Look at moi ... Kath And Kim Meet the Aussie chavs
THE Australian chavs who have taken their home country by storm are now bringing their magic to the BBC.
Kath and Kim are Kath Day-Knight (Jane Turner) and Kim Craig nee Day (Gina Riley), a dysfunctional mother and daughter thrown back together after Kim's marriage breaks down.
The Sun Online caught up with Gina from her home in Australia, and to give you a flavour of the show she spoke to us in character.
"I'm desperately hoping that I'll be called a chav," declares Kim about the premiere of the show in the UK.
"I think I am a chav, I take it all as a compliment.
"As soon as they see me with my G-string hoinked up over my low rise jeans, people will be in. They will be absolutely desperate for us."
The comedy premiered last Thursday on BBC2, with 1.6million people tuning in. It was in competition with a program on the craze known as "happy slapping".
"We might be slappers but we are moderately amused slappers, we are not that happy," Kim says.
She describes her show as "a high voltage drama sort of like Law and Order but we wear nicer clothes".
In real life Kim is Gina Riley, a Melbourne comedian and author who is no stranger to funny business. She has starred in the critically acclaimed satire The Games and the skit-comedy show Big Girl's Blouse.
She wrote Kath and Kim with close friend Jane.
While most Brits will be familiar with Australia's number one export Neighbours, Kim is quick to point out the differences in Kath and Kim.
"We're a lot better looking than Neighbours, I'm a lot younger. We are the next street down from Ramsay Street actually and the sun doesn't shine quite brightly on Lagoon Court (where Kath and Kim is set)."
On her mum Kath, Kim states: "She says she spoils me, but she couldn't give a fat rat's about me quite frankly, which has made me a bit of a fat rat. In my need for love I've gone to the pantry."
The show features a supporting cast of Australian comedians including Sharon Strzelecki (Magda Szubanski of Babe fame), a red-haired sport-obsessed girl who Kim declares is her "second best friend".
"She's a big girl which I like, because she makes me look slimmer," Kim says.
Then there is Kel Knight (Glenn Robbins), a "purveyor of fine meats" and the fiancé of Kath.
"The less said about him the better," insists Kim.
"I tell you through the paper thin walls you can hear them going for it hammer and tongs and it's not a pretty sound."
But Kim doesn't look up to the butcher as a father figure: "I would prefer not to look at Kel at all, up or down."
Brett Craig (Peter Rowsthorn) is Kim's estranged husband.
"He doesn't treat me like the pussy bum princess that I deserve to be treated as and now he has gone and got a rottweiler, Koojo, but they are very happy together."
The hilarious lines are shared amongst the small cast, like this one from Kath: "I like to keep myself trim, Kim. Does it make me a crim to keep myself trim?"
And from Sharon, on men: "I've played indoor cricket in four states and I've shot putted at national level. Now, I think I know what I'm talking about. All men are bastards."
The show originated from a sketch on a comedy programme Gina and Jane worked on. It has grown to become Australia's highest-rating comedy. Season three went to air in Oz last year and the pair are now writing the fourth series.
The show originally screened on Living TV here and is now screening in Europe and parts of America.
A recent study in the States found that the Kath and Kim humour didn't translate across the Atlantic.
Kim says: "What would they know in America?
"It doesn't concern me. Just come out and spend some time with us and then you'll get the cut of our chin."
Kath and Kim visited London last year but weren't fans of the city: "I didn't like it very much at all. I found there was no shopping to do at all, I couldn't find a mall in the city where we were staying.
"I went on a tour, I went to the Tower but my high heels got caught on the cobblestones and I broke them and I was ropeable so I'm over it."
Kim compares Fountain Lakes, where Kath and Kim is set, to The Bill's Sun Hill. "But they have an enormous crime problem there, we don't have as big a crime problem in Fountain Lakes."
The fashion in the show is a talking point with much lycra and 80's wear on display.
"I'm so up there fashion wise, I'm right up myself," explains Kim.
With a wedding and birth to come, Kath and Kim has several surprises in store. Guest appearances from Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths and Kylie Minogue are sure to have fans glued to their TV.
Kim is looking forward to life on the singles scene after her marriage break up.
She said: "Now we are in Britain I feel like the doors are going to open for me. Guy wise it is going to be a whole new market. Because I know when the guys see me they are going to be chomping at the bit."
Kath and Kim will visit the UK in June. "I'm being dragged kicking and screaming. I saw a lot of queens when I was in London, but not the actual Queen."
The guide to Kath and Kim lingo
"That's nice, that's unusual, that's different": When you don't know if you like something
"I'm quite effluent": Affluent
"Look at moi, look at moi": Please look at me, look
"Hinkling": Got a feeling in your waters
"Hornbag": Attractive woman
"Bees wax": Business
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