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Emily Atack on Zoom dating, her "outrageous" new project and why it's good to talk

Photo credit: Stuart C. Wilson - Getty Images
Photo credit: Stuart C. Wilson - Getty Images

From Digital Spy

"I feel my heart lifting slightly," Emily Atack tells us when we ask the actor and presenter how she's currently feeling at this stage of the pandemic.

"People are still frightened, and everyone's had such a huge shock and a scare. It's just been such a tough time. But seeing life happening again, it has cheered me enormously.

"For my mental health especially, I've been so happy to see little bits of normality creeping back in."

The usual suspects have kept her sane: "I've been cooking a lot. I did some gardening. I've been FaceTiming my family and friends. I had a couple of Zoom weddings.

"I'd love to say I've developed a new skill of some kind. I'm still useless at DIY. But I've just been getting on with it.

"I clapped every Thursday for the carers and chatted to my neighbours over the fence."

Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images
Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images

There's even been the odd Zoom date thrown in for good measure, but for Emily technology is no substitute for the real thing.

"I had a couple of nice chats with some nice people," she says. "But for me, dating is all about the physical chemistry of, you know: 'Oh, did he touch my hand?'

"For me, it's that – and going for a drink, and having a good old flirt. There's only so much flirting you can do on a video call.

"I'm saving the dates for, you know, when we can all start snogging again [laughs]."

Photo credit: Jeff Spicer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Jeff Spicer - Getty Images

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't know who Emily is.

Channel 4 sitcom The Inbetweeners made her a household name. Her character Charlotte Hinchcliffe was on the periphery of the action, but that didn't stop Emily from making a big impression and since the show wrapped up in 2010, she hasn't been short of work.

From pirouetting on Dancing on Ice to claiming second place on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! to co-presenting Extra Camp, opportunities in an industry which is famously fickle show no sign of slowing down.

And she's now working on one of her most exciting projects to date.

The Emily Atack show, set to air this autumn on ITV, is a mixture of stand-up comedy and filmed sketches in which she plays a staggering 31 characters.

"I would say I'm sort of going back into acting because there's a lot of acting in this," she says.

"I've just finished my first week on it, and I'm so lucky to be going back to work. I'm so lucky that it's this, you know? It's my own show."

She assures me that herself and the crew are all rigorously sticking to the social distancing measures that have been put in place.

"It's definitely not a filming experience I'm used to, but it's the way it is," she adds. "It has to be done."

Photo credit: Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images
Photo credit: Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

Emily didn't give much away when asked what people can expect, but she did tease "a very outrageous, fun show".

"[It explores] exaggerated versions of things that I've experienced, or things that other people might have experienced," she adds.

"I like to hope that loads of it will appeal to any age group, whether you've been through that kind of thing before when you were younger, or if you're going through a similar thing now. I want people to watch it and be like, 'Oh my God, I'm not the only one who has done that, or has felt that way.'

"I just hope it'll come at a time where I think we'll need a bit of light relief."

Photo credit: ITV
Photo credit: ITV

It's a dream gig for a self-proclaimed "over-sharer", a trait that has made Emily a big hit with the public.

Her willingness to speak candidly about her highs and her lows, lifting the lid on her love life, her struggles with body image and countless other issues that affect each and everyone of us is undoubtedly the key to her success.

At a time where it's not always easy to decipher what's real and what's not, there's an authenticity to Emily that draws people in.

"I just can't help but blurt things out," she says. "I wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm a very open person. It's just the way that I am.

"The jungle was really interesting because when I came out, the biggest surprise was just how many people would say to me, 'God, you really put everything out there.'

"To me, in my mind, I'm just chatting. My natural way is to share. I like sharing things. Maybe over-sharing at times. But I don't think like that."

Photo credit: Joel Anderson
Photo credit: Joel Anderson

Speaking her own truth also gives Emily an opportunity to get in there first, so to speak, and control her own narrative.

She can't dictate what people choose to say about her, but she can tell her side of the story.

"When you're in the public eye, it's daunting because you are essentially putting yourself out there, and up for criticism," she explains. "But I think the more open I am and honest about things, the less people will get at you and use it as a fault about you.

"So I think that – do you know what? I'm just realistic. I'm very open about how much I like to have a drink, and how much I love a party. I'm a young woman. I'm a single young woman who likes to have fun, and sometimes I get in trouble for talking about those things too much. [But] it's really nice that people are interested in my life, and interested in what I have to say.

"I love that, and I want to continue sharing things with people the way I've always been. I don't think I'll ever be any different. I like showing who I am to people."

Photo credit: David M. Benett - Getty Images
Photo credit: David M. Benett - Getty Images

But even with her boundless confidence and a CV which, given how much is now packed on there, makes her something of a veteran in the entertainment world, Emily still couldn't escape the customary wobble as the door started to shut on her twenties.

"At first, I was absolutely terrified about turning 30," she tells me. "I was like, 'Oh, God. Have I done enough? Am I doing enough?'

"But then the second that I actually was 30, I looked around and thought, 'This is the best my life has ever been. My life is everything I've always wanted it to be'."

She adds: "The irony of it was, the more I started talking about how terrified I was about turning 30, the more great things came into my life. I wrote a show about it. I wrote Talk Thirty To Me, a stand-up show about turning 30.

"It just shows, if you talk about stuff, you can really turn it into a positive. And so I did. And now I'm looking at my life. I'm 30, and I have achieved loads. I've achieved different things."

Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images
Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images

With age comes perspective, and now that she's standing in a new decade, Emily's priorities have shifted, as they so often do.

"I used to think, 'Oh, but I haven't got a ring on my finger," she says. "I may need to freeze my eggs because my biological clock is ticking', and all of that.

"But I'm actually looking around and going, 'OK, I don't have those things right now, but I've got an amazing job and career. And I've got other things'.

"I look at 30 and I'm not scared anymore. I think I'm doing alright."

With The Emily Atack Show first and foremost on her agenda, she's not in any hurry to map out the next stage of her career, instead choosing to live in the here and now.

"I don't know [what's next]," she says. "I think the nice thing is that you never sort of know what's around the corner.

"I'm not one of these five-year plan people at all. I don't even know what I'm having for my dinner. I just live my life. I go along. When great things come my way, I make a decision.

"I'm just enjoying it – enjoying the ride."


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