TOM WOULD HAVE BEEN A FIREMAN IF HE DIDN’T GET HOLBY
Television star Tom Chambers has had to work hard to achieve his acting dreams
TOM Chambers’ story is a remarkable life lesson; work hard to achieve your dream... But don’t be surprised if it comes about in the most surprising way.
Tom won Strictly in 2008, but was already TV famous for his roles in Casualty and Holby City.
However, the actor reveals he once came so close to giving up acting altogether he filled in forms to become a fireman.
And then a strange series of events came about.
“I had come out of drama school and done lots of jobs over the years while waiting for the acting break.
“I worked as a window cleaner, in bars, everything. And by the age of 27 I reckoned I just wasn’t going to make it.”
He had given his all. “I had been so determined to land work in musical theatre I made a 1,000 tapes of me dancing in Hollywood musical style and sent them out all across Britain and America.
“But nothing happened. I reckoned I needed steady work, so I went along to the local fire station to get the necessary forms to join.”
What happened next sent Tom’s mind reeling.
“I was just putting the forms under the seat of my little 125cc motorbike when the phone rang. It was my agent telling me Holby City were asking me to come along for an audition.” Tom couldn’t work out why. The actor who’d dreamed of a musical theatre career had sent out dancing tapes.
“It turned out the TV producers were looking for someone to play an American doctor.
“When they saw me going through my Fred Astaire routines they assumed I was American and called me in.”
Tom landed the role. And went on to become a TV success story.
The television fame then brought him to the attention of the producers of Strictly.
Tom of course went on to storm the show, revealing the dance talent that had until then been kept quite from the world.
And when he won the show it alerted the nation’s musical theatre producers. Tom not only had talent; he could put bums on seats.