Drag queen swaps heels for squeals
SLAPSTICK and pratfalls were guaranteed when six Welsh celebrities swapped high heels for wellies in a televised “Olympigs”.
The sextet of stars were among the latest of crop of contestants in S4C’s popular farming challenge show, Fferm Ffactor.
As well as building a pig sty, the contestants were asked to herd a porker called Donald, named after the US president.
The porcine challenge, at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi, near Ruthin, involved two of the four teams taking part in this year’s series, due to hit screens in April.
The Llysfasi line-up included Eilir Jones, a former psychiatric nurse turned stand-up comedian, actress Donna Edwards and women’s international rugby player Dyddgu Hywel.
They lined up against soprano Gwawr Edwards, composer Robat Arwyn and drag queen Maggi Noggi.
It is the latter, now a TV chat show host, who is likely to hog all the attention.
Maggi, who lives on a dairy farm in Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf on Anglesey, said handling the pigs wasn’t easy.
“The only pigs I’ve worked with were at Holyhead Docks on a Thursday night,” she quipped.
“The trouble with the countryside is that there are lots of animals running about that are uncooked.
“I thought I’d be handling pork scratchings, bacon sandwiches or chops.”
Even without high heels, the glamorous queen towers over her Fferm Ffactor teammates.
Although she wore gloves to protect her fabulous nails, Maggi still suffered some collateral cosmetic damage.
“I couldn’t stop getting lipstick on my teeth,” she sighed. “That was because I was working so hard.”
After constructing a pig sty using pallets and plywood, the ham-fisted competitors had to coax Donald from a livestock trailer made by Ifor Williams Trailers, Corwen.
As porkers are notoriously stubborn, and most of the contestants are farming novices, they could have made a right pig’s ear of it.
However comedian Eilir Jones, originally from Bangor but now living in Llansannan, said no one disgraced themselves.
“I’ve no farming experience but after I finished as a psychiatric nurse in 1984 I did stand up as a farmer character called Ffarmwr Ffowc,” he said.
“I’ve worked with a few pigs before but not four legged ones.
“The day held no fears for me really – other than Maggi Noggi, who scares me to death!”
Composer
Robat Arwyn, from
Ruthin, once took his children to a petting farm but is not sure that this counts as relevant experience.
He admitted he felt like a fish out of water.
“I’ve never been near a tractor or any livestock, quite frankly,” he said.
“My wife, Mari, is a farmer’s daughter and she would be far better suited to this challenge than me.”
The two contestants with some farming expertise are soprano Gwawr Edwards, a farmer’s daughter from Bethania, near Aberaeron, and rugby player Dyddgu Hywel, who grew up on a farm near Betws-y-Coed.
However neither had previously worked with pigs.
“It’s been 17 years since I lived on a farm,” said Gwawr, who’s now based in Cardiff.
“But it was a lot of fun and working with Robat and Maggi Noggi was an education.”
Dyddgu Hywel said the outcome could have been a whole lot worse.
“The pigs were better behaved than I imagined – just!”
Meanwhile actress Donna Edwards, who grew up on a Merthyr Tydfil council estate, declared herself unafraid of animals – except spiders.
The actress, who has played the character of Britt Monk in Welsh soap Pobol y Cwm since 2002, got through the challenges thanks to a psychic epiphany.
“I do believe in genetic memory and I remembered at some point that my grandfather kept pigs,” she said.
Series judge Caryl Gruffydd Roberts, the FUW’s head of membership, said the show was a chance for the farming sector to laugh at itself, especially at a time when mental health issues were in the spotlight.
She added: “There are some unique personalities this year – I never thought I’d see someone like Maggi Noggi build a pig sty!”
Once again the show is being supported by Ifor Williams Trailers.
Daniel Joyce, head of sales, said the pig challenge was a lot of fun.
“With Tokyo 2020 looming perhaps this challenge should be included as an Olympic sport – or better still, an Olympig sport,” he quipped.
The first episode of the series will be broadcast on S4C at 8pm on Saturday, April 11.
The episode featuring the pig challenge will go out a week later on April 18.
Fferm Ffactor is produced by Caernarfon-based Cwmni Da.