Waterloo Road’s the best job on telly – we party hard, are fed LOADS and get school holidays, says Tillie Amartey
SHE might only be 21 but Tillie Amartey knows a thing or two about working on a hit TV show.
The actress was a child star in BBC soap Doctors and starred alongside Sheridan Smith in The Teacher, but her current gig is proving pretty hard to top.
Tillie plays Stacey Neville in the long-running BBC school drama Waterloo Road, and when the cameras aren't rolling the cast certainly aren't counting down to the home bell.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, she said: "We're quite lucky at Waterloo. I think we get about two weeks off for Christmas. It's literally like going to school. It's amazing.
"We had our Waterloo Road annual Christmas party on Friday. Oh, we had a great time. School's definitely out for Christmas."
When asked if the canteen serves up tasty grub, Tillie said: "Absolutely 10 out of 10.
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"I'm glad that I've had a week off, because otherwise I think I would look like Santa. Because, honestly, we have hotcakes at 11, you name it, we've got it in the building."
Like its ITV rival Coronation Street, Waterloo Road is filmed in Manchester and feels like a proper part of the local community.
The drama prides itself on being authentic and researching big storylines thoroughly so viewers can connect with it in a meaningful way.
Last year, Tillie spent her run-up to Christmas competing in the Strictly special for which she was partnered with Neil Jones.
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It was out of her comfort zone, but she loved every minute of the sequins, sparkles and gruelling training sessions.
Though she didn't win, she says "never say never" when it comes to potentially competing in the show's main series in the future.
This year, the festive season will have a Gallic flavour.
"Oh, we love Christmas in my house," said Tillie. "It's a bit different this year. I'm going to Paris to see my cousins. Right up until pretty much the big day.
"So I think it'll be really nice, you know, Parisian Christmas."
When she isn't acting, Tillie is keen to use her platform to inspire people to bring out the very best in themselves.
She has teamed up with the , which aims to help young people, adults and businesses realise their full potential by engaging in a range of skills and technical education offers.
It supports the government in their attempts to grow the economy by ensuring people have the skills they need for the future.
One of its aims is also to help teens have open and honest conversations with their parents and carers about their career goals and options, which, for some, can prove difficult.
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Tillie said: "Arming yourself with knowledge, because knowledge is power, and the Skills for Life website is definitely full of knowledge.
"So even if you think, 'oh I can only do this with the qualifications I've got', as soon as you put your qualifications in on the Skills for Life website, you've got a numerous amount of jobs that you didn't know you could do."
Waterloo road main cast - past and present
Who was part of the main cast of Waterloo Road series 13?
Parents and Staff
- Angela Griffin - Headteacher Kim Campbell
- James Baxter - Deputy Head Joe Casey
- Vincent Jerome - Deputy Head Lindon King
- Ryan Clayton - School security Sergeant Mike Rutherford
- Jo Coffey as PA to headteacher, Wendy Whitwell
- Neil Fitzmaurice - History teacher Neil Guthrie
- Rachel Leskovac - Head of English Coral Walker
- Kym Marsh - School Canteen worker Nicky Walters
- Katherine Pearce - Junior teacher Amy Spratt
- Shauna Shim - Music teacher Valerie Chambers
- Adam Thomas - School caretaker Donte Charles
- Jamie Glover - Former deputy head Andrew Treneman
Pupils
- Noah Valentine - Preston Walters
- Priyasasha Kumari - Samia Choudhry
- Adam Ali - Kai Sharif
- Alicia Forde - Kelly Jo Rafferty
- Francesco Piacentini-Smith - Dean Weever
- Liam Scholes - Noel McManus
- Lucy Eleanor Begg - Caz Williams
- Summer Violet Bird - Tonya Walters
- Scarlett Thomas - Izzy Charles
- Thapelo Ray - Dwayne Jackson
- Inathi Rozani - Zayne Jackson
- Chiamaka Ulebor - Shola Aku
- Hattie Dynevor - Libby Guthrie
- Zak Sutcliffe - Schumacher "Schuey" Weever
- Tillie Amartey - Stacey "Stace" Neville
- Maisie Robinson - Portia Weever
- Aabay Noor Ali - Mollie 'Mog' Richardson
- Zanele Nyoni - Jess Clarke
- Teddy Wallwork - Declan Harding
Returning
- Lauren Drummond - Mika Grainger
Who were some of the past notable characters from across the years?
Previous Heads
- Jack Rimmer - Jason Merrells
- Rachel Mason - Eva Pope
- Karen Fisher - Amanda Burton
- Michael Byrne - Alec Newman
- Christine Mulgrew - Laurie Brett
- Vaughan Fitzgerald - Neil Pearson
Notable Teachers
- Drama teacher Izzy Redpath - Jill Halfpenny
- English teacher Tom Clarkson - Jason Done
- English teacher Lorna Dickey - Camilla Power
- English teacher Grantley Budgen - Philip Martin Brown
- French teacher Steph Haydock - Denise Welch
- Deputy Head Eddie Lawson - Neil Morrissey
- Deputy Head Chistopher Mead - William Ash
- Executive Head Max Tyler - Tom Chambers
- Drama and Music teacher Matt Wilding - Chris Geere
- English teacher Jasmine Koreshi - Shabana Bakhsh
- Special needs assistant Davina Shackleton - Christine Tremarco
- Home Economics teacher - Ruby Fry Elizabeth Berrington
- Head of Foreign Languages Jo Lipsett - Sarah-Jane Potts
- Foreign Languages teacher Francesca "Cesca" Montoya - Karen David
- Geography teacher Marcus Kirby - Wil Johnson
- Head of Pastoral Care Adanna Lawal - Sharlene Whyte,