An actress and comedian from Farnworth best known as TV’s Philomena Cunk has been awarded an honorary doctorate by her hometown university.
Diane Morgan, instantly recognisable to viewers from her appearances in Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe, Motherland and Afterlife, was made an honorary Doctor of Arts.
The award was handed down by the University of Bolton this week amid its ongoing graduation ceremonies in recognition of the star’s outstanding contribution to television and comedy.
Addressing the audience at the Albert Halls, Diane said: “Ladies and gentlemen, I should not be here today. I shouldn’t. There’s been a dreadful mistake. I got a G in maths. A G!
“But I thank you for your generosity.
“Thirty years ago just outside this building I bumped into Maxine Peake who is also a Boltonian and we had met two weeks earlier when we were both auditioning to get into Manchester Polytechnic for the acting course.
“Neither of us got in.
“It took us three long years to get into drama school and during that time I had various jobs, packing worming tablets, selling fish and chips and I was also an Avon Lady.
“Most of these jobs I’d been sacked from. I was fired from the Last Drop Village tea rooms in Bolton for not knowing what a cream tea is, I thought it was a tea with cream in it.
“But now I have an honorary doctorate! Unbelievable.”
Farnworth-born Diane attended George Tomlinson School, Kearsley, now known as Kearsley Academy, where she set her sights on a career in comedy from the age of 15.
She is probably best known for her portrayal of Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer and commentator on current affairs, who first appeared in a regular segment on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe TV show.
Her return to Bolton to accept her honorary doctorate marks yet another step in her remarkable journey.
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Rounding off her speech to the Albert Halls, Diane said: “I am here to tell you that anything is possible.
“If you’ve got passion and you work hard, you can do absolutely anything, because everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it as an actress, that it was an impossible dream, that you’d need maths!
“You don’t need maths. You don’t need maths for anything! Take that Rishi Sunak!”
She added: “This is such an honour, though. I am so proud, thank you so much.”
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