One foxy lady on the Costa

EWN’s Sam Croft recently had a chance to chat over a coffee with Britain’s leading lady of female impersonation, Terri Fox, as they tackled everything from fake fur (forget about it) to costume changes (a must) to political correctness (forget all about it).

Witty and articulate, Fox is approachable yet effortlessly commands respect as she tosses off anecdotes about everyone from Dusty Springfield to Raquel Welch, and gleefully reminisces about the time she got fired from Corrie.

“They didn’t know what I did back then,” she laughs. “Then one night it was all over the front page of the paper: ‘Drag Queen legs it down the street.’”

Boasting a career that spans over 35 years, Fox has performed in the London’s West End, as well as in the United States, where she lived for 5 ½ years in Florida. She has also done her time in Benidorm, but has spent the lion’s share of the last 15 years with her stiletto heels firmly planted in the Costa del Sol, where she says she feels even more at home than she does in Britain.

In fact, Fox says that she feels just as Spanish as she does British: a revelation that isn’t altogether surprising considering she moved to Mallorca with her family when she was nine and has been back and forth between the two countries ever since. Ultimately though, she comes down firmly on the Spanish side of the spectrum.

“People in the UK are just miserable all the time,” she observes, although she is quick to acknowledge that with the sunny Spanish weather, it’s hard not to feel chipper. “Life in the UK is hard,” she concedes.

She acknowledges that her chosen homeland isn’t without its flaws either, and points to the dearth of entertainment options available in the Costa del Sol, comparing it unfavourably to Benidorm in this regard. A big part of the problem, she explains, is that there are very few bars that are licenced to host entertainment events, and securing a new licence is virtually impossible.

In fact, due to the greater amount of opportunities in the UK, Fox still spends a good chunk of her time there, where she lives her life on the road, travelling far and wide as she brings her unique style of humour and irreverence all across the country. Always hungry for new opportunities, she only recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of performing in a panto, Dick Whittington, where she played the Pantomime Dame.

And what does the future hold in store for someone who has appeared on virtually every British soap, drops Bob Mackie clothing off at Primark, and was once the highest-paid entertainer in all of the Costa del Sol?

“I’d love to have my own radio show,” she says. “Where I could play whatever I liked. Although there would be nothing from after 1979!”

Considering all that she’s managed to pull off so far, don’t be surprised if you see FOX FM making its way to a radio station near you any day now.

You can see Terri Fox this week on Thursday (June 23) and Saturday (June 25) at 10pm at Linda’s Bar in Fuengirola, or on Sunday (June 26) at 10pm at the Malt House in Benalmadena.