

And while she has no problem starring opposite Big Brother rejects at Christmas time - "If it's going to get people into the theatre, then so be it!" - one thing's for sure, Lucy will not be encouraging Bessie to follow her mum into showbiz.

"I've been very lucky and had a good time of it. But it's still really, really hard and I think it's getting harder - hence people having to do Celebrity This and Celebrity That.

"If she comes to me at 18 or 19 wanting to do it, then who am I to say no? But I wouldn't really want her to go down the theatre school path. I'd want her to get an education."

No cameo for Bessie in Dick Whittington, then. Instead, she will be babysat backstage by daddy Richard, his Croydon-based parents, and maybe even the odd Eastender who has promised to drop by to watch Lucy. Well, you wouldn't mess with a Mitchell, would you?

Dick Whittingston and his Wonderful Cat, Ashcroft Theatre, Fairfield Halls, Croydon, Friday, December 7 to Sunday, January 6, £13-£21.50, group discounts available, call 020 8688 9291 or visit fairfield.co.uk for times.