Hayley Tamaddon talks about her current homelife in Blackpool, growing up there and plans for the future

Former Emmerdale and Coronation Street star Hayley Tamaddon has spoken to celebrity reporter Aimee Seddon about all things Blackpool as well as reflecting on the past and pondering over the future…

The 46 year-old, who was born in Bispham but grew up in Cleveleys, has been on a UK tour of the musical ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie’ this Autumn, and is currently performing in a Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime in New Brighton until January 7.

When she is not travelling up and down the country though, Hayley - who is mum to three-year-old Jasper- lives right here on the Fylde Coast, having moved back to Cleveleys in recent years.

Take a look below to find out more about Hayley’s life on the Fylde Coast, including what she likes to get up to, as well as her plans for the year.

What is home life like?

The former Montgomery High School pupil said: “Me and my little boy, we live together with my mum and dad and thank god for them, they are like permanent babysitters. While I go and do the work, my mum and dad have Jaspera and it works!  I'm very lucky to be in this position as a single parent. You juggle as a single parent, you have to juggle, and it's very, very difficult but I feel very blessed to have my parents, and the fact we live with them is a bonus - I get to come home to home cooked food every night, it's amazing!”

What are Hayley’s favourite things to do in her downtime?

Hayley answered: “That's another thing about Blackpool - how lucky we are to live here! There are so many brilliant things to do right on our doorstep and a lot of them don't have to cost very much money. Me and Jasper, we love to go to soft play and obviously Dan Whiston -Jasper's uncle Dan - owns thingamajigs. That was the best thing he ever bought!  Dan's bought a few things but when I had a baby, he told me was opening a Soft Play Centre andI was like ‘okay, this is everything. So we spend a lot of our time there and Jasper just loves it!”

The mum of one then continued: “There are a few brilliant places that we go to - he loves the arcades and he loves Cleveleys Arcade which is where I grew up! We go for ice cream, we go to Infinity which used to be Freeport - there's a little free park there and a little kids play area. He has a ball in Blackpool, we go to the beach all the time, all the time - even in the winter, we go to the beach, and then we get a hot chocolate from the little cafe on the beach and we sit at the front and we watch the sunset together.”

Thinking with her stomach, Hayley added: “Our favourite place for breakfast is ‘Truly Kitchen’ in Poulton - Jasper loves the pancakes. So we go there, we have breakfast - pancakes and a hot chocolate. We are best mates, me and my little boy, we do everything together. I feel very lucky... [and] we have an absolute ball in Blackpool.”

What was going to school in Cleveleys like?

Hayley said: “I went to Norbreck Primary School and I loved it -absolutely loved it,  it was a great little school. And now I'm looking at what school to send Jasper to, because he's at that age and obviously Norbreck would be one I looked at, but I want to send him to a school his friends are going to because obviously being a single parent. I need some support, shall we say, from other mums!

“So there's all those challenges to think about the older he gets now, but I think we're very lucky in Blackpool to have great schools.”

Did Hayley know back then that she wanted to go into performing?

She replied: “Yeah, I always knew, I knew from the age of three! It was all I ever wanted to do -  that and ride horses. So it was either horse riding or dancing and acting and singing and I couldn't do everything because it was too expensive for my parents, so I did the horse riding as a hobby and then continued to do the performing.”

And was that the right choice?

Hayley, who also won Dancing on Ice in 2010 with her friend Dan Whiston, replied: “Yeah, it’s in my blood this, I live and breathe it. Everything about it - I love it. And it's nice now watching Jasper dance and sing and play. I think to myself I wonder what he'll do when he gets older? I don't think he's going to be a performer, I think if anything he would be a comedian but he can turn the tears on  in a way I've never seen a child do it before,  it's amazing - like he should have an award!”

What has been her biggest achievement so far?

Hayley said: “The biggest achievement of my life is my son.  I never thought I could have kids so to have a little boy - as a woman to think that that your body can create that - it’s just mind blowing. He is my pride and joy, he is incredible.”

And has Hayley got any future plans?

Hayley revealed to the Blackpool Gazette that she is actually writing a show at the moment.

The actress explained: “I'm writing a pilot for a TV script. A passion of mine is to write comedy -whether I'm very good at it,I don't know but apparently I am so I'm gonna keep going! We'll see what happens, it's a long process writing a TV script, it takes forever. It's not so much the writing, it's the giving it to the production companies, and then they say, oh, change this and change that’ so keep your eyes peeled. Maybe in another four years, it might be on TV!”

Is there anything left that she still wants to achieve?

Hayley replied: “I think if you ever get to a point where you say you've done everything, then you may as well give up. I've definitely not [achieved everything] but as a single mom, I can't say ‘right, in 10 years, I'll be doing this’ because I might not so I'll take the jobs where they come and always put Jasper first and we'll see where we are in 10 years.”