AMANDA HOLDEN DOWNS RED WINE AND BOOGIES WITH CUTTING IT CO-STARS IN MOCK TV TITLE SEQUENCE
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Amanda Holden looked to be having a ball, as she shared a glimpse inside her fun-filled girls' weekend away with her pals at luxury retreat Hanks House in Oxfordshire.
The TV star, 54, took to her Instagram on Tuesday to post a hilarious title sequence introducing each of the guests, in the distinctive style of classic 90s sitcoms, like Seinfeld or Friends.
She was joined by a slew of fellow actresses, including Sarah Parish, Angela Griffin and Lucy Gaskell, who all starred opposite her in BBC hairdressing drama Cutting It back in the early noughties.
The group was rounded out by Amanda's longtime pals EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite and Emmerdale's Nicola Stephenson, who both starred with her on stage in 2017 production Stepping Out.
All clad in matching striped Their Nibs pyjamas, the gang let their hair down on their annual festive get-together, dancing up a storm while sipping on red wine.
Larking about the stunning house, they opted to mock up their own opening credits intro to the tune of Lil Boo Thang by Paul Russell for a hilarious video.
The clip began with a title card reading: 'Christmas as Hanks House starring...' before each of the women took a turn introducing themselves by doing a dance solo.
Amanda clutched her glass of wine on her turn, before Sarah, 57, strutted towards the camera to show off her moves and Angela, 49, displayed her impressive hip action.
As Nicola demonstrated a playful shoulder shimmy, Amanda swept up Angela's cavapoo, Smith, for him to make his own adorable cameo and lead the group in a singalong.
Captioning the video, she wrote: 'An Epic weekend of Cosy chats and hot toddies!! In the most glamorous house @hankshouse.co with of course these gorgeous girls!!! More comin…'
At the weekend, the BGT judge gushed over her long-standing bond with all the girls, insisting she 'couldn't live without them'.
Sharing a photo of the crew posing in their pjs front of a huge Christmas tree, she added that they were missing one of their number, TV presenter and actress Lisa Faulkner, but had had 'lots of laughter, food and of course wine'.
'This is gonna be the first of many photos and videos! This is our annual Xmas weekend way together! wrote Amanda.
'My friendship with these girls spans over 30 years. I couldn't live without them. ( We missed you @lisafaulknercooks ) Lots of laughter, food and of course wine. Not Forgetting some very brilliant new dance moves!
'@hankshouse.co is the most insane house! We have never stayed anywhere like it and cancelled all dinner plans because we just didn't see the point going anywhere else. We are all wearing matching pyjamas from.@theirnibs.'
Angela uploaded the same pic as she revealed: 'We talked, we danced, we ate and most importantly we laughed. Our yearly Christmas girls get together and this year was incredible.'
Created by Poldark’s Debbie Horsfield, Cutting It ran for four seasons between 2002 and 2005 and was set in Manchester, focusing on the lives of the teams running rival hairdressing salons.
Amanda played Mia Bevan on the show, while Sarah starred as lead character Allie Henshall and Angela and Lucy appeared as beautician Darcey Henshall and Ruby Ferris, respectively.
Back in 2021, Amanda gushed that she'd love to revive the series, gushing: 'I always think, "Oh, let's bring back Cutting It!" I still regularly see Angela, we're all still good friends. I think it would be really fun to bring that back.'
The cast have all had careers on television post the show with the actress pivoting to presenting, fronting the likes of Britain's Got Talent and Amanda And Alan's Italian Job.
Sarah meanwhile, went on to appear in TV hits including Doctor Who, Mistresses, Broadchurch and Bancroft after finding fame on The Bill before Cutting It.
Lucy, who played Sarah's onscreen daughter went on to star in Doctor Who, Casuality and Misfits.
While Angela is a familiar face on Brit telly, having had roles in Coronation Street and Holby City before Cutting It, and going on to star in other major dramas including Waterloo Road.
Speaking in July, Cutting It creator Debbie recalled how she was inspired to write the show by her twin sisters, who were both hairdressers. 'That was a world I knew really well,' she told the BBC.
'It interested me because most of the time when I had seen dramas set in a hairdressing salon they kind of sent the industry up a bit. And I knew from my sisters' experience that it was deadly serious.'
'They used to do competitions and the level of engagement, and excitement and tension, it matched anything.... so I was thinking there is a lot of drama there and then I was thinking "well a family drama is something I've written about".
'I'm one of five sisters, so groups of women, groups of sisters is something I've written about a lot.'
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