'Our first year as Redcoats has been crazy'

A young man beams widely at the camera has he drives a yellow go-kart around a track. He is waving with one arm towards the camera. He is wearing a red jacket and trousers. To the right, a woman with ginger hair and glasses, also dressed in red, drives a similar car. Stephen Gamage

Stephen Gamage is one of the newest Redcoats at Butlin's in Skegness

Harry Parkhill
in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire

For nearly 90 years, Redcoats have been the face of Butlin's. Last November, I went along to auditions to find out what it takes to become one. Now, I've returned to catch up with three of the successful recruits. Has the role live up to expectations?

Knees are knocking with nerves and the fake smiles on faces cannot hide the anxiety bubbling underneath. I'm in a room at Butlin's in Skegness, watching dozens of men and women waiting for a chance to become the next generation of Redcoats.

For the best part of a century, holidaymakers here have been greeted by the all-singing, all-dancing entertainers. Some, such as Sir Cliff Richard and Stephen Mulhern, have gone on to enjoy stellar careers in showbiz.

Today's hopefuls are waiting under the watchful eyes of Joe Jenney, Katy Beddoes and Stephen Gamage – three of last year's successful recruits.

I first met Joe, from Hull, at his own audition in November, when he impressed the judging panel by putting on an impromptu game show.

"The year has been absolutely phenomenal," he tells me when we catch up. "It's been crazy, ever-changing. You come to work one day and the next day it'll be totally different."

A young man with cropped blond hair and wearing a red jacket and white shirt gives a thumbs up as he stands arm-in-arm with TV presenter Stephen Mulhern, who has short brown hair, is wearing a light-blue jacket and white shirt, and is pointing at the young man.Stephen Gamage

Joe Jenney (left), from Hull, with former Redcoat Stephen Mulhern

Joe says he had wanted to be a Redcoat since the age of 10. "It's just a total dream come true, I absolutely love it," he adds.

All hopefuls are put through a gruelling process of interviews and group activities. They also have to come up with a one-minute showcase to impress the recruitment bosses.

During Joe's showcase last November, he enlisted the help of Katy and Stephen to compete in wrapping one another in toilet paper.

All three have now (wisely) swapped their loo-roll outfits for the iconic red jacket.

A woman with blonde hair, tied back in bunches, laughs at something out of frame on the right. She is wearing a red jacket, white shirt and red lipstick.

Katy Beddoes says pulling on the red jacket for the first time was a "pinch-me moment"

"It's very surreal," Katy, who grew up nearby, tells me as we walk past the resort's central stage.

"I used to come on holiday here to Butlin's Skegness as a child every single year.

"I've grown up knowing of Butlin's, and of the Redcoats, so to be one myself is a pinch-me moment."

Stephen, from Leicester, says being a Redcoat is "almost like being a little celebrity on resort".

"But there's a lot to carry, the history of it," he adds.

The Redcoats were the brainchild of Billy Butlin, who founded the first resort, Skegness, in 1936.

He created the role after noticing holidaymakers were sitting around with people they knew and failing to engage with the activities he was putting on.

Five people take part in an audition in a large building with a white floor and walls. Behind them, a banner reads "Butlin's, the home of entertainment". In the centre, a man dressed in black stands on one leg and looks up as he spins a red plate on a long white stick. To the left, a man and a woman are wrapped in toilet paper. To the right, a man dressed in black wraps another man in toilet paper.

Joe puts on an impromptu gameshow during his audition

According to Butlin's, the first Redcoat was an engineer at Skegness called Norman Bradford.

Butlin asked Bradford to get up on stage, tell a few jokes and explain a bit more about the resort and entertainment. His performance was, apparently, a hit.

The red jacket is said to have been inspired by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties, whom Butlin remembered from growing up in Canada.

As we amble past chalets on the resort, Stephen tells me he is looking forward to next year's anniversary.

"It's our 90th year next year, so there's a lot of responsibility.

"It only feels like five minutes since I auditioned and the opportunities I've had in that time, in just one year, it's been absolutely amazing."

His highlights have included learning to DJ and meeting Mulhern, who was a Redcoat for two years before finding fame on TV.

"It's been everything I hoped for and more really," he adds.

Back at this year's auditions, whether any of the hopefuls will make the grade and join Joe, Katy and Stephen is a question for the panel of judges. Some, however, have already been cut from the process.

That's showbusiness.

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