The Hour

How did I end up here? Elaine C Smith asked herself this very question before appearing on stage in hit stage show Calendar Girl. When it came to writing her autobiography, Elaine C Smith had stories to tell.

Growing up in a mining town in Lanarkshire, Elaine’s life has transformed into one from doom and gloom into bright lights and showbiz.

The show which is famed for middle-aged women stripping off to shoot a series of nude photos to raise money has become a much-loved stage spectacular up and down the country.

Elaine found the nudity “a skoosh” and it didn’t seem to faze her appearing naked in front of audiences of 2000 each night.

She said: “When I got the script it was the last thing I thought about.”

Starting off in London as a struggling actress Elaine claimed it was “an assault on the senses”.

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After hitting the big time in award-winning series Rab C Nesbitt and with numerous panto performances under her belt, Smith moved back to London to star in the West end.

 Elaine “absolutely loved” living in the city this time around and thoroughly enjoyed her experiences south of the border.

“I have always had that great experience of London, I was lucky that my pal had a flat in Bloomsbury so I walked to my work everyday.”

The original tour has run for well over a year and Elaine can’t believe how long the show had gone on for.

We all signed up for what we thought would be 12 weeks then it just sort of took off – it was a real phenomenon,”

“The fact that we all still speak to each other is a remarkable thing, I made some really good friends.”

Elaine is taking part in the 2010 Autumn tour of Calendar Girls and her new autobiography ‘Nothing Like A Dame’ is out now.