Other puppeteers tell me that they always knew they wanted to be a puppeteer… not me.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere; ducks waddled into the house and cows were our neighbours.  I made my first puppets when I was 5 and performed my first puppet show, to the ducks and cows, at age 7. But I didn’t want to be a puppeteer; I wanted to be a fighter pilot.

At 17, I went to London, where I found work on the original 1984 West End production of ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’, staring a man-eating plant, Audrey 2, a giant puppet. I worked back stage and maintained the puppets. But I didn’t want to be a puppeteer; I wanted to live in Paris and paint.

At 18, I met a man and fell in love. He was making a TV show for kids and asked me to make the puppets for it. I did, it was a success! We’re still together (me, the man and the puppets) 36 years and 2 kids later. But I still didn’t want to puppeteer, or at least, I didn’t think I did…

I was finally persuaded to try at 21, ‘just to help out,’… and that was it, I was hooked and I’m very happy to say, I haven’t stopped since!

Although, there’s still time for me to be a fighter pilot.