BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent reveals she once starred in an Oscar-winning film

The presenter, 51, revealed her secret Hollywood past with co-host Jon Kay on Wednesday’s show
Sally Nugent revealed that she was once an extra in an Oscar-winning film
BBC
Lisa McLoughlin 12 April 2023
The Weekender

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BBC Breakfast host Sally Nugent revealed that she once starred in an Oscar-winning film during Wednesday’s instalment, much to the surprise of viewers.

The presenter, 51, was chatting with her co-host Jon Kay when she announced that she was an extra in 1981’s Chariots of Fire as a child.

Nugent divulged her secret Hollywood past, revealing she and her classmates were roped into appearing in a scene that was shot locally to their school.

Prompting her to spill her acting past, Kay turned to her and said: “You’ve got your own little secret movie past, haven’t you?”

To which she responded: “It isn’t very secret but I’m in an Oscar-winning film as an extra, it was when I was a kid, in Chariots of Fire.

“When I was little, our primary school and everybody where I lived locally went to be part of the scene in Chariots of Fire when it was the Paris Olympics.

Nugent was joined by her co-host Jon Kay on the couch
BBC

“But it was at the Oval Sports Centre, sorry to shatter that illusion for everyone. I had a little costume and everything, I think I’ve still got the hat somewhere.”

Her co-host then cheekily asked if he could see her in action, but Nugent revealed that it was a crowd scene, so it would “very unlikely” that viewers would be able to see her.

Kay went on to hilariously urge BBC viewers to “freeze frame” the scene to try and spot a young Nugent. Although she claimed they would “never find me”, in an attempt to stop any viewers from searching for her.

Chariots of Fire tells the true stories of athletes Eric Liddell, a Scot who refused to race on a Sunday, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew battling anti-Semitism, at the 1924 Olympics.

The 1981 film, produced by David Puttnam, won four Oscars including best picture, musical score and screenplay for Colin Welland.

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