Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

The first update of the year to In The Fairground: Andrew York’s Arternative Universe – A fantastic 2014 Calendar, full of great Toyah imagery. Click below to view.

This evening’s Steve Lamacq’s Roundtable, which aired on ‘BBC 6Music’, is now available to listen to at BBC iPlayer and will remain there for the next week. Toyah, Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 and Mark Nevin review the latest single releases, including tracks by Frank Turner, Neil Finn, Peggy Sue and Snowbird. The show is also available as a BBC podcast here.

The One Show on BBC One last night aired a short preview from this weekend’s Splash!. This included shots of Toyah in training and a couple of brief interview clips. Here’s a screen cap.

Interviews With Heat 2 Celebrities: Toyah Willcox

Q: What inspired you to participate in this year’s Splash!?

A: Since I was a teenager, I have fantasised about high diving. It’s always been a dream of mine. I was very lucky that at school I learned how to dive, but I haven’t done it since. The only problem is that I have probably left it about 40 years too late! Diving at the age of 55 is a radically different experience. But I will be hurling myself off a three metre board on live television because I want to prove that just because you hit 50, it doesn’t mean you should slow down. All in all, working on this show has been exhilarating.

Q: How have you found it working with Tom Daley?

A: He is a consummate gentleman. He is a wonderful teacher. He’s amazingly patient – he sees nobody’s age or gender or ability. He’s very easy on the eye, and he has none of that usual teenage angst. He’s very calm, and I think that may come from the inherent danger of what he does. You can’t do it if you’ve just had a night on the tiles. If you are feeling distracted when you dive, you’ll simply hurt yourself. Tom is a fantastic role model and a superb asset for the show.

Q: Which board have you dived off already?

A: I’ve gone off the three metre board twice. It was an incredible experience. Beforehand, you don’t realise just how fast you travel into the water. Afterwards I was elated. It felt like a massive step forward and a huge achievement.

Q: Did Tom help you prepare for it?

A: Yes, he was brilliant. He told us to take it slowly. You have to prepare yourself mentally and physically – you don’t just climb the ladder and dive in. You need to take a moment beforehand to get your mind and body exactly right. Diving is the art of falling forward and entering the water correctly. So preparation is vital. It’s very easy to be off the mark. That’s why we’re doing so much training, so we won’t be distracted by the cameras and the huge audience when it comes to the live shows.

Q: What do you think about doing the live shows?

A: I’m feeling, “Oh my God!” I’ve got a large hurdle because I’ve never been seen in public in a bikini before, and I feel rather disturbed about the prospect. I don’t do beach holidays , and I’m not confident in a bikini. It’s cruel that Linda Barker set the bar so high last year in the way she looked! Even as a teenager, I never looked as good as Linda! But I just have to get on with it. After all, this isn’t a bikini competition.

Q: Does your background as a performer help?

A: Yes. With my band I’m on stage three times a week – I do more than 100 shows a year. When you’re on stage, you learn to get on with it; you just work through any distractions or worries. If you have a costume malfunction, you don’t stop the show. So in a strange way, I’m looking forward to the live shows in Splash!

View the full ITV Press Pack for Splash! Heat 2 here.

A review, by Darren Lock of ‘Prog Review’, of The Lady Or The Tiger. He says: And so I look at Fripp & Toyah’s first official collaboration (excluding them both appearing on the “Stranglers & Friends” live album).

Toyah Willcox must be just about the only celebrity who is more scared of stripping down to her swimsuit than she is about diving off the high board on Splash!

And whilst her style back in the Eighties might not be one you’re in a hurry to recreate today, as she prepares to take the plunge we couldn’t help but notice how good she’s looking nowadays in that swimsuit.

She’s got nothing to worry about…

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.

Splash! star Toyah Willcox has revealed she’s more terrified of parading in a swimsuit than plunging off a high board.

In fact, the 55-year-old pop star initially turned down ITV bosses for just that reason before changing her mind, “When they asked me, my first thought was that I never wanted to be seen in public by millions of people in a swimming costume, ” Toyah told The Sunday Post. “I’ve never had a career where I’m judged on my body.

“I’m far happier diving off a high board than I am doing that run in front of the audience in my swimming costume. That’s what I’m having nightmares about…”

• Continue reading and view the full scan here. (Thanks to Sharon Dickson)

The trailer for 3 Sides Of The Coin is now available to watch online at toyahwillcox.com and You Tube: A short film by Tom Lawes, produced by Electric Flix. Stars Jo Woodcock, Colin Buchanan, Toyah Willcox, Patrice Naiambana.

A couple of action shots of Toyah in diving practice for Saturday’s Splash!. Toyah tweeted earlier today: “Last full training day 2day. Ssssso nervous! Please vote for team TOYAH on Sat! I’m gonna take the leap!“. (Photos © ITV)

Andy has created some new Melissa Caplan inspired outfits, and very Toyah-esque and fantastic they look too. Amazing attention to detail as always. Please click on the photo below to view the full version. (Thanks again to Andy)

Between Christmas and New Year Toyah popped up on The Will: Outrageous Final Wishes on the ID channel (Investigation Discovery). Here are a few screen caps, click on these for larger versions. (Thanks To Paul Lomas)

Toyah Willcox flaunts her fabulous figure in pink swimwear as she joins Splash!

She may be turning 56 this year, but Toyah Willcox will have women half her age envious of her body following her stint on Splash!

In official pictures taken for the actress’ appearance on the ITV1 reality show, she shows off her incredible figure in a hot pink low-cut swimming costume whilst posing by the pool.

However, despite looking so good it seems that the thought of wearing swimwear in public is scaring Toyah more than the fact that she has to dive off of a three metre board this Saturday.

Describing her thoughts on her figure, the actress and singer, who has admitted to having a facelift, admitted that she doesn’t “do beach holidays”.

• Continue reading at The Express.

Splash! week 2: Keith Duffy, Martin Offiah and Toyah Willcox among those prepared to take the plunge

Tom Daley and his new contestants gear up for the second heat

Splash! is ready to take on audiences for a second week and this time it’s enlisted the skills of five new celebrities. Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, comedian/presenter Paul Ross, rugby league star Martin Offiah, singer/actress/presenter Toyah Willcox and television presenter Anna Williamson will feature this time around.

• Continue reading at the Mirror.

Dirty Sexy Funny: Olivia Lee: Comedy Central Extra: Friday 24th January: 03.30am
Olivia Lee stars in this hidden camera sketch show. Deaf Bubba makes a mess of things at the marina, Door Bitch takes a punt and Elaine Caine meets Toyah Willcox.

Toyah Willcox, 55, shows off her stunning figure in hot pink swimsuit for Splash!

Curvaceous and toned, she looks confident in her hot pink swimsuit.

But Toyah Willcox has confessed she feels anything but and the thought of flashing her flesh in a bathing costume or bikini terrifies her more than completing her dive from the three metre board this Saturday.

For unlike many of the celebrity contestants who appear on reality ITV programme Splash! Miss Willcox, 55, has diving experience – what she appears never to have done before is wear a swimsuit in public – and it is giving her nightmares.

Describing her thoughts on her figure, the actress and singer, who underwent a facelift around ten years ago, and said she does not ‘do beach holidays’ said: ‘I’m very short, naturally muscular and I’m 55. The only thing that’s going to make me look like Cher is the amount of surgery she’s had and I’m not going to do that’

• Continue reading at the Daily Mail.

The next group of celebrities are putting in their final preparations ahead of the second episode of Luton-based diving show, Splash!

Toyah Willcox, Boyzone star Keith Duffy, TV presenter Anna Williamson, rugby star Martin Offiah and TV personality Paul Ross will be facing their fears under the watchful eye of Olympian Tom Daley.

The series opener on Saturday saw Diversity star Perri Kiely and Michaela Strachan sail through to the semi-finals of the programme with impressive efforts. The dive of the show went to Perri, who completed a backward somersault from the 10 metre board.

• Continue reading at Luton on Sunday.

Splash!: ITV: Saturday 11th January: 7.00pm
Splash!: ITV: Sunday 12th January: 2.20pm (Repeat of Saturday’s show)
Vernon Kay and Gabby Logan host the second round of the celebrity diving contest, which sees Boyzone’s Keith Duffy, presenters Paul Ross and Anna Williamson, singer Toyah Willcox and former England rugby player Martin Offiah vying for the next two semi-final places, under the tutelage of Tom Daley. The scores are awarded by judges Andy Banks, Jo Brand and Leon Taylor as well as the voting public – and while the bottom two are eliminated immediately and the highest-scorer gets an automatic semi-final place, the other two are forced to dive again in the all-important Splash Off. Who will join last week’s successful contestants Perri Kiely and Michaela Strachan in the next stage of the competition? (Also airing on ITV +1 and HD)

It was announced at the weekend that Toyah is appearing in the second round of the new series of ITV’s hugely popular Splash!. She will dive this Saturday on the show which airs from 7pm.

There has already been a lot of press about this: Digital Spy: Tom Daley’s Splash!: Meet the five stars taking the plunge in heat two, Female First: Splash heat two contestants pictures revealed, Telly Mix: PICTURES! Splash! 2014 line up: Celebs taking part in second heat!, Luton on Sunday: See the next group of contestants who preparing to dive into Splash! View more info on this second series of Splash! here. (Photo © ITV)

Toyah’s first blog of 2014 is available to read at The Official Toyah Willcox Website. She talks Seattle, Canne, Christmas, Splash! and more. Click below to read.

A new Doctor Who 3-disc DVD box set, The Best Of The Doctor 2005 – 2011: The Documentaries, is released tomorrow on Region 4. The DVD consists of all the BBC America Documentaries and will also include an episode to accompany each documentary. Included on the set are the specials Toyah appeared in:

Doctor Who: The Best of the Doctor
Doctor Who: The Best of the Monsters
Doctor Who: The Best of the Companions
Doctor Who: The Best of the Christmas Specials
Doctor Who: The Science of Doctor Who Info here
Doctor Who: The Women of Doctor Who Info here
Doctor Who: The Timey Wimey of Doctor Who Info Here
Doctor Who: The Destinations of Doctor Who Info Here
Doctor Who: Doctor Who in America

Discover whole new worlds behind three of your favourite Doctor’s; Christopher Eccleston, David Tenant and Matt Smith. Immerse yourself in a total celebration of all that is Doctor Who! These unique documentaries explore Doctor Who through the ideas and moments that make the series such an unforgettable experience. Be awed by the artistry and imagination of the series’ most iconic monsters, take an in-depth look at the Time Lord’s trusty companions Amy, Rory and River Song, gather a new perspective on the perplexing and confounding paradoxes of time travel; and venture beyond the known universe for extra surprises, facts and theories that could fill the TARDIS. A must-have for every fan, this collection will expand your knowledge and increase your appreciation for the universe of Doctor Who.

• View further info here. (Thanks to Doctor Who News)

Dreamscape posted news about this before Christmas, and now PROG magazine have put the article, and recipe, online.

In this month’s mag, we printed Robert and Toyah’s recipe for Christmas cake. If you missed it, here’s the winter fuel for a Crimson King…

• Continue reading at PROG magazine.