KRANKIES star Janette Tough hopes the “Wee Jimmy” jibes aimed at Nicola Sturgeon will finally stop when the former First Minister quits politics.
The showbiz legend, 77, told how she was tired of “daily” insults likening Ms Sturgeon to her schoolboy alter ego.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP outside the Scottish Parliament following the announcement she won’t stand in the next Scottish election.[/caption]
Former SNP leader Ms Sturgeon has endured the taunts for much of her 26-year career in politics due to her supposed similar appearance to fellow redhead Janette’s cheeky character.
In 2015 then-Tory PM Boris Johnson allegedly branded his Nats rival as “that bloody Wee Jimmy Krankie woman”.
And since the ex-SNP leader last week announced that she would not be seeking re-election at Holyrood next May, things have only got worse.
Janette, whose catchphrase as one half of the eighties TV comedy act with hubby Ian was ‘Fandabidozi’, said: “On a radio phone-in recently, an angry Scotsman came on and said, ‘It’s time Wee Jimmy Krankie behaved himself.’ I was lying in my bed thinking, ‘What have I done this time?’
“It took me a second to realise he meant Nicola Sturgeon. There’s not a day goes by where I don’t read or hear Nicola being compared to Jimmy.
“So I hope the fact she’s retiring from politics brings an end to that because Jimmy — and me — have been retired for years.”
The Scot and husband Ian, 77, began as a cabaret act in the late seventies and got their big TV break on Crackerjack and The Krankies Klub. Their last panto was in 2018.
Ian said: “Read the comments online under any story to do with Sturgeon and it’s full of Jimmy Krankie mentions — all of them derogatory.
“It’s been ten-fold since she announced she’s chucking it.” Janette, who lives in Torquay, Devon, has never met Ms Sturgeon, 54.
But she did play her once opposite comic David Walliams — as PM David Cameron — on an episode of the 2016 BBC sketch show Walliams & Friends.
She said: “It was a skit where we end up in a heated argument about Harry Styles’ new haircut.
“I had to say, ‘We in Scotland feel there are much more pressing issues facing us today than Harry Styles’ hair.
“Let him have it however he wants – as long as it’s dyed ginger’.
“Sadly, the sketch was dropped which is a shame because I’ve been compared to Nicola for years, so it was good to finally get a chance to play her.”
Ms Sturgeon grew up in Irvine, Ayrshire, as a Wee Jimmy fan. She once said: “I actually like Jimmy Krankie. Most people just use it as a bit of fun, but some on social media get really nasty.”
