One star of ITV2’s hit show Peckham’s Finest has hinted at a second series in a revealing interview with the News.
Chantel Wedderburn, the fashionista who featured in the first season, said “nothing has been confirmed one hundred per cent, but I believe talks are going on when to fit it into the TV schedule.”
“ITV is very much interested in a season two,” she added.
Now seven months pregnant, Chantel says she was called by the show’s producers in January to find out when her second child was due.
“They wanted to get an idea when my baby is coming, so they can fit it around filming or even get it into the series,” she claimed.
“Aside from that we haven’t heard anything concrete,” added Chantel.
The 42-year-old said she would be “gassed” for a second season of Peckham’s Finest.
“I feel like we deserve it,” she said. “In season one, everyone was not really sure, it was like they had one foot in, one foot out.
“Now we can all see it, feel it, understand what it’s all really about.”
“I feel like season two can go further,” she added.
One thing Chantel wished the second season would do is to “highlight and showcase Peckham a lot more.”
“The feedback I got from people who grew up around here is that the show did not reflect the Peckham they knew, the producers forgot the original roots,” she said.
“It was a big opportunity to show Peckham in a good light and it was not fully taken.”
Chantel believed that season two could be “much better” and “more real” if it focused more on a broader section of people from the area.
“Anyone that doesn’t know Peckham would be oblivious, but those who know it have issues with some of the people on the show.”
“There is a lack of authentic characters.”
However, Chantel was “80% happy” with the show.
“Peckham’s finest was a great opportunity that came out of nowhere and, despite everything, I enjoyed taking part, being part of it and learning.”
She has stayed in touch with many other members of the show and they have gone on to form close friendships, especially with MoJo, Mark, Isla and Gilly – people, Chantel says, she “never would have crossed paths with normally”.
“I got along with everyone, but there were not many opportunities to be with the other characters, other than a few little events and parties, most of our stories didn’t cross over,” she said.
Chantel admitted that there were times during filming when she had “uncomfortable conversations” with other members of the cast.
One particularly tense moment for Chantel was when she voiced her “confusion” about the “different terminologies” surrounding transgender people.
“MoJo got quite upset and a little bit defensive because I wasn’t fully embracing all the different titles automatically.”
“She thought this meant I had an issue with her being bisexual.”
Still, Chantel said these were “positive experiences as they enabled us to understand one another better.”
“I am a bit older than most of the cast, although I don’t necessarily look it, I am the only one that is a parent,” she said. “My attitude and character are different to theirs.”
Chantel also added that the way the show is edited, where “big conversations” are taken down to “snippets”, means it is easy for “people to be misconstrued … when everyone who was there knows the conversation was not that bad”.
“But I get it, TV producers know what they are looking for, they know what sells when it comes to drama, falling out and screaming matches,” she continued.
Reflecting back on the first season, Chantel said it “changed a lot from start to finish.”
“Obviously none of us had any experience with TV, so when we started there was a sense of naivety.”
“We were not one hundred per cent sure what the show was going to be about, what it would look like and what they were looking for.”
Yet, as filming progressed, Chantel built up her confidence in front of the camera and, after a while, “started to forget it was there.”
Her highlight of the first season was getting engaged, although sharing it with the nation was “something else”.
Chantel was upset by the negative reactions on social media about the show’s all-black cast, which she revealed was largely “unintentional” as all the non-black cast “pulled out last minute.”
“If our show was about something negative and it was all black, people would be all for it.”
“And what about shows in diverse areas that have an all-white cast, no-one bats an eyelid,” she added.
After the show, Chantel said people “come from all over England” to visit her clothes shop, Best of Both Boutique, and she routinely gets stopped by fans in the street.
“At first it was a bit awkward, then I started enjoying the attention, thriving of it, and loving the limelight,” says Chantel, who is planning to create her own show with her partner.
“Obviously people are not running down the road screaming like I am Beyonce,” she laughed.
