EXCLUSIVE: The actress is hoping that the BBC might come up with a way in which she can turn the situation into a TV show to help others
Sue Johnston is lobbying for a celebrity version of BBC1’s de-cluttering series Sort Your Life Out – because she fears she’s a hoarder.
The veteran actress, who lives in the leafy Cheshire suburb of Wilmslow, admitted she was in desperate need of some help. “My house is such a mess,” she sighed. “I’m hoping the BBC does a celeb version of Sort Your Life Out so I can get Stacey Solomon to tidy it up for me.”
The Royle Family star, 82, suggested she struggled to let her possessions go, while also knowing she has far too many. “I can’t get rid of things! It’s so hard,” she explained. “I watch Stacey Solomon’s show where they come and take all your stuff – I wondered if they’d do a celebrity one and come to my house.”
Sue has been single since her second marriage to theatre director David Pammenter ended in 1980. Having brought up her son Joel as a single parent after David left when he was three months old, she is now delighted that he and his wife have two sons, with whom she is very close. “I love being Granny,’ she said recently. “I think grandchildren are the reward you get for getting old.”
While she lives alone apart from her beloved rescue dogs, she sees her close family regularly at weekends – when she wishes her home had a bit less clutter.
Next month the Royle Family star will be seen in new BBC comedy Ann Droid alongside Philomena Cunk and Motherland favourite Diane Morgan. Set in 2029, Sue plays a recently widowed pensioner who is gifted a secondhand D500 eldercare robot named Linda by her son. Initially finding her intrusive and annoying, she soon realises that Linda can be helpful when it comes to running errands – and settling scores.
BBC bosses will be hoping the sitcom achieves some of the success Sue previously enjoyed as Barbara in The Royle Family alongside her former Brookside co-star Ricky Tomlinson, who played husband Jim.
She said the pair of them had no idea how popular the series, written by Caroline Aherne, would become. “I didn’t realise what we’d got hold of when we got it,” she admitted. “I remember Ricky Tomlinson saying, ‘This is either going to go out at midnight or it’ll be a huge success’. We had no clue of how it would be.”
The award-winning comedy, based almost entirely in the front room of the Royles’ house, was regularly watched by 12million viewers.
Sue has told how turning 80 was a shock for her. “It’s just a number, but I remember my mum was an old woman at 80,” she explained at the time. “I think attitudes have changed so much. I don’t feel like an old woman.”
Sort Your Life Out has run for six series on BBC1 since 2021 and sees Stacey offer advice with the help of professional organiser Dilly Carter, upcycler and carpenter Robert Bent and cleaning guru Iwan Carrington.
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