Toyah talks family life, her varied career, Hormonal Housewives and much more to Wales Online.
Toyah Willcox prepares to bring the Hormonal Housewives to Wales
From punk princess to pantomime, Shakespeare to the Teletubbies, Toyah Willcox has certainly had a diverse career. Abbie Wightwick chats to her about it and discovers why she’s happy to be hormone free
She may be appearing in Hormonal Housewives but Toyah Willcox is happy to be free of pesky monthly mood swings.
The former high priestess of punk cheerfully announces she has had a hysterectomy, been through the menopause and, as she approaches 55, has never felt better. “I had everything removed four years ago,” Toyah declares as she prepares to tour to Wales with the stage show.
• Continue reading at Wales Online.
Another new, Hormonal Housewives related, interview. This one from today’s North Wales Daily Post.
Toyah Willcox stars in show at Rhyl Pavilion
It’s naughty fun and guaranteed to make you “howl with laughter” according to Toyah Willcox one of the stars of a show called Hormonal Housewives on tour right now.
Former punk icon Toyah joins writer Julie Coombe, and former Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jane Buckley, in a follow-up to a much-enjoyed 2012 production which starred Margi Clark and Carol Smillie.
• Continue reading at the North Wales Daily Post.
A new interview with Toyah, published yesterday, by the North Devon Journal.
Rosanna Rothery chats to Toyah Willcox ahead of Hormonal Housewives
Hormones can wreak havoc with your life. Just ask Toyah Willcox. The singer and actor visits Barnstaple next week with the hilarious show, Hormonal Housewives.
Throughout her thirties, the former punk icon was plagued with severe PMS. “I have not one positive thing to say about PMS,” she says with feeling. “It was a complete waste of my youth. I can’t look back and say, ‘ooh I was wonderfully creative during that period’. I wasn’t. I was frustrated. I was emotional. Probably not the best person to be near.”
For Toyah the intense monthly madness could only be described as “sheer hell”.
• Continue reading at the North Devon Journal/This is North Devon.
A new interview with Toyah, from ‘Woman’s Own’ magazine.
Actress and singer Toyah, 54, reveals how her life was plagued with insomnia for 40 years before she discovered acupuncture…
You might think staying up all night is part of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, but four decades of insomnia left former punk princess Toyah sick and very tired! Last year she finally found a solution with acupuncture – just as well now she’s busy touring with the two-woman stage show Hormonal Housewives. Toyah, who lives with her husband of 26 years, musician Robert Fripp, tells us about her new zest for life…
Have you always had trouble sleeping?
Yes. It started when I was 14, triggered by the pressure of exams. I was doing revision all night and, once you’re in that stress-related pattern, it sticks. Then in my late teens it was ideal, as I was working in music and theatre, where everyone stays awake until the sun comes up!
How bad did it get?
I could go 10 days without sleeping, by which time I’d be delirious and feel very poorly. I’d get nauseous and stop functioning. I’d have an episode as bad as that about once a year. But I won’t take sleeping pills. I tried them in my twenties and found them very negative. Read more…
A new Toyah interview, by the Liverpool Echo, published yesterday.
Toyah Willcox on Hormonal Housewives and the art of reinvention
There was the feisty, whip-cracking heroine of Calamity Jane, then a femme fatale devil in high-heeled boots in Vampire’s Rock.
Now Toyah Willcox is on her way back to the Liverpool stage as one of a trio of ‘hormonal housewives’ in the show of the same name which makes three visits to Merseyside this spring.
“It’s comedy, and I think comedy is a fantastic art form,” she explains of her decision to join the show which is helmed by Ken Alexander, the Royal Court’s new artistic director. “Everyone thinks comedy is light-hearted and that’s it. It’s not – it has to be so well planned, you have to be setting it up at least a page before.
• Continue reading at the Liverpool Echo.
The latest Hormonal Housewives related Toyah interview, this one from Peterborough Today.
As a singer, actress, author, punk princess and composer, Toyah Willcox’s life has never been dull.
In a career spanning thirty years she has had thirteen top 40 singles, recorded twenty albums, written two books, appeared in over forty stage plays, made ten feature films and presented television programmes as diverse as The Good Sex Guide Late, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise.
During her run she has visited Peterborough on many occasions, and she will add to that list on March 12 with the production of Hormonal Housewives at the Cresset Theatre.
Following 2012’s celebrated reception as they caused mayhem and mania in theatres across the land, the irrepressible Hormonal Housewives are back and return this spring to commence a second national tour.
• Continue reading at Peterborough Today.
Toyah’s interview with ‘What’s On’ magazine, published on Saturday, is now also available at Kent Online.
From chart-topping 1980s punk princess to her current racy role as a hormonal housewife, with a stint hosting Songs of Praise along the way, Toyah Willcox has always defied convention. And the feisty 54-year-old has no intention of slowing down, as Kathryn Tye found out.
It would be a brave man who ventures out for a night at the theatre with the Hormonal Housewives. The comedy show, featuring an all-female cast, comprises a series of sketches on everything that makes today’s woman tick – or ticked off – from the trials of dealing with teenagers to battling the bulge – and of course the challenges of dealing with the opposite sex.
But star Toyah Willcox says that men would be very welcome – and might even enjoy themselves! Toyah, 54, said: “It is a very female-oriented show, but we don’t demonise men in it. We like sex. There is no doubt that most of our audience will be women enjoying a night out together, but it is definitely suitable for men as well. It might even prove educational for them, getting an insight into what we talk about when they’re not there.”
• Continue reading at Kent Online.
The hit comedy ‘Hormonal Housewives’ will bring its latest tour to Southport Theatre next week, starring pop icon Toyah Willcox.
Toyah, who has already performed in the musical ‘Vampires Rock’ as well as a ‘Here and Now’ show in Southport, is looking forward to hitting the venue’s stage once again. “I think this show is going to be a scream,” she told the Champion, ahead of the March 14 show.
Now on its second national tour, Hormonal Housewives is written by husband and wife team John McIsaac and Julie Coombe, who will also appear alongside Toyah.
• Continue reading at Champion News.
Toyah guests on the Late Show with Keith Middleton tonight. The three-hour programme airs across various BBC radio stations (Shropshire, WM, Stoke, Hereford & Worcester, Coventry & Warwickshire).
BBC Radio (Various): Late Show with Keith Middleton: Saturday 2nd March: 10pm
70s Rock: Toyah and The Blockheads. Norman Watt-Roy (from The Blockheads) and Toyah join Keith for a ’70s Rock Extravaganza’. Is there a 70s rock track you haven’t heard for a while? Let Keith Know and he will do his best to play it.
Toyah has guested on Keith’s show a few times previously. I’m not sure whether this is a new appearance or a previous guest recording being re-aired.
• Listen to the show online as it airs, or via BBC iPlayer post-broadcast. (Available for one week only)
Another new interview with Toyah, by EADT24, in which she discusses an event from 1979 that she last spoke about in her autobiography, ‘Living Out Loud’, in 2000.
Regent-bound Toyah on how she ended up in the middle of the street in just her underwear
Toyah Willcox has been hormonal for as long as she can remember. Taken to see The Sound of Music for the seventh time by her even more hormonal mother in the hope it would make her more lady-like, the then eight-year-old just wanted to rebel against the townsfolk below.
As a terrible teen her parents asked her to invite her elusive friends round for tea; imagine their horror when 30 members of the local chapter of Hells Angels roared round the corner. When she was 21, a very bad case of PMS and 15 Babychams led to a massive brawl during which she broke her record company boss’ nose.
• Continue reading at EADT24. Also at the Stowmarket Mercury.
A new interview with Toyah, published today by the Yorkshire Post.
She was an eighties punk pop star who had 13 top 40 singles and recorded 20 albums, she’s written two books, appeared in more than 40 plays, starred in 10 feature films and presented TV programmes as diverse as The Good Sex Guide, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise, but Toyah Willcox is still very much in demand.
She will be taking to the stage again next month in a tour of Hormonal Housewives which takes in Leeds, Halifax, York and Wakefield: “It’s a sketch show with three acts and we play ourselves in between,” explains Toyah. “It’s Loose Women-style talk, with women talking about how things really are. We don’t shy away from issues like PMS, pregnancy and labour.”
• Continue reading at the Yorkshire Post.
Toyah details her daily diet in the latest issue of ‘Natural Health’ magazine.
There is no doubt that actress and singer Toyah Willcox is clean living…
Breakfast: I have the same breakfast every day; a bowl of bran flakes with lactose-free milk and an Actimel and Activa yoghurt.
Lunch: For lunch I have homemade fresh vegetable soup with freshly made wholemeal bread and olives on the side. Or, roast salmon with steamed broccoli and steamed carrots.
Read more…
Toyah is interviewed in this week’s issue of ‘Woman’s Weekly’ magazine.
Having A Cup Of Tea With Singer And Actress Toyah Willcox
Who would you most like to have a cup of tea with?
David Bowie, Helen Mirren and Judi Dench – all British legends.
You’re about to appear in the play Hormonal Housewives. What can we expect?
It’s an all-out comedy about three women. It’s one of those plays where you read the script and you keep thinking, ‘Oh yes, I’ve been through that!’. The madness that comes through PMT is all captured in an evening. It’s very funny, light-hearted and well-observed.
Read more…
A great new interview with Toyah, from yesterday’s Birmingham Mail.
Toyah Willcox leaves behind her Midland home to go on tour with Hormonal Housewives
Don’t mess with punk princess Toyah Willcox when she is feeling hormonal. Marion McMullen finds out about terrible teens, strange food cravings and crying over Love Story.
“I’ve got 67 one-night stands for the next three months,” chuckles Toyah Willcox naughtily.
But there’s no need to worry about any X-rated hanky panky. Toyah is about to hit the road and leave behind her Midland home to tour the country with comedy show Hormonal Housewives.
“As far as I can remember I have always been hormonal. And I can remember being in my pram,” she says
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail.
A new interview with Toyah, by This is Sussex, focusing on the forthcoming Hormonal Housewives tour.
Actress and 80s punk pop star Toyah Willcox has done it all.
In a career spanning 30 years she has had 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums, written two books, appeared in more than 40 plays, starred in ten feature films and presented TV programmes as diverse as The Good Sex Guide Late, Watchdog and Songs Of Praise.
Now in her fifties, Toyah still has her rebellious and independent streak – and plans on bringing this to the stage next month when she performs at The Hawth. She will be part of an all-female cast in the show Hormonal Housewives.
• Continue reading at This is Sussex.
Toyah will be guesting on a future edition of In Conversation with Steve Allen, which airs on LBC (London’s Biggest Conversation), the 24/7 talk radio station.
The programmes air as two 30-minute double-bills each Sunday morning between 6 and 7am. LBC can be listed to live online (no “Listen Again” function but you can purchase podcasts of previous broadcasts for £2). Steve tweeted earlier this week: “Lovely Stephen mulhearn is doing heart brekky this week so he dropped in, such a nice guy, and toyah really good fun. Now giving blood, yuk“, so it appears that Toyah’s interview has now been recorded. No info on the airdate yet. (Thanks to Paul Johnson)
Toyah is also interviewed by Worcester News. This was published yesterday.
‘I feel so much better, – I have more energy, my brain’s more alert’
“When I was young I just regarded not sleeping as a fantastic way to pack more into my days. I always reasoned that life’s so short, it seemed crazy to waste it sleeping,” she says.
But eventually it turned into a “nightmare”, raising her stress levels and making her vulnerable to worry.
She’s talking at her London home – she also has a home in Pershore – about the tricky path which has now led to a transformation in her sleep – and it’s thanks to acupuncture.
• Continue reading at Worcester News.
A new interview with Toyah, this one from the Manchester Evening News, published online on Sunday.
Sweet dreams at last for Toyah Willcox: ‘It’s a wonderful release from a life-long problem’
Singer, songwriter and actress Toyah Willcox battled chronic insomnia for years, but she tells Gabrielle Fagan how her life has been transformed
Toyah Willcox has tried everything from sleeping pills to herbal remedies to enjoy what many of us take for granted – a normal night’s sleep. From the age of 14, the 54-year-old has suffered from chronic insomnia, surviving on as little as four hours of sleep a night – a couple of hours after midnight and only two more between 7-9am.
• Continue reading at the Manchester Evening News.
A new syndicated Toyah article, published by numerous online news resources, including the Press Association and the Belfast Telegraph.
Toyah Willcox has revealed she suffered from chronic insomnia for 40 years, until she tried acupuncture.
The singer, songwriter and actress, who’s released more than 20 albums, took sleeping pills for a time in her twenties but disliked feeling sluggish and drowsy.
“I was trying to be creative and write and perform, which was impossible when I was on those. I gave them up very quickly,” she said.
Last year, Toyah, who will star in a three-month tour of the sketch show Hormonal Housewives, became anxious about the potential health risks arising from her insomnia and so tried acupuncture.
• Continue reading at the Belfast Telegraph.
Kings Heath star reveals how acupuncture finally relieved sleeplessness torment
Birmingham singer Toyah Willcox is sleeping soundly for the first time in decades – after revealing her 40-year battle with insomnia.
The star, who was born in Kings Heath, said she had tried everything from sleeping pills to herbal remedies in a bid to overcome the condition. But she only saw an improvement after turning to acupuncture, she said.
“When I was young I just regarded not sleeping as a fantastic way to pack more into my days. I always reasoned that life’s so short, it seemed crazy to waste it sleeping,” Willcox said.
• Continue reading at the Birmingham Mail.
Here is the print version of Toyah’s interview with the ‘Mirror’ from Tuesday. It is, of course, the same interview that was published on their website. This edition also includes the great photo of Toyah from 1981.
‘For 40 years I’ve survived on three hours’ sleep a night’: Toyah Willcox on her battle with insomnia
Born with a twisted spine, a clubbed right foot and one leg shorter than the other, singer and actress Toyah Willcox has also suffered from chronic insomnia for 40 years.
Now the 54-year-old, who lives with her husband, musician Robert Fripp, 66, has finally found relief through having acupuncture.
I’ve suffered from chronic insomnia for 40 years. It started when I was a 14-year-old dyslexic schoolgirl revising for my exams in Birmingham. I experienced the typical teenage stress that the pressure of cramming for exams, and then sitting there for hours on end doing them brings.
• Continue reading at the Mirror. Read Dreamscape’s news post on this here. (Thanks to Richard Smith for the scan)
