NAKED AMBITION
Five artists strip and sketch their way to £1000 in Jenny Eclair’s latest telly treat
Many of us have had to dabble in new hobbies to help the days tick by these past few months. For comedian Jenny Eclair, it’s been all about art.
She said: “Art has been my biggest form of therapy over the past year.
“I did try the Couch to 5K, but it didn’t work out for me.”
Now she’s back on our screens and channelling that lifelong love into her latest TV project, Drawers Off.
She said: “It was such fun to work on. I had an absolute ball.”
The outgoing presenter and performer admits she has missed “showing off” in lockdown.
She said: “It was lovely to get back in front of a camera.
“Being in an art studio made it all the better. There’s something so lovely about a room that smells of paint.”
Each week, Drawers Off sees five different artists compete to win themselves a £1000 cash prize.
Jenny said: “They can paint, draw, biro or use whatever medium they fancy.”
In each episode, a different artist will take to the podium and pose for one hour while the remaining contestants go to town at their easels.
Jenny said: “The life model then chooses their favourite portrait and that goes into the winners’ gallery. At the end of the week there are five life drawings in the gallery and all of the artists secretly vote for their favourite. The winner then bags the cash.”
But Jenny assures us that there are some surprises along the way.
She added: “It’s not always the ‘best’ painting that wins.
“Quite often the life models choose a piece that they feel captures the essence of what they feel about themselves. That’s the power of art.”
Stripped across the week between Monday and Friday, this lighthearted treat is sure to brighten up our telly schedules.
Given that it’s taking a prewatershed slot, Jenny reassures us that nobody’s private parts will be on show. She said: “It’s all very kindly. It’s a draped version of life modelling.”
Jenny is no stranger to life modelling herself and frequently posed when she first moved to London in the late 1970s.
She said: “People can actually still see me life modelling because I live on a bus route. If they’re on the top deck, they might catch a glimpse of me wandering around my very warm house with very few clothes on.”
As for the artists getting their kit off on television, Jenny reveals they were all perfectly comfortable.
She said: “There was a very relaxed feeling in the studio. The art community is a family of welcoming and forgiving people.
“If nothing else, I think that Drawers Off is an excellent reminder that everybody should be painting.”
‘There’s something so lovely about a room that smells of paint’ Jenny Eclair
Lenny has a knack of bouncing back from a disaster. He does it again this week when he regains control over the Murdoch empire from the Amber Cabs office – and his first task is to make peace with the Foulkes family.
He is clearing up a mess left behind by Amber, whose efforts to double-cross them end in violence. Somehow she remains calm but Alex is at his wit’s end and, as he reaches breaking point, he makes a big decision about his future – and he believes it doesn’t lie in Shieldinch.
Cameron is out on bail, which doesn’t help Poppy’s efforts to get her life back on track. She’s not willing to forgive and forget those who didn’t believe her either, so gives Jac and Stevie the cold shoulder. Stevie is particularly devastated, especially when Poppy realises it might be time for her to move on too.
Eve, meanwhile, feels guilty about the way Cameron has turned out, and an angry Dylan doesn’t lift her mood.