Jane Boulton was the face of easyJet between 1999 and 2007 having appeared on the ITV series, Airline.
The popular programme documented the goings on of passengers, ground workers and the on-board flight crew of budget airline, easyJet. The show which was filmed in bases including Luton Airport and Liverpool John Lennon had guest appearances from a string of celebrities, as well as the late Queen Elizabeth II also finding herself on the programme.
But almost 25 years on from her first appearance, former operations manager Jane, 53, has opened up about her time and claimed she and her colleagues were never paid by the production company. Nowadays, those appearing on shows are often paid a small amount.
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ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Speaking to the Mirror, Jane who is now married and is known as Jane Lee said: “I think the way it was sold to me initially, I was check-in supervisor, I was asked if they wouldn’t mind following me because that’s where all the action happens and they would follow me for a few days. I think it was about seven or eight years of filming, every shift almost, 12-hour shifts.
“I think for every series, they filmed for a year for the bits they wanted, even though we used to have over a hundred people a day miss a flight. You wouldn’t have the people that kicked off and we’re quite emotional very often. Obviously, everybody making their flight and being happy didn’t make good TV.
“They cut me quite well and caught me losing my cool, I always look back on it and think ‘Oh my God, I looked and sounded horrific’, I have taught customer service for a long time, and I would never tell anybody to say anything like that.”
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LWT)
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Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Mum-of-three Jane went on to say that despite being told it would be a small amount of filming, she and her colleagues never expected the show to blow up. On average, the programme raked in 10 million viewers on a Friday evening as Jane and co went about their lives both at work and at home.
“To get recognised for yourself in newspapers and magazines was really bizarre because we were unprepared for that,” she said. The businesswoman who recently released her own line of collections of her famous quotes added: “We didn’t get paid for that, it was just like ‘Wow’, all of a sudden there’s all this attention, you’ve got people waiting by your car in the car park late at night and getting approached in the streets and the supermarket.”
Since her reignited fame on social media, Jane was blown away by fan demands for her to and she is now looking into the possibility of releasing more. “I’m looking into it because people are asking for luggage tags,” she said before adding: “We’ll see how they go in a couple of weeks and when they arrive. This time next month, it might all be finished again. I’m not taking anything for granted.”
But with her new-found fame, she admits it would be “lovely” to be able to do something for herself and her family. While the interest around the show initially quietened down, Boulton was left blown away when she discovered clips had gone viral on social media with hundreds of thousands of people later following her. “I’m gobsmacked, to be honest, in a nice way!” she exclaimed.
“We all used to joke and say if it had been on five years or ten years later, we’d all be millionaires,” she said through laughter. “Obviously, we’re not, we’re far from it, we’re all working full time and doing everything normal to earn a living to pay the mortgage. It’s been lovely, a shock and overwhelming but lovely.”
Jane’s merchandise can be seen here.
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