Sophie Willan and ex-Turton School head on Would I Lie To You

Frank Vigon, now retired, has been known to generations of pupils in the borough as the maverick headteacher of Turton High School Media Arts College.

One pupil he made a particular impression on was actress Sophie Willan, and the pair were reunited on this week’s episode of BBC1’s Would I Lie To You.

Frank Vigon is well remembered by generations of Bolton pupils (Image: BBC)

Explaining her connection to Mr Vigon, she jokingly said: “This is Frank, he kicked me out of school for arriving in a Bikini!”

Other panellists on the show were challenged to try and guess if the Bolton actress was telling the truth.

She said: “He was my headmaster and basically I decided I wasn’t going to go into school that day because I fancied something a bit different.

“I didn’t go in often, I used to do guest appearances really but on this occasion I decided to go down right by school there’s a big field.”

Actress Sophie Willan was a guest on the show (Image: BBC)

Sophie described how she had gone to the field with her friends and, it being a hot day, was wearing a swimsuit.

But she was caught by another teacher when making her way back into the school to get some batteries, leaving Mr Vigon no option but to exclude her for turning up to school in ‘non-uniform.’

She said: “Frank was a lovely headmaster though, I don’t want to dob him in completely!”

When she had finished, fellow panellists David Mitchell and Gloria Hunniford both thought her story was fiction, with only Guz Khan believing it was true.

When Mr Vigon revealed himself, the sceptical panellists were amazed to find that Sophie’s story was indeed completely genuine.

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The Turton headmaster was hugely well loved by his pupils for his unorthodox and laid back approach and was easily recognisable for his resemblance to Simpsons character Krusty the Clown and has tendency to burst into song to prove his points.

Most importantly, he left pupils in his care brimming with self-belief and the confidence to make their way in the world.

Would I Lie To You is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.