Becoming a minor celebrity?!

WELL I MAY NOT HAVE MY NAME IN LIGHTS....
BUT MY FACE IS NEAR SOME TASTY BITES.....
I’M UP ABOVE THE YORKSHIRE PUDS....
LIFE IS CRAZY, BUT ALL GOOD!

Hello again,

This week I am again writing to you from my conservatory, but there is a difference to last week. I am surrounded by blue fairy lights that track right round the roof. It now looks like a cross between a cocktail bar and Santa’s grotto. When I look down on the roof from my bedroom window the blue glow in the garden looks as if a spaceship has just landed, but this makes me happier than you could imagine. I have always had a passion for candles and unusual lights and always said if I ever had my own house, fairy lights would be a big feature and now I can do exactly what I want. Yippee! Sam and Luke said it looked magical, although I have had to hide the buttons that make them flash and glow on and off, as the effect then looks like a lightning storm and I felt a migraine coming on!

There have been a few other changes this week as well as my new lights. Sam came out of school on Monday saying that when he walked in all his class mates started singing the cancan music. Everyone in the playground has been lovely and all congratulated me too. It really feels like others are sharing this journey with me as lots of the people that have said well done are the ones who tirelessly voted for me every day and put me in this position.

I have always just laughed when people say “you’re famous now,” as I still find the whole idea quite surreal and ridiculous, but since the new adverts went out I have to admit that normal life has started to change too.

I was at work the other day fixing glasses at the work bench when I had another surprise. It all happens at the Specsavers work bench, as that is also where I was when the Iceland team came in with cameras to tell me I had won the competition back in April. This time it was the Nailsea Precinct Manager asking me if I would officially open the Nailsea Christmas Victorian Street Fair next Friday! After the shock, I said “of course I would do it and it would be an honour” as I always go to the fair anyway and love the sense of community spirit you feel there. It is also quite a sentimental occasion for our family as my Granny lived in Nailsea long before me and used to be very proud to invite us all to “her “ Christmas fair. Sadly she isn’t with us anymore but I can just imagine how proud she would feel to see her granddaughter do the official opening. I am contemplating opening it in my cancan costume as it has a slightly Victorian feel, but haven’t totally decided yet as it is December and so not very practical. Also there is a fair with dodgems too which are my favourite, but I think doing the dodgems in a tight corset and huge cancan skirt would just be asking for trouble!

Then as if that wasn’t exciting enough I was reading through my local paper and turned the page to find a picture of myself smiling back at me! They had written an article about the new adverts and the fair opening. I shouted to the boys to come and see but they are so much more laid back about the whole Iceland experience than me. Sam said “oh yeah, but you are always in something Mum,” and went off to finish his play station game. At least I know whatever else happens my children won’t allow my 15 minutes of fame to go to my head.

Even my normal working day is different now. Lots of our Specsavers customers have been coming in especially to say they have seen me on TV, and asking about meeting Jason Donovan. When I go for my lunch break I always sit out on a bench in the precinct and this always used to be a quiet, solitary affair, but now people come up and talk to me. It is a strange feeling when people know you, but you don’t know them, but they are always so nice to talk to that it isn’t scary or intimidating. They just genuinely want to say well done and it’s an amazing feeling.

Even my weekly Iceland shop is different now. All of the “Iceland mums” from the Christmas adverts have their pictures up in store, including me. I am proud to say that I am in the Yorkshire puddings section! I had to capture this particular moment of fame forever and take a picture subtly without letting other shoppers know what I was up to, but it was quite difficult as they were all staring at me anyway. Let’s face it, someone hovering around the freezer cabinet with a camera does look suspicious, even before you notice that it is the person in the picture minus the feathers and corset! I also then had to go and spot all my friends too and looked like a lunatic as I shouted out to my mum “OOO look there’s Eve! And look, there’s Sue in the lasagne!” And so on…

I also found out this week I was part of a pub quiz question. I wasn’t at the quiz but a friend texted me to say “guess what, we just had a question asking which Nailsea mum is in the press again this week after winning the New Face of Iceland competition, and is now starring in the TV adverts?” Needless to say, my friend got the question right. She said everyone knew my first name but she got the point for knowing my surname. The single idea that I had a quiz question written about me is enough to keep me happy forever, long after my 15 minutes of fame are over so even if it all ends tomorrow I will be happy now!

Finally I have been asked to be a friend’s “celebrity” guest at her “come dine with me” dinner party next week. I expect I will have to say “ooo this IS a surprise” lots of times and then dance the cancan as that is what I did on TV. Wish me luck!

To sum up, I can’t carry on saying nothing has changed because it actually has. It’s perhaps more honest to say as a person I haven’t changed, and even if I tried to, my children would ground me very quickly so I don’t think I ever will change. It’s just circumstances that have, and it’s all good.

Thanks for reading

Ellie

X

Christmas at Iceland hits the screens!

THE RESULTS OF OUR WORK ARE NOW THERE TO SEE...
THE ICELAND MUMS ARE ON TV...
PRANCING AROUND IN FISHNET TIGHTS....
SHOWING SHOPPERS ICELAND’S CHRISTMAS DELIGHTS!

Hello everyone, and my first question has to be: what do you all think of the new adverts?

Well I sincerely hope that they are as enjoyable to watch as they were to film. The first thing that struck me when I saw the end result was just how colourful and fast paced they are and how so much is jam packed into such a short space of time. I previously described how much effort went into filming and how we all had our moments of tears and overwhelming tiredness, but despite all that I think I speak for the whole group when I say we all just want to do it again now!

I decided to celebrate the first airing on TV with my friends and family again and invited them all round for a lovely roast dinner. I was sent a big box of Iceland Christmas food to sample and write reviews for the website, so it was a good excuse to kill two birds with one stone. We had the stuffed roast lamb which smelt delicious whilst cooking and was very well received by everybody. (Watch out for the full review coming soon to Iceland’s website!)

It really is the best job in the world to be sent new ranges from Iceland and there is never a shortage of friends ready to help me with the reviews. Luke’s school friend Harry helped with the mini fish and chip cones. They were both very excited to find that if you read the printing on the actual cones Steven Gerrard is mentioned as they are both big Liverpool fans and both attend football club with his name on their shirts.

It is so nice to have a big table to eat from in the new house. In our old house we all had to squeeze in round the breakfast bar which was hard work when there were 7 of us! I think eating should always be a social activity and sometimes it’s the only chance to get to really talk as a family when you all have busy lives. We have always had a rule that when we sit down for tea , even if it is just me and the boys, we all have to say at least one thing that happened to us during the day just to catch up with each other.

Well this particular Sunday we had a lot to talk about as not only was it the first time the Christmas adverts would be on TV, The new series of I’m a Celebrity was starting too. Iceland have been sponsors of this programme for quite a few years now and this time the “Iceland mums “have been lucky enough to make all the sponsorship adverts too. These were really lovely adverts to film as we were divided into two groups and made a series of group adverts to open each show. We also then each got to star in our own personal 10 second advert all based on the theme of real mums being stars in their own families.

When the Christmas advert came on everyone clapped and cheered and a few family members had great fun trying on my cancan skirt and trying to do their own version of the advert! Don’t think I should say any more about that one though!

It wasn’t long to wait then until the “I’m a Celebrity “adverts and there I was, discussing my camping trip with Eve!

It really does feel good to think of what we have all achieved this year. Granted, some of it was down to good old fashioned luck, but a big part of it was down to following our dreams and believing in ourselves. I don’t expect any of us really thought by sitting down at our computers and applying to a competition, that a year later we would all be on TV being watched by millions of people - but it happened! There really is a special magic between us all now in sharing this life changing experience. I know that some of the friendships made will last a lifetime.

I have now seen all the individual “I’m a Celebrity” adverts and I love each and every one of them. I think our own personalities, which are all different, are starting to shine through. Sam and Luke have watched them all and argue between themselves about which one is best. Luke is ever loyal at the age of 7 and says he likes mine best. However I’m not sure that he likes me having an extra “daughter” and always has to get close and have a cuddle when it is shown!

Sam says he likes Eve’s best and that is because she is “a very nice person”. All true, but can’t help wondering if it also has something to do with her stunning “Marilyn Monroe” impression! We aren’t far from the start of teenage hormones in Sam!

I really can’t decide which my favourite is because whichever one it is at the time I sit there thinking “Ooooh this is a good one.” Everyone just looks so glamorous too. When I watch my own I just remember what a little sweetie my “screen daughter” was and hope that she is enjoying seeing herself on TV too.

Please come back next week when I can tell you how the adverts have been received in my home town of Nailsea and the changes that have happened to me.

Thanks for reading

Ellie

X

On stage with the Iceland Mums!

CORSETS, FEATHERS, AND CANCAN DRESS....
BEFORE WE WENT ON MY NERVES WERE A MESS...
WE DANCED IN FRONT OF A REALLY BIG CROWD....
THE ICELAND TEAM SAID THEY WERE PROUD!

Hello again,

I can now tell you my latest top secret adventure with the Iceland Mums.

As I write this the time has nearly come for the first screening of the big Iceland Christmas advert. It has been kept under close wraps until now that the theme this year is “Moulin Rouge”. All those four days of filming I wrote about previously in London were to produce this advert. We all have the most amazing costumes, feathers, chokers, brightly coloured corsets and specially made cancan skirts from India. We also had to learn how to actually dance the cancan hence why I said at the time the four days were so intense and tiring. Luckily for the adverts we had Simon and Beth, the most patient and professional choreographers in the world! Obviously most choreographers deal with pop stars and professional actors and dancers who pick things up easily and quickly, but apart from star mum Lorraine, none of us had any professional dance experience.

Anyway, we had been invited to perform live on stage at Iceland’s 40th Christmas party for 500 head office staff at a large venue in Liverpool. It meant an overnight stay and this time we were staying at the Hilton hotel! I had to find a suitable outfit for the party afterwards so out of three choices I asked the boys for their advice. In all innocence Sam asked whether it was more important to look pretty or slimmer as one outfit was the prettiest, and another one was the most slimming! I went for slimming!

I was lucky to be travelling up with Babs Parker, another Iceland mum who lives near to me. It was lovely to have a travelling companion this time and she had even made us a little packed lunch each to eat on the train! Thanks Babs! We arrived at Liverpool station to shouts of “Ellie, Babs” and saw a group of the other mums and members of the Iceland production team waving at us and taking photos. For a moment we felt like celebrities as everyone in the station looked to see what was going on.

We reached the venue and had a look around. The stage was absolutely huge and with the extensive pyrotechnics I wondered if we had accidently wandered onto the X Factor set!

The tables below the stage were set with 500 beautiful place settings and glasses rimmed with gold. The theme of the party was “DecaDance” and everything looked lavish and luxurious. The acts before us were all professional performers: stilt walkers, fire eaters and painted ladies to name but a few!



Eve, Me and Alissa

It was really exciting to be together again as a group but the excitement for me was mixed with terror when we realised we were the grand finale and had just a few hours to learn a stage routine! It is very different being filmed as you have lots of chances to do it again if you kick the wrong leg, or fall over or simply forget everything you are supposed to do like me! This was different, this was one chance.

When the time came we waited back stage for our cue to come on shouting, whooping and dancing. My stomach was turning somersaults and doing a mad gymnastic routine even if my body wasn’t! I had a quick reality moment check and wondered how a normal person like me had ended up dressed as a cancan dancer waiting to run on stage and perform to a full auditorium.

I would love to tell you that I was amazing and danced just like a professional from the real Moulin Rouge and that a talent spotter in the room came and begged me to drop everything and join the ladies of Paris, but if I did that I would be a big fat liar!

As it turned out I got my legs mixed up and forgot to turn round and run to the back when I was meant to and was generally quite uncoordinated! The important part though is that it really didn’t matter. Why didn’t it matter? Because I was on stage with my Iceland mums and the whole point of using us all in the adverts is that we are real people with a sense of humour and not polished professionals. Whatever happens, we all smile and laugh and carry on. We look after each other and we are in it together!

Eve and Me

The reception we got from our audience was very enthusiastic and afterwards many people came up and said they had enjoyed our act the best which was very touching. We also had a surprise in store. When we had finished dancing we got to see the Christmas advert together as a group for the first time on the big screens behind us. The thing that came across the most when I watched it was all the colour and energy. I really hope you enjoy it as much as we all enjoyed filming it when you see it. At the party afterwards we watched Jason Donovan and his band perform on stage followed by a “guilty pleasures” disco until the early hours. Everyone at the party kept coming up to congratulate us and say hello and we all felt like stars for the night.

Nick from Iceland and Me

The next day it was time for our goodbyes and we all left hoping to get together again soon.

Babs and I shared the train as far as Birmingham with Eve, Bev, Amira and Charlene, and made the moment last a bit longer by downloading the Iceland Christmas advert ringtone onto our mobiles and singing along on the train! It is always a sad time saying goodbye but as we looked out of the train window at Amira and Charlene on the platform waving, waving their coats up in the air and pretending to do the cancan, we couldn’t help laughing.

Also this week I have a new batch of lovely Iceland Christmas food to test and review for the website. The timing has worked very well as I have invited family and friends round for a lovely lamb roast this evening, followed by nibbles whilst we watch the Christmas advert for the first time on T.V.

Please come back next week to see what they all thought of the food and of the new adverts!

Ellie

X

Settling In

WE FINALLY GOT THE KEYS TO THE DOOR...
I REALLY COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE....
IT’S BEEN SO EASY TO SETTLE IN....
THIS IS WHERE OUR NEW LIFE BEGINS...

Hello,

I am writing the first blog from my new conservatory in my new house and it feels really good! Time seems to have passed very quickly and I can’t believe it is now a week since we moved in.

Our dream came true and I picked up the keys last Thursday at around 4.30. It was an anxious wait whilst the money transfer whizzed around in cyber space before hitting the previous owner’s solicitor’s bank account! I am told by friends this is normal when you buy a house and why people say the whole process is stressful. The thing is when, you have actual cash you know exactly where your money is; it’s in your purse or in your pocket. When banks start transferring money to each other it seems to disappear completely for a few hours and it’s quite an insecure feeling!

Finally when the call came to pick up the keys I set off with my mum to the estate agents. I brought my mum as official photographer to record the moment forever! The estate agent said in her whole time in the job she had never seen anyone quite as excited as me to be collecting their keys! I literally walked through the door jumping up and down like Tigger possessed, shouting yippee!

When we opened the door for the first time Sam and Luke both held the keys and we did it all together.

I was lucky not to have the pressure of getting absolutely everything moved on the same day. I still had a week left on the tenancy of our old house, so Rob and I started loading boxes one by one. On Saturday Rob’s friend came round with a big lorry and moved the big stuff. I had also donated Luke’s bunk beds to another friend, and her husband kindly volunteered to come and help. In the end there were 7 helpful people who all did the back-breaking work of moving all my worldly goods, or junk as Rob calls it!

There was a moment when I looked at all the piled up boxes filling the sitting room and garage and thought, “how on earth do I unpack all that and find homes for everything!” It did look very daunting. I did discover a new passion though: going to the tip. I found it very therapeutic to take all the old boxes and things we no longer need and throw it all into the huge skips at the dump. I am now actively looking for more things to tip and have gone from a squirrel that stores everything to a minimalist overnight. Rob was very happy to see Luke’s first bike go as it had caused many arguments in the past. I know I can be over-sentimental and totally admit to it, but the last time I took Luke’s first bike to the dump I came back with it in the car and it stayed in the garage thereafter as I just couldn’t let it go! It’s the bike he learnt to ride on. Rob says normal people keep their children’s first shoes or first paintings but not their first bikes that are all rusty and just take up space in the garage!

In the end everything did find a new place in the new house and I set off to buy the essential things that were missing, like curtains in a couple of rooms.

My one big extravagance was some beautiful thick curtains and new bedclothes for my bedroom. When you rent houses you either put up with someone else’s curtains or if you buy your own, you buy cheap ones in case you move again and have different sized windows. It felt amazing to choose the styles and colours that I actually wanted. Sam looked at the end result and said it now looks like a “posh hotel room”!

I also received some beautiful flowers from all the team at Iceland. I can’t say it happens very often, but when you open your front door to a person with a huge bouquet saying “delivery for Mrs Taylor?” it is a very nice experience!

I also spent a long time cleaning our old house before handing the keys back. It’s always a strange feeling being in an empty house you have once lived in. You think of all the memories and happy times you have had there, and believe me there were many. After all, it was in the kitchen of that house that I sat down at my computer one night amidst the noise and chaos to apply online to the “New face of Iceland” competition, not realising for one second how my actions could actually be changing the course of our lives forever.

Normally it is a sad feeling saying goodbye to a house, because regardless of whether you rent or own it, it is your home. This time it was different as I knew our new house would be forever. We have been in a week now but already we are totally settled and feel like we have been here forever. Sam and Luke have been out on their bikes and scooters continuously, as we now live on a quiet cul-de-sac instead of a busy road. For the last two years Sam’s bike has sat in the garage as it wasn’t safe to ride it.

Lots of Sam’s school friends are nearby and we have already had lots of new visitors. I have been told we are going to be sent some lovely Christmas food from Iceland to test soon so I have lots of willing volunteers lined up!

Please come back next week when I can tell you about more delicious food testing and also the next exciting engagement for Iceland, which at the moment is still top secret!

Ellie

X

A new future!

I AM HAPPIER THAN I THOUGHT IT POSSIBLE TO BE...

TIMES ARE CHANGING FOR THE BOYS AND ME...

SOON WE WILL FINALLY HAVE OUR OWN PLACE...

YOU WOULDN’T BELIEVE THE SMILE ON MY FACE!

Hello again,

Apologies in advance if this week’s blog sounds a bit emotional. I feel like it is Christmas day and I have just woken up with the good feeling in your stomach when you know the day will be full of happiness.

Getting ready to move

I haven’t mentioned in my previous blogs that we have been going through the process of buying our own home. There is a reason for this! When you have wanted something so much for so long you get to a point when you realise it is simply a nice dream that won’t ever become reality, and you learn to live with it and focus on other things. However when you start to think, hang on a minute, this dream actually could come true and become reality, it is hard to take in or accept. I am a superstitious fool who can’t pass a magpie without saluting it and have had many a shouting fit when someone has inadvertently put a pair of new shoes in a shopping bag on a table! I did not want to tempt fate by talking about our new house too early.

I worked out the other day that we have actually moved house 9 times in the last 10 years. Most of these times it has not been a conscious choice to move; it has been down to circumstances beyond our control. This is the problem when you rent houses, often the landlord may want to sell their house and you need to move out, or in one case the landlord may decide they want to live there again. I have never had anything against the principal of renting a house, and every house we have ever lived in has always felt like home at the time, but you just know in the back of your mind at any given point you could have a call giving you two months notice to find somewhere else and move on. Two months really doesn’t give you very long to find somewhere suitable and make all the arrangements and I would always worry myself to death about the effect it would have on the boys.

It’s true what they say about children taking everything in their stride though. Sam and Luke have always seemed quite relaxed about moving, it is me that worries about it!

I just feel it is a parent’s job to shield your children from the worries of life. They have plenty of time once they grow up to make their way in the world, and learn how to deal with problems and worries but as children, their biggest worries should only be things like what colour grip tape to put on their scooters, or whether they will look cool at the school disco!

I remember once finding out we had to move just before I went to pick theboys up from school. We had been in the house about a year and just got it how we wanted it and made it a home rather than just a house. I had not had time to let it sink in and compose myself, and still remember standing in the playground trying so hard not to cry as I didn’t want the boys to see that and worry. I also then pretended that I had decided we should move rather than letting them know the decision had once again been made for us. I never wanted them to feel I wasn’t in control of what happened to us as family even if the truth was that I wasn’t.

I am only explaining all this to try and put into context just what it really means to finally have a home of our own. Some feelings are so overwhelming they are hard to put down on paper.

Sam is describing the keys to this house as “The keys to success” and we have already decided that we will all hold the front door key together as we open it for the first time. They understand the difference of this house actually belonging to us and Sam has already interpreted this to mean he can now paint his bedroom any way he wants. I am bracing myself for the discussion if he decides black walls would be “cool”!

Family dinner!

Amongst the chaos, Rob and I took all our children out for a lovely meal as it was Jodie’s birthday. Rob’s children have gone off for a week with their mum on the trip of a lifetime to Canada. He is missing them terribly but knows they will be having great fun.

More boxes!

Two things have made this big dream happen for us. By winning the “New face of Iceland“competition prize money, and with a big help from my family it has become possible to raise the deposit needed to have my own mortgage. This time last year I would not have believed I would be sitting here now surrounded by boxes moving on to a future that looks so bright I need my sunglasses. I would not have believed I would be seeing myself pop up on T.V. eating pizza with a whole group of new friends. I would not have believed I would be stopped in the street by well wishers telling me they had just seen me on T.V. or in the newspaper. I have learnt something here, to never ever stop believing that dreams can come true, however unlikely they may seem.

That’s the beauty of life, you never know what is round the next corner and sometimes it could be the biggest and best surprise of your life.

Thanks for reading

Ellie

X