Benidorm’s biggest dramas behind the scenes – from fans ‘licking & groping’ stars to the punch-ups that turned real

A CROSS-DRESSING bar man, mobility scooters, chain smoking and sun-worshipped skin – these are all thigh-slapping features from ITV’s Benidorm. 

The iconic sitcom, which was first aired in 2007 and then axed in 2018, was famed for its foul-mouthed characters, slapstick humour and situations that made viewers recoil in horror.

Benidorm hilariously ­portrayed British holidaymakers mixing with quirky staff at the Solana all-inclusive resort in Spain.

But it turns out that the show had just as much toe-curling drama going on behind the scenes. 

One cast mate was LICKED by fans on a daily basis, while another momentarily died on the operating table during filming for series nine. 

It comes after The Sun exclusively revealed that the ITV sitcom is set to return for an 11th series eight years after it was brutally axed.

Channel bosses are in secret talks over a comeback for the award-winning show about Brits abroad, with hopes of reuniting the all-star cast.

Favourites included Tim Healy’s cross-dressing bartender Les, and loud-mouth matriarch Madge Harvey, played by Sheila Reid, who chain-smoked while driving around the resort on her mobility scooter.

Guest stars included Sheridan Smith, Steve Pemberton, Hannah Waddingham and Johnny Vegas — plus cameos from Cilla Black and Joan Collins.

Benidorm was scrapped just two months before winning Best Comedy at the TV Choice Awards in 2018. 

At the height of its success, the show had nearly eight MILLION viewers tuning in. 

But what those countless watchers didn’t know was that the drama behind the scenes was just as compelling as what was happening on the telly. 

Fabulous takes a look at the off-screen dramas that Benidorm fans likely didn’t know about… 

Physical brawl

Character arguments were a big part of Benidorm scripts – and some of those included physical fights. 

However, one actress is said to have taken an on-screen brawl too far when she actually began “thumping” her co-star in the face. 

Sherrie Hewson, who played hotel manager Joyce Temple Savage, was at the heart of a bitter on-screen rivalry with Tony Maudsley, who played hairdresser Kenneth du Beke. 

One fictional row turned physical in real life, when Sherrie, 74, began whacking Tony, 57, for real. 

She revealed in an interview afterwards that she heard Tony exclaim: “You’re actually doing it for real Sherrie. You’re actually thumping me in the face!”

The actress admitted she apologised, but also confessed that she “really wanted to smack” Tony on-screen and thought it would look better for the cameras if she did it for real. 

Horny fans 

Womaniser Mateo Castellanos is Solana Resort’s barman and the show’s only Spanish character, played by actor Jake Canuso, 55. 

The character might be a total sleazeball who is infamous for always getting his own way with the ladies, but that didn’t stop Benidorm viewers fawning after Jake.  

In fact, fans would approach him in real life looking for a slice of the Spaniard, whose nicknames included Rude Pig, Dirty Diego and Slime Ball. 

Jake revealed in an interview with The Sun in 2018 that he “gets all the groping” from fans, adding: “I get licked and kissed on a daily basis.”

Fans of the flirty bar man can also get a piece of him thanks to Jake selling personalised videos on the popular celebrity messaging platform Cameo. 

He has countless five star reviews and advertises his videos by introducing himself with: “Mateo from Benidorm at your services.” 

Mid-series ‘death’ 

English actor Tim Healey, 73, had been starring as cross-dressing barman Les Conroy in Benidorm for six years when he nearly died during filming for the ninth series. 

He developed a mystery illness just three episodes in, and the show’s creator Derren Little later revealed that he almost died. 

“He was incredibly unwell,” the programme supremo told Cool FM Spain. “He was in a pretty bad way. 

“[Surgeons] operated on him and it didn’t go well at all.

“He died. He flat lined. They had to resuscitate him. He was in intensive care for a month.”

Tim was airlifted back to the UK to recover in his Wilmslow home for the rest of the series, before making a comeback for series 10. 

Ofcom complaints 

Benidorm bosses were left scrambling behind the scenes when a whopping 118 viewers complained about an episode “containing a highly offensive comment” about people with cleft lip and palate.

Sherrie Hewson’s character Joyce Temple-Savage described a person who appeared to have the condition as having “the voice of a 13-year-old girl and a face like a dropped pie”.

The remark, made on the final episode of the ninth series, sparked fury amongst watchers and charities alike. 

One charity which supports people affected by the condition – which is characterised by an opening or gap in the roof of the mouth that can affect speech, feeding and hearing – branded the comment “ignorant” and said it had “outraged” people.

TV star Carol Vorderman, whose brother Anton was born with the condition, endorsed an open letter to ITV sent by the Cleft Lip And Palate Association.

The group said it was “almost unbelievable” that the line made it into the final cut of the show and provided their supporters with details of how to complain to Ofcom.