Victoria Bush No tears for Waterloo’s sunset

Waterloo Road star Victoria Bush made an early exit to avoid a tearful scene on the show’s final day.

The Scots-filmed school drama has been axed by the BBC, so the current series and one final batch of episodes are the last we’ll see.

Victoria, who plays school secretary Sonya, says it was an emotional time and not one she wanted to linger on.

“We found out just before filming started again and there were a lot of texts and calls,” Victoria, 36, told The Sunday Post. “Everyone was so sad. I was filming on the very last day and it was really difficult.

“It was very emotional and I’m a bit of a teary person so I actually scooted away early before I really embarrassed myself. All the cast and crew were like a family. The actors have it easy, some of the crew were there from seven in the morning until seven at night, seven days a week.

“The hours are so intense it’s as if you are leading a double life, and it’s a shock when it comes to an end. It’s never nice when you lose your job but because we knew what was happening I think we were able to give the show a proper send-off.”

There may have been sadness at the demise of the series but you get the feeling Victoria would always find a silver lining. She’s like a warm wave of bubbliness, something that comes in very handy for her other job, being half of comedy duo Checkley & Bush.

With actress pal Laura Checkley she fits in stand-up appearances when they can. They spent years at the Edinburgh Fringe, combining their last stint with Waterloo Road filming.

“It half-killed me,” she laughs. “The Festival is a beast, just relentless. By the end I was desperate for a holiday but I still had filming to do up until Christmas.”

Victoria admits trying to make people laugh is “scary” and, at times, simply no laughing matter.

“Our agent pushed and pushed to get us on at the Comedy Store in London,” recalls Victoria. “They don’t really do double acts or character acts, which we have, so we were fighting a losing battle from the start.

“The only way they would take us was as part of their gong show where three audience members have a gong. When all three have had enough and ring the gong, you’re off.

“We lasted 46 seconds! Honestly, by the time we’d got on and sorted ourselves out, we were gonged off.”

Victoria has had much more to smile about recently, having got married just last month to financial adviser Steve Wilson. The pair met in Steve’s home city of Newcastle, where they now live.

“It was a brilliant wedding, absolutely fantastic. We had about 170 guests so it was like a military operation. My mum became like Bridezilla’s mum and did everything for me.”

Sonya’s often the light relief in Waterloo Road and she blunders into chaos this week. She decided to enter a short story competition, penning a tale that’s a thinly-veiled account of the former headmistress’s boozing only to see it accidentally printed on the back of PTA letters being sent out.

“Sonya’s a larger-than-life character and she’s probably a bit Marmite,” admits Victoria. “Some people will think she’s brilliant and some will think: ‘Oh her again, silly girl’.

“The show deals with some heavy issues so she brings something a bit lighter. She’s had powerful stories too, like her mother having dementia. And there’s a big story coming up where she thinks she has cancer.”

Camaraderie apart, there’s one thing Victoria will really miss about her days filming on the Firth of Clyde.

“I’m from Norfolk where everything is really flat, so just seeing the hills and mountains was breathtaking,” adds Victoria. “It’s the most gorgeous place I’ve ever filmed.