She changed my life: Corden’s tribute

ACTOR and presenter James Corden has paid tribute to Kay Mellor following her death aged 71, saying “she changed my life”.

Leeds-born Mellor wrote hit series including ITV’s Girlfriends, Band Of Gold and The Syndicate and was also best known for penning hits including Fat Friends which aired from 2000 until 2005 and was turned into a musical.

Corden, who starred as Jamie Rymer in Fat Friends, paid tribute to Mellor on Instagram, writing: “Kay Mellor sadly passed away today.

“She was the most generous, kind and loving person. An exceptionally gifted writer.

“She changed my life when she cast me in Fat Friends on ITV. She saw something in me that no one had before that point.

“She gave so many people their first chances. I have the fondest memories of being on set with her. She will be missed by so many.

His tribute follows that of Welsh actress Ruth Jones, who also starred in Fat Friends and said British television has “lost one of its greats” after Mellor’s death.

Jones, who played the role of Kelly Chadwick in Fat Friends, said: “I am completely shocked to hear the news of Kay’s untimely death. Her contribution to British television was outstanding and I feel privileged to have worked with her.

“Such a down-to-earth, funny, bighearted person whose brilliance lay in seeing the extraordinary in the day to day. She was a great mentor to me when I first started writing – and always hugely encouraging of new writers – a real testament to the idea of paying it forward.

“Her series Fat Friends was a massive turning point in my career and I will be eternally grateful to her for what she did for me.

“British television has lost one of its greats. Thank you Kay for all that you gave us. I cannot believe you’ve gone.”

Mellor began her career writing plays, worked on Coronation Street and created the award-winning children’s drama Children’s Ward.

She also wrote BBC One’s women’s football series Playing The Field and in 2010 received an OBE.

Bafta-nominated Fat Friends focused on the members of a slimming group in Leeds, and starred James Corden, Ruth Jones, Alison Steadman and Mellor’s youngest daughter, Gaynor Faye.

Faye also starred in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and The Chase on BBC One, a series which she cowrote with her mother.

Mellor appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs in 2017 and chose The Beautiful South’s Perfect 10, the Fat Friends theme tune, as one of her soundtracks, saying: “Every time I heard that I used to get excited and get butterflies.”