THEY'RE tacky, loud-mouthed and cheap - and they are giving Didsbury a bad name.
Gold-diggers Cassidy and love-rival Beth are the leading characters in the new Channel 4 drama Goldplated. The only thing they love more than designer handbags, boob-jobs and champagne is boasting that they are from the well-to-do suburb.
Residents have now hit back at the show accusing the social-climbing strumpets of being a slur on the image of the real women of Didsbury.
The series, which focuses on scheming ways of a number of members of the so-called Cheshire set, has been described as a cross-between Footballers' Wives and Dallas. The star of the show is blonde-bombshell Cassidy, who - despite growing up on a deprived estate - is best known for her oft-repeated mantra: "I'm from Didsbury."
Almost as bad is Beth, a lush who lives in a designer apartment block based on the real-life Woods End development next to the Woodstock pub on Barlow Moor Road. She is seen in the first episode staggering drunkenly around a local golf course. But Helen Bradley, 35, owner of Macleod Bradley hairdressing salon on Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury, said: "The majority of women in this area are very stylish. The show gives them a bad name. These women are just shocking - they look like prostitutes."
Emma Topp, 22, sales assistant at the Fonda clothing boutique on Wilmslow Road took a similar view. She said: "Didsbury's a really expensive place to live and a lot of people that come here are the ones that already have money. It's very unfair. We don't see a lot of young gold-diggers coming here looking for rich older men and the people here are not like that."
Simon Rimmer, TV chef and co-owner of Greens Restaurant on Lapwing Lane also hit out at the show. He said: "It is simply not true that Didsbury is full of gold-diggers. It is a fantastic place to live - one of the best in Britain."
But Benjamin Simpson, 21, of Didsbury Barbers Shop on School Lane, believes there is an element of truth in the portrayal. He said: "Sadly, you do see these kind of blonde social-climbing characters hanging around trying to bag themselves a rich fella. The show is pretty accurate in some ways."
Showing comments 1 to 2 and replies | View All
Gloria, Didsbury (27/10/2006 at 16:08)
It's mainly the older ones that say I'm from Didsbury as if they are the queen.
Didsbury is just part of Greater Manchester. I can't wait to get out.
Suzanne Williams, Didsbury (06/09/2007 at 13:33)
"The majority of women in this area are very stylish. The show gives them a bad name. These women are just shocking - they look like prostitutes."
I think it is time Macleod Bradley themselves who NEED to desperately become stylish in service and aftercare too. It is salons like this that give Didsbury a bad name. Helen Bradley's behaviour was nothing less than what the women in this show are. Macleod Bradley is all about appearances, there is no such thing as good service at this salon. Macleod Bradley just do not have a clue and should not be the voice of Didsbury.