Richard Arnold: The showbiz expert with all the celebrity gossip
Holby City star David Ames is hoping to be back on our screens soon…
Congratulations on Holby
City’s BAFTA nomination! Thank you! Everyone is so chuffed. For a show that has been running for 20 years, we have a solid fan base and it’s great to know we’re putting stuff out that people enjoy. Will you be frocking up for the virtual red carpet at home? I might get a little backless number out and finally put a comb through the old weave. I’d like it if a couple of us could get together for a socially distanced beverage. How have you coped on your own during lockdown? The anxiety when it started was horrendous. I was isolating alone in my flat, and it was very bizarre. The first few days it was a bit novel, with people calling randomly at 2pm on a Wednesday to say they were getting drunk because they could! Everyone took to holiday-drinking hours – when you get through airport security and decide to have a gin at 7am. Then I was just frantically cleaning. When did the cracks start to show? About three weeks in, I found myself in my mask and gloves at my local Tesco, muttering to myself about whether or not I had avocado at home. That was when I realised that I had no inner monologue left! You’ve kept yourself very fit. I have! I have Hampstead Heath on my doorstep, which is lovely and was an absolute godsend at the beginning. I’m from Hampshire – I’m a country boy at heart – and my family are farming folk, so that was very much my comfort place. I thought, if I’m sitting on the sofa watching Netflix and not going to the gym, I’d better do something or I’ll be perfectly spherical. It’s Pride season, which will, of course, be virtual. There’s still lots going on and loads to be proud of. It’s such a colossally important time for civil rights, LGBTQ and the incredibly important Black Lives Matter movement.
Eastenders is back filming. When will Holby start again? Soon, I hope, but I can’t exactly listen to someone’s heartbeat from 2m away unless I have an incredibly long stethoscope. We can’t function without touching the patients, so we’ve got to find a safe way of doing that. There’s a lot involved making sure the entire building is safe.
The 2020 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards will be broadcast on BBC1 on Friday 31 July