Byker Grove's Spuggy keen to return for Ant & Dec's reboot
Lyndyann Barrass has been in touch with Ant and Dec, she revealed.
One of the original stars of Byker Grove has said that she's eager to return for the upcoming reboot currently being developed by Ant and Dec.
The show followed a group of young people whose lives revolved around a youth centre in Newcastle, with Lyndyann Barrass earning much praise and attention for her performance as young Kirsty 'Spuggy' Campbell.
She was a key character on the show for four years, but struggled to find similarly substantial acting work after parting ways with the production.
Now running a cleaning business in Sunderland, Mail Online caught up with Barrass to get her thoughts on the recently announced revival of Byker Grove.
"If the chance came for me to play a grown up Spuggy I would jump at it," she began. "It has been such a huge part of my life – even though I'm not in that world anymore."
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Barrass initially stepped back from the entertainment industry after she was attacked in the street by three strangers who recognised her from television, but remains in contact with former co-stars Ant and Dec.
She explained: "I knew nothing about the plans to bring it back, it came as a really nice surprise. The first I heard was when my son texted me to say 'Byker Grove is coming back' and after that my phone never stopped buzzing with people sending me messages and tagging me.
"I texted Dec and said to him 'Don't forget your old mates'. He replied but I can't say what he said to me, that will have to be our secret!"
It's not yet known whether Ant and Dec will appear on-screen in the reboot – simply titled Byker – but they are taking a big role behind-the-scenes, keeping the show's northeast England setting and intending to train locals interested in TV careers.
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Donnelly said: "Byker Grove will always be very special to us as the show which gave us our break, so we are beyond excited to be working together with Fulwell 73 on bringing it back.
"We are looking forward to bringing this fresh incarnation to a whole new generation as well as those who remember it as fondly as we do."
McPartlin added: "We owe such a lot to Byker Grove and the North East so we can’t wait to start working with Fulwell 73 and the team to bring this iconic series back to life. Already talking characters and storylines has us all buzzing at the possibilities ahead.”
The project does not yet have a release date – watch this space.
Byker Grove is currently in development. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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