Sheridan Smith: Coming Home
Cameras follow actor and singer Sheridan Smith as she heads back to Doncaster for a special one-off performance...
Stage and TV actor Sheridan Smith talks about some of her personal battles in this documentary, revealing her love for her family and lifelong passion for music.
She heads back to her hometown of Doncaster for the first time since losing her father, where she performs an emotional one-off gig back on the stage where she sang with her parents as a child…
Q Your second album,
A Northern Soul, is out this week. Where does your love of music come from?
A I’ve grown up with music. My mum and dad were a country-andwestern duo. I used to gig with them around all the clubs in Doncaster and all over the country. I remember at school, I was embarrassed when Dad would pick me up with a cowboy hat on and a big moustache and I felt so uncool. Now I think it’s the coolest thing ever!
Q Coming Home sees you return to your hometown of Doncaster for a special one-off gig, your first performance there since your father died in 2016. How was it singing for so many friends and family?
A I said to them: ‘To be back here, in Dad’s club, it means so much that you’ve all come out tonight. I’m going to come and kiss and hug every single one of you. You can’t get rid of me – I’ll be like a limpet! This is home.’ I kind of lost the plot after my dad passed away and I had a massive meltdown.
Q Was that what made you want to take time out?
A I ran away. There's that kind-of-northern ‘Keep calm and carry on’ vibe – we’re all like that. But when you lose someone, we all deal with it. No one is more special than anyone else. It’s the stuff we go through that makes us who we are. I feel I’ve come out the other side now and I need to get it all out through my music.
Q You’re back on our screens next year in ITV drama Cleaning Up.
Do you still enjoy acting?
A I still love acting because it’s being someone else… I’m just looking at these people and how I can create their mannerisms, their walk and their voice. So, to look at myself is terrifying. It’s scary and is something I guess I’ve run away from, for a quite a long time.
Q Your career, making TV shows and recording albums, takes you all over the country. What one thing really reminds you of home?
A I love my dogs – to some people I’m the mad dog-lady! I’m always on the move with different shoots and new locations, and they’re like a little bit of home to me. They’ve been the one constant in my life until now.