River City’s Shellsuit Bob actor reveals his favourite holiday destination

Soap star Stephen Purdon loves the magic of Mexico and is now a repeat visitor.

Stephen is one of Scotland’s favourite television stars. He’s played the part of Shellsuit Bob in River City since the BBC show began 11 years ago.

The 30-year-old has also become a mainstay of the Pavilion’s annual pantomime. This year’s panto, The New Magical Adventures of Pinocchio, is his seventh at the Glasgow theatre, where he stars alongside Michelle McManus and Dean Park.

Even though Christmas has passed, there’s still time to check out the Pavilion panto, which runs until January 19. Oh yes it does!

And this time, two years ago, he was in his favourite holiday hotspot.

“Two years ago my wife, Nicola, and I went to Riviera Maya in Mexico on New Year’s Day for a fortnight. We had to curtail the Hogmanay celebrations the night before, as the flight was going out at 5am. We had been to Cancun five years before that and loved it. I really like Mexico.

“The trip to Riviera Maya was our honeymoon. We were married the previous July, but because I had been ill I wasn’t allowed to fly until the New Year, so we had to wait.

“By then Nicola was pregnant, so she couldn’t drink – but I could! There were Martini bars and so on. It’s a place for adults, so we can’t go back now that we have the wee one, although I would love to.

“It was a five-star hotel with about 20 restaurants and a nightclub. It was like its own little town. We needed a golf buggy to travel from one end to the other.

“There’s something like eight swimming pools and a private beach, too. Waiters would come over to us on the beach and get whatever we wanted. It was overcast on some days, but still really warm, especially compared to home at this time of year. I tried out jet skiing and also had a game of water volleyball, but mostly we just took it easy.

“It was different when we were in Cancun. We went with two of our friends and we were a lot more active, going on the banana boat and things like that, but that was when we were younger. Holidays are much more chilled now.

“It was unusual for me to be able to go away on holiday at New Year, because usually that’s my most hectic period due to the Pavilion panto. But because I had been ill I wasn’t doing the show that year.

“Usually Nicola, myself and two friends fly out to Tenerife the day after I’ve finished the pantomime, but we won’t be doing that this time as our daughter, Layla, is only 16 months old.

“We took her to Tenerife earlier this year and had to come home early because she picked up an infection. That put my wife off taking her away again when she’s so young, so we’ll probably just take a break somewhere closer to home.

“Before becoming parents, we used to go on a summer holiday and a city break, going to places like Barcelona and Paris. But we can’t manage to go on two holidays a year any more.

“When I was a kid I would go with my mum and dad on package summer holidays to places like Lanzarote and Ibiza, before it became party central. It’s great to now be able to take my own child away to experience new places.”