SCRUBBER...TO SEXY SIREN (22/10/04)

From The Sun:

STUNNING Bill beauty Kim Tiddy has a dirty secret – she used to scrub other people's homes for a living.

Today the blonde star is known to millions as sexy PC Honey Harman on the long-running ITV1 cop show.

But before winning the role, 26-year-old Kim was at her lowest ebb.

She says: "I was waitressing and I was sick of working for these pizza restaurants that didn't pay well. You finish at 1am and they don't care how you get home.

"My flatmate Kelly said, 'You like cleaning - why don't you get your own business together?'

"I thought it was a fantastic idea. I made fliers on the computer and posted them around the area. I got three clients that day.

"I would put on my oldest tracksuit bottoms and T-shirt and just go from house to house cleaning.

"I could have expanded and got people working for me and really gone for it, but in the end I wanted a more glamorous life.

"My sister Lucy said the turning point for her was when she saw me walking up the street with my head down, carrying a mop and a bucket. It must have been like something out of a comedy.

"I was all pale and really depressed when normally I'm upright and confident. She said it made her feel so sad."

Kim, who trained at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, kept losing out on acting jobs because of her lack of experience.

Disillusioned, she nearly gave up treading the boards to live in Spain.

She says: "I went there on holiday with my sister. My cousin lives out there and I was actually thinking about staying there.

"But I came back to find a message from my agent saying I had been offered an audition for The Bill! It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was finally going to get my chance."

Kim has now been on The Bill for nearly two years and has just signed another one-year deal to stay on at Sun Hill.

She says: "When you start, you have all these anxieties when your first six-month contract is reviewed. Now I'm a bit more relaxed and mature, I've learned so much and I'm still learning."

As the resident sexpot, Honey will soon romance hunky PC Steve Hunter, played by James Lloyd - son of Bill legend Kevin Lloyd, who played Tosh Lines.

Kim says: "We do snog, but you'll have to wait and see if we become an item. He's the kind of guy that when you say, 'Do you want to come in for a coffee?' he says, 'Yeah' - then drinks his coffee and leaves!

In another big storyline, Honey is promoted to family liaison officer and becomes too friendly with a fella involved in a crime.

Kim says: "She's got a promotion so she's a bit more professional and she's going to be taken more seriously.

"She works on a case and gets involved with someone related to the crime, but there will be a twist in the tale. It could bring her whole professional life down."

Kim reveals she found it hard to get to grips with former co-star Daniel MacPherson, who played PC Cameron Tait.

PC Honey provided a shoulder for Cameron to cry on after he failed to save two kids from drowning.

But the pair got carried away and were caught by PC Kerry Young - played by Daniel's real-life girlfriend and Kim's pal, Beth Cordingly.

Kim says: "When I had to kiss Daniel I found it difficult because he's going out with Beth and I'm friends with both of them. Beth came in as her character and saw us doing it.

"Those scenes are always so awkward, so non-feeling. You're like, 'Right then, shall we do this, do we use tongues?'

"I just came with a stash of chewing gum because you're paranoid about having bad breath.

"And I didn't eat any onions or garlic the night before!"

Away from the set, Kim is happily settled with her boyfriend of two years, Franky, a 30-year-old fitness trainer.

The couple share a home in Surbiton, Surrey. She admits Franky finds it odd to watch his girlfriend doing sexy scenes on the box.

She says: "He's really supportive and understands it's just a job. I'm sure other boyfriends wouldn't be, but he's great because I'm sure there's nothing worse than explaining what you're doing at work.

"He finds it weird to watch and he goes 'oh' but it's a natural reaction."

She adds: "I'm not one of these girls desperate to get married."

Kim doesn't plan to stay with The Bill - now in its 21st year - for ever and would love to appear in a Brit flick.

But she is full of praise for the show, which has been nominated as Most Popular Drama at next week's National TV Awards.

Kim says: "It's such an ambitious show. What The Bill does that other shows don't is deal with current issues.

"We've won two awards this year and it would be great to get this. It would be really well deserved.

"It has been 21 years of good work and it just gets better."