GOOD CHARACTER

As all parts of society are impacted by the restrictions put in place to cope with Coronavirus in our communities, Holly Louise Eells talks to Essex girl Vicki Michelle MBE about her experience, her positivity and how we can help those in need

- Holly Louise Eells

Living in this strange new life of lockdown, many of us have been waking up most days feeling a bit ‘out of sorts’. But for this particular symptom of the virus, there is a cure and it goes by the name of Vicki Michelle MBE. ‘I am feeling fabulous. I’m fine. I’m taking everything and every day as it comes,’ she says.

Vicki, known worldwide for her role as sexy waitress Yvette Carter in the award-winning British comedy series ‘Allo ‘Allo’, is oozing positivity and doesn’t believe in negativity.

‘We’ve just got to get on with it and not moan,’ says Vicki. ‘What’s so funny is that everyone who works wants to be off work, then they are given the opportunity to be off work, and then they moan about it. It really makes me laugh,’ she says.

‘Surely we all just want to be safe?’ she adds. ‘The most important thing is your health. I think the government has done brilliantly by trying to compensate people. My daughter, Lou, is working for a PR firm and before the announcement, they didn’t know if they would have to lay everyone off.’

Since her theatrical success of the 1980s, Vicki has enjoyed an extensive and successful career in television, radio, theatre, presenting and film. ‘Now is a difficult time for me too,’ she adds. ‘I have got my company, Trading Faces [that she runs with two of her sisters Susie and Ann Michelle], which supplies celebrities for after-dinner speaking, motivational speakers and presentations, but everything is cancelled.’