Katherine Parkinson has revealed the bizarre side effect of starring in one of the most memorable advertising campaigns of the 2000s, admitting that filming the much-loved Maltesers commercials left her with “chocolate blindness”.
The actress, 48, appeared alongside Sherlock star Amanda Abbington in a series of adverts for the chocolate brand featuring the famous “Naughty, naughty. Maltesers have less than 190 calories” catchphrase.
But while the ads helped make her and Abbington familiar faces to audiences, Parkinson says the experience of eating so many Maltesers on set put her off the treat for life.
Katherine told the Dish from Waitrose podcast: “They offered me sort of something to spit it out in – because it was so much chocolate we were eating. But I sort of saw it as a kind of challenge to – I wanted to look kind of – strong and method.
“So, I ate all of them and I got a kind of chocolate blindness. Like, if you have loads of chocolate, it does send you a bit strange.
“And actually, I have never, never eaten another Malteser since because, no disrespect to them, but when you’ve had that many in that short a time.”
The IT Crowd star also laments that she never received any free Maltesers despite her role in the adverts.
She said: “I never got a single free Malteser when I did the Maltesers ad. Not a single thing.”
Meanwhile, Katherine won a Bafta for Best Female Comedy Performance earlier this year for her role in the BBC sitcom Here We Go and explained that her victory was totally unexpected.
She said: “I feel like I’ve been quite busy, so I haven’t had time to sit and stroke it and stare at it – take selfies with it.
“I know people say they didn’t see it coming, but I don’t think anybody saw – I just didn't think I’d win. So, I was really very, very surprised – and so did a slightly s*** speech.”
Katherine reprises her role as Lizzie Vereker as Disney+ drama Rivals returns for the concluding half of its second season and revealed that she will have to change her perfume on the show as it was giving her co-stars “a headache”.
She explained: “I bought a perfume that gave everyone a headache on Rivals. Like, they were all begging me to stop wearing this one from Penhaligon’s. So, I’ll change it for the new series.”
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