A COCKENZIE family have enjoyed their television debut, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the youngest member.
Eight-year-old Mary Kidd, mum Karen, dad Gordon and older sister Abbie, 16, appeared on Martin and Roman’s Sunday Best on Sunday, July 5, the pair’s chat show style programme.
They appeared on the show, presented by father-and-son duo Martin and Roman Kemp, thanks to Mary’s six-hour TikTok dance marathon, which she completed on VE Day in aid of the Walk With Scott Foundation.
Karen, a board member at the foundation, said: “I got a message on Facebook from a producer at Cactus TV [an independent TV production company which owns/runs the show], they were looking for inspirational families for the show.
“I was a wee bit unsure at first but the girl we spoke to was nice.
“They saw Mary’s story online, I think it was the Courier online, and asked if they could give us a phone call.
“So we had a couple of phone calls with them and they found out what happened and about the charity etc, like a pre-interview.
“Roman is also a big TikTok fan so he was really interested.”
The show was filmed on June 24 and took about one hour and 40 minutes in total to record. It was broadcast on STV/ITV1 at 8.30am last Sunday morning, July 5.
As well as chats with actor and Spandau Ballet member Martin Kemp and his radio DJ and I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star son Roman, the family played some games and spoke to the show’s three guests Laura Whitmore, Beverly Knight and Jessie Ware.
Karen said: “We just had normal chats with them, they made us feel very, very welcome. The whole experience was really good. They had some great chats with Mary.
“Martin and Roman were so nice and made us feel very at ease.
“I was more of a Duran Duran fan but I didn’t tell him that!
“It’s nice that they are recognising kids that have done something that wee bit different.
“It was also nice to see what it takes to film a TV show and how it is all done – Roman fluffed his lines a couple of times. It was an honour and a privilege to have had the opportunity from ITV.”
Ahead of watching the show, Karen admitted she was nervous.
However, afterwards she described it as “one of the most surreal” experiences and said she was really pleased with how the show turned out.
She said that both Mary and Abbie also loved filming the show.
She added a thanks to Mary for doing her TikTok challenge, which raised more than £3,500 for the Walk With Scott Foundation.
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