Coventry Evening Telegraph

THE NEW TV SERIES THAT CLAIMS TO TELL THE WHOLE STORY OF DIANA DORS – BRITAIN’S ANSWER TO MARILYN MONROE Blonde ambition.

THOROUGHLY modern Keeley Hawes underwent a complete transformation to play the young Diana Dors in her pin-up days.

Her own dark hair was bleached white so it would not show through the 50-style wig and she had to wear contact lenses to change her own brown eyes to Diana’s blue.

Most importantly of all she also had to pile on the weight to recreate Diana’s generous curves. It meant eating a lot of junk food and led to Keeley tipping the scales at more than a stone heavier than normal.

”I loved putting on all that weight,” she laughs. ”It was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.

”I had huge fried breakfasts and three course meals on location every day, and every time we had a coffee break I would eat as many doughnuts as I could manage.”

Keeley, whose other TV roles include The Beggar’s Bride and Our Mutual Friend, was delighted with her new calorie-boosted figure and enjoyed throwing out the diet sheet for a while.

”I felt so much sexier with all those curves,” she beams, ”I had spent so much time worrying about my weight as a model, that to eat what I wanted was a very liberating experience.

“People expect you to be rake thin these days, and yet in Diana Dors’ day having a few extra pounds was OK.”

However, she had to quickly shed the excess weight after filming The Blonde Bombshell. ”I had to lose weight for my next role and that was difficult,” sighs Keeley.

It wasn’t just the curves that completed the Dors look. Make-up artist Paul Hayley, who had worked with the real Diana years ago, helped to create the authentic air.

”When I was first made-up as Diana it was quite scary as there was an amazing resemblance,” recall Keeley.

”It sent shivers down my spine when I saw myself in the mirror.”