PANTO LIFE IS BUDDY BRILLIANT
Magaluf to meet someone who lives two miles from me.”
And it seems both the Stevely men are doing OK. Dad John has found joy again with golden retriever Jeanie, who has just had eight puppies. He said: “When my mum passed, my dad was very low. He got a dog called Jeanie. A golden retriever which he loves to bits. He’s in love with Jeanie. She’s his best pal.
“I was worried about my dad after my mum died because he became very lonely. But this dog has filled his days. I think he’ll keep one of the puppies.”
While we know him as PC Hugh McKirdy in Scot Squad and gloomy neighbour Alan in BBC2 sitcom Two Doors Down, both of which will be back in 2020, we’ll also see Grado in a different role – sort of. In his first serious role in Endeavour, he plays a wrestler from the 60s. While he choreographed the wrestling scenes, Grado said doing the TV show, which stars Shaun Evans as a young Morse, was very different. He said: “It’s hard to try not to be funny.
“I had serious scenes where I’m in a police interview room being interrogated about a murder. You can’t joke about. I’m a wrestler and have never been to drama school. But Shaun was great and took me under his wing.”
Grado also tried his hand at the London stage
– but his audition went less well. He went up for a West End role in a new adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt.
Grado said: “The man asked if I’d prepared a number. I asked what a number was and he told me it was a song.
“I used to sing X Factor winner Leon Jackson’s When You Believe at the karaoke, so I pulled out my phone and started singing that. I never heard back.”
And while his agent is stretching his talent, Grado is adamant he won’t leave his Ayrshire home – not even for Glasgow.
He said: “I still get a good feeling when I come into Glasgow. But I like coming home. I can see Arran from my house. I love that skyline.”
Pinocchio, which also stars River City’s Scott Fletcher and Holly Jack, is his fourth Pavilion panto. And at 31, he’s a bit young to play Geppetto, especially as Stephen, who plays Pinocchio, is 36.
“Only time the grandad is younger than the boy,” laughed Grado, who has based his Geppetto on the owner of Domenico’s in Stevenson. “He spoke with an Italian accent but used Scottish phrases. I was at that chip shop every day for six years when I was at school.
“A half pizza supper with curry sauce, a bottle of cola and a Mars bar. That was my diet for six years.”
Not that current Grado looks like he’s been guzzling that kind of food. Instead, he describes the panto as “the most energetic in Scotland”, adding: “If I don’t drop two stone this year, I’ll be surprised.” The Magical Adventures of Pinocchio runs until January 12, 2020.
GRADO ON FINDING LOVE ON BROTHER’S STAG DO