Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I want a shirt slashed to the navel...i’ve lost 2stone, let me show my body
Dancing on Ice Mark to get sexy
MARK Little is demanding a sexier outfit to show off his two-stone weight loss and spare him the boot from Dancing on Ice tomorrow.
The actor and comedian, 59, reckons his baggy costume last Sunday landed him in the skate-off as it did not highlight his trimmer physique.
Mark, who made a name for himself here in Australian soap Neighbours, joked: “They started me off in a floppy denim shirt, for goodness sake. Where’s my velvet? Satin? Diamante?
“So I told them, ‘I’ve lost over two stone since I started training.
I’ve got this new body, help me show it off’. I have some form, even though
I’m an old fella.
“A shirt slashed to the navel? Yes, come on. As an Aussie, I could have skated in my budgie smugglers.”
Mark, partnered with pro-skater Brianne Delcourt, plans to grab the attention of judges
Ashley Banjo, Jayne
Torvill, Christopher Dean and fellow Australian Jason Gardiner.
Referring to the moves he has learned, he said: “Last week I turned on one skate but the judges missed it.
“So I might do my next three-turn on Jason’s forehead so he doesn’t miss it.”
Jason savaged Mark’s performance last week. He hit back: “Jason plays the pantomime baddie. So in true panto style, I might push him off his chair.”
Mark was an established actor by the time he won cult status in the UK as Joe Mangel, from 1988 to 1991.
Fellow Neighbours graduate Russell Crowe went on to win an Academy Award for his role in the 2000 film Gladiator though Mark got a Laurence Olivier award that year for his one-man show Defending the Caveman.
He said: “So, you know, Russ, anyone can get an Academy Award but not many can get an Olivier. There are places I’d like to put my award and I’ve got a couple of suggestions for Jason.”
The West End show was directed by wife Cath Farr. They live in London and have sons Angus, 37, and Jasper, 32.
With decades in the industry, he has felt miffed about being best known as Joe Mangel. Mark said: “I used to hate it about 10 years ago. I’m over it now. “If you become a legend, you have to live with it. Like Dr Frankenstein, I had to learn to love the character I created.” In 1994 he began standing in for Chris Evans on Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast, then replaced him.
Zoe Ball joined as co-host two years later. Rumours swirled of a rift. But Mark said: “Zoe and I did get on. She was thrown into a job that was harder than she realised. So she was left floundering, I was left floundering.
“It was made out to be a personal spat, which it wasn’t. She’s got a new radio show. Maybe I could go on there if I get through the skate-off ?”
He is desperate to survive it. Referring to Torvill and Dean’s 1984 Winter Olympics win, he said: “I’ve pinched a few moves from Christopher Dean’s Sarajevo event, so I hope he notices.
“I have no grand illusions of winning this competition. But I will be absolutely gutted if I come last.”
Dancing on Ice, ITV, 6pm tomorrow.