The article below was in the Mumbles & District Community Magazine
March 2008 issue and has been reproduced without permission

SPOTLIGHT ON ... MELANIE WALTERS

The eagerly awaited second series of TV's 'Gavin and Stacey' launches this month. The award winning BBC comedy,
which charts the lives of an Essex boy and a Barry girl from meeting to marriage, was a huge hit when it was shown
last year.

It features a stellar cast including Mumbles actress, Melanie Walters, who plays Stacey's mam, Gwen. The Community
Magazine caught up with Melanie and talked about acting ... and Pilates ...

Melanie had just returned to Mumbles after a second stint filming in Liverpool for Channel 4's teen soap, Hollyoaks'. She
plays another mum, this time to Elliot Bevan and is yet another role in a long career that takes in The Bill, Holby City and
Casualty along with the heart warming 'We Are Seven'.

But Melanie admits she is very proud of Gavin and Stacey. "Britain hasn't been ready for Welsh humour but it's broken
through. The cast is fantastic and we all gelled well so yes, it's a dream job."

Melanie shares the screen with Swansea's Joanna Page who plays the eponymous Stacey along with Rob Brydon,
Matthew Horne, Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb. The series was written by Ruth Jones and James Corden of
'Fat Friends' fame who also play Gavin and Stacey's best friends.

While Melanie has to commute to Liverpool for Hollyoaks, it was only a short trip up to Barry for filming on Gavin and
Stacey. Melanie said, "We filmed everything in and around Barry - even the scenes which were set in Essex! Gwen's
terrace house is in the centre of the town and the big Essex house is in Dinas Powys."

But despite a hit comedy under her belt, Melanie is not one to rest on her laurels. As a trained Pilates instructor she stages
classes around Mumbles under the banner of Personal Pilates. Melanie said, "I started learning Pilates when I lived in
London and when I moved back to Mumbles ten years ago it was hard to find an instructor. So I decided to train at the
Pilates Institute in London."

Melanie's second career was useful when she put acting on the back burner for a few years while she had a family, but
she admits this is not a mere second string to a bow. "I am obsessed with it. It's all about rebalancing the body and I can
see how it really helps people with bad backs. I see people in the work place as well as with the over 60s."

Melanie holds classes at the Ostreme Centre and Oystermouth School along with other venues across the city. You can
find out how to join one of Melanie's classes on her website www.personal-pilates.co.uk or by ringing 07951 885772.

You can also see her in action when the second series of Gavin and Stacey starts on the BBC later this month.