03 May 2024

Barbados

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Short cut to paradise

Take some silver sandy Barbados beaches and glorious Caribbean sun , mix with just about every holiday activity and addthe two stars of Cutting It on a mission to let their hair down. It proved a potent cocktail.

1 Sandy Lane 2 Sandy Lane massage 3 Turtle Beach

Sarah writes:

I'M ALWAYS SUGGESTING to the writers of Cutting It that we do some location filming in a glamorous location abroad. The series, after all, takes place in Salford and Manchester - nothing too glamorous there.

Allie, my character, was dumped in Naples by Finn (the man who later married Mia but who is now back with Allie). I said: “Why don’t we have a flashback of the incident so we can all head off to Italy to film it?”

But nobody bought it. So GMTV didn’t have to try too hard to persuade Amanda and me when they offered to take us on a break in the Caribbean.

Unlike Amanda, I’d never been to Barbados before - Jamaica and the Caymans are the only two Caribbean islands I’ve visited.

Stunning white sand

Barbados knocked me out. I loved it. It was Paradise. Turtle Beach, the all-inclusive resort where we stayed for a week, is on a stunning stretch of white sand on the south of Barbados near St Lawrence Gap, 15 minutes from the capital Bridgetown.

We went with the idea of having a complete rest but for three days we were making a holiday film for GMTV. Then for 72 hours we did just about everything you can do on Barbados. We dived, hired a speedboat, surfed, sailed, dined at The Cliff Restaurant, visited the very posh Sandy Lane Hotel and supped rum in a local bar.

What did I like most about it? The sun, it was glorious. But what I found really fascinating about Barbados was that it was nothing like I expected!

As we flew in I saw this very English landscape, as if Surrey had been dropped into the tropics with English country churches beside swaying palm trees.

And the sea was surprising. My experience of the Caribbean is that it laps fairly listlessly on the beach. On the eastern Atlantic side, however, it is rough in a rolling-surf-on-Newquay-beach sort of way.

The waves are huge. It was great to boogie board, basically lying tummy-down on a small surfboard and riding the waves.

But Barbados has lots more besides, and many of the historic buildings have been beautifully preserved and restored. Quite a few are managed and run by the equivalent of our National Trust.

Visiting the 17th century Sunbury Plantation House, for example, gave us a chance to dress up.

I felt like a real Southern belle and came over all Scarlett O’Hara. No Rhett Butler around unfortunately.

At Codrington College, a popular attraction, any sort of hanky-panky would not have been tolerated. This is the oldest Anglican theological college in the western hemisphere, where celibacy is a key rule. The beautiful house, high on a hill in St John, has spectacular views of the east coast. Imagine being on a glorious tropical island and having to deny yourself the pleasures of life. Hmm...

Still, the setting is gorgeous with a magnificent lily pond and a striking driveway lined with cabbage palm trees.

Both Amanda and me are qualified scuba divers so we jumped at the chance of going on a wreck dive. Barbados has some great dive sites but one that everyone wants to visit is the SS Stavronikita, reckoned to be one of the best in the world.

She was a Greek freighter which caught fire near the island about 30 years ago. She was sunk off the coast and now sits upright in about 100ft of water, with her highest point about 20ft from the surface -perfect for dives.

Coral and sponges

The hull is covered with coral and sponges. All sorts of tropical fish swarm in and out.

At the right times of year you are also supposed to be able to spot barracudas and turtles. Sadly we didn’t - but the Stavro dive was one of the best wreck dives I’ve been on.

I was looking forward to seeing Sandy Lane. I’ve heard so much about it, especially since it’s re-opening in 2001.

My verdict? Very posh, but too rich for me. But the spa was superb and we thoroughly enjoyed the beauty treatment we had there.

Stars such as Cilla Black, Dale Winton and Sir Cliff Richard have homes on Barbados. But although we ate at The Cliff Restaurant, a well-known celebrity hangout, we didn’t run into anybody famous - although Amanda did see Harry Enfield one evening.

I like travelling with Amanda, and we’ve been away together a lot.

Perhaps our fondness for holidays has helped us with our characters in Cutting It. After all, isn’t this the hairdresser’s mantra: “Are you going anywhere nice for your holidays?”

Amanda writes

THIS WAS THE SECOND TIME I’d been to Barbados, so I knew what to expect.

I knew the place would be stunning.

The first time I went, my husband Les and I stayed first on Grenada and moved on to Barbados.

I quickly fell in love with it. While we were there, we met just about everybody who’s anybody that you can bump into on the island, from Bob Monkhouse and Ronnie Barker to Jeremy Beadle.

They were all very nice people, so it was fun. This time I bumped into Harry Enfield.

Barbados is perfect for a holiday: the water’s blood hot, you can do some fantastic diving and the weather, of course, is gorgeous.

The landscape is stunning. Some of the places we visited for the GMTV filming, such as Plantation House, were unbelievable. It was quite amazing inside.

A lot of people recognised Sarah and me, which was nice - good fun to be honest.

We did a bit where we played hairdressers on the beach pretending to braid people’s hair, which was a laugh.

My favourite hotel on the island is the Sandpiper, on the west coast.

A perfect hideaway

It’s where Les and I stayed on our first visit. It’s a fantastic retreat, a perfect hideaway. The Coral Reef Club next door is also lovely.

However, you do have to watch the fierce sun of the Caribbean, or you can get burned.

When I go on holiday, I don’t tend to stay in hotels any more. I prefer to do my own thing and rent a place

I like shopping in the local markets and get to know about the local culture.

The paparazzi? They certainly weren’t a problem in the Caribbean. They know where they’re supposed to be and where they’re not supposed to be. I’ve pointed out the rules to them in several court cases, so I think they know.

I do like travelling. But I’ve had my last big holiday for a while. I’ve been busy in the West End doing Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which I had major ballet, tap, and singing lessons.

So no foreign break for a while - I’ll be in England working hard, dreaming of my trips to exotic places such as the Caribbean.

Acting is a tough life, but it’s fantastic - so I’m not complaining.

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