Post by Leanne on Aug 7, 2013 21:11:27 GMT 1
He Has Burning Ambition, a Ruthless Nature and Swaggering Sex Appeal. and the Bill's Bad Boy Detective Constable Mickey Webb Really Fancies His Chances with the Girls. but in Real Life, Street-Wise Actor Chris Simmons Hasn't Had a Girlfriend for Three Years. SHARON FEINSTEIN Reports
HE's only 25 but Chris Simmons has already given up on women. He admits it's a bit early but says, quite frankly, he wants to avoid any nagging and aggravation. Simple as that.
Blond Chris - who plays the ruthlessly ambitious Detective Constable Mickey Webb in The Bill - explains: "I prefer being single. I've had no aggro, no nagging sessions and no bad feelings for three years."
It was three years ago that Chris split with his last girlfriend during a world trip together that ended in disaster for their relationship.
Chris and his former girlfriend, actress Hannah Wynn-Jones, had been together for four years when they set off on their travels. But by the time they reached Australia the relationship was in tatters.
Hannah, 25, ended up flying home from Australia, leaving Chris to finish the trip alone.
He says: "Hannah is a very pretty, funny girl. She made me laugh and I loved her to bits. I would have done anything for her.
"But then, slowly, the travelling began to destroy what we had. It was the 24 hours a day contact that wore us out.
"If we had an argument, the last person I wanted to see was her. But I couldn't get away from her. We were stuck with each other, and it just got worse and worse.
"We started to grate on each other and there was nowhere to turn. Sometimes we could hardly bear to be in the same space.
"Eventually Hannah flew home and that was it. I travelled on for three months on my own."
Since then Chris, 25, from Gravesend, Kent, hasn't had a steady girlfriend.
He explains: "I go out with girls but there's no pressure and I'm really happy this way.
"It's great to wake up in the morning and not have to think about whether I've done anything wrong or whether I've upset anyone.
"Girls go for me but I've been snubbed enough times, too - just as many as I've had say yes.
"I'm just a run-of-the-mill guy, spit and sawdust type, what you see is what you get.
"I don't get swept up by girls with money or fame, that's for sure, but I'm certain the right girl will come along one day."
Chris's part in The Bill is set to grow dramatically over the next year as DC Webb battles to become Sun Hill's youngest-ever detective sergeant.
And he doesn't care who he upsets to get there.
In fact, Webb's career at Sun Hill mirrors Chris's own determination to succeed as an actor.
Chris quit a steady job as a Thames diver and even cleaned toilets to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. He says: "My dad was a diver on the Thames all his life. When I was 16 I worked on the river with him.
"I was apprenticed for five years and trained up in all the different departments - on salvage boats, dredging boats, diving boats and harbour launch boats. I trained with the divers - fixing and welding the boats under water and I loved it."
During his time as a diver, Chris made many grisly discoveries.
He says: "I pulled a body out once - the first dead body I'd ever seen. It was in a car which had been down for a couple of years.
"The bloke's face and body were half eaten away and it totally freaked me out. I couldn't bear to touch it.
"We also pulled out a man who had jumped off a bridge. We got there a fraction too late and the police had just got him out when I came alongside.
"He was shaking, crying, having convulsions. It was freezing cold - real take-your-breath-away cold - that is why it is one of the worst ways to try to kill yourself.
"As soon as you jump, you're in the water really suffering and you realise you want out. But then the currents are so strong you can't do anything. That happens all the time.
"But I do love the river - as a boy I had always enjoyed going to work with my dad on the boat.
"His father was on the river too and it was a real family thing. So when I realised I wanted to be an actor I was very nervous about telling Dad.
"I was only young but already my whole life was mapped out in front of me. It spooked me out a bit. Being a diver was was nice, steady and regular money but just not what I wanted to do.
"When I did finally tell my dad I wanted to leave diving, he was really cool. He knew how much acting meant to me and had seen me do loads of school stuff."
Chris won a scholarship to drama college but had to earn his living expenses through cleaning toilets, washing floors and polishing offices for an hour each day.
He says: "I paid all my dues and didn't have any problem with doing those jobs at all."
It was after drama school that Chris went travelling with his girlfriend but when he returned home to Gravesend he wrote 20 letters a day looking for acting parts.
He says: "I'd had no money to speak of for two and a half years before I got The Bill.
"It was a long time to be working part time in bars, signing on the dole and sitting in my little room in Kent.
"So getting this job is fantastic."
Chris modelled his Bill character Mickey Webb on a real-life cop at London's Bethnal Green nick.
He says: "I'm born and bred in Gravesend, I speak like Mickey Webb and I can really identify with him.
"I went along to Bethnal Green police station and asked them to find me the copper who comes closest to being like Webb - and they did.
"By pure fluke he was virtually identical to the character - quietly spoken but with a real air of arrogance about him. I sat down and watched him, took notes on him, trailed him for a few days and it really helped me.
"I suppose I'm a bit like him, too - outgoing, confident, not fazed by many things, and very, very ambitious. I don't cheat on girls like he does - but then I haven't got a girlfriend. I love being single far too much."
