why are they famous?

Emma Ridley
Saturday 26 July 1997 19:02 EDT
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Main Claim: Erstwhile chubby adolescent who larked about in public places in her underwear. Deputy to Amanda de Cadenet in the mid-eighties "Wild Child" cult of under-aged carousers. Now 25, Ms Ridley has spent a decade searching quite hard for a new hook on which to hang her infamy. However, she's just got married, the oldest trick in the Famous for Being Famous microceleb's book. While Amanda de Cadenet has, improbably, lost weight and become an echt Hollywood starlet, tabloid creation Emma has made do with a variety of careerlets and now a 52-year-old music producer.

Appearance: Screaming, dumpy, shouty Violet Elizabeth Bott grown out of her frocks. Baby Spice's country cousin. Fifth-choice lead in TV remake of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

Altar Ego: Emma wore a pink, satin, Elizabeth Emanuel dress on her way up the aisle. The wedding was "homespun and unpretentious". Hello! must have turned up by chance, then. "I'm a romantic," says Emma.

Baby Love: Emma already has a son, Otis, nearly two years old, whose father has just married. The notoriously maternal Tamara Beckwith is Otis's godmother. Young Otis may have pulled a short straw on the babysitting stakes. La Beckwith managed to delegate the centre stage for a few minutes to act as bridesmaid to Emma.

Past Form: Ex-Royal Ballet School student Emma got her Equity card at four. She married 30-year-old Robert Pereno at the age of 15, flying to America to recite her vows clutching a teddy bear. She makes Mandy Smith look like an underachiever. Sister Joanne, 27, was the star of Me And My Girl. She had her own flute, lute and druid-style wedding. It was very spiritual. Hello! again fetched up, by a strange coincidence.

Wild Woman: "I guess I still put on an act most of the time... Yes, I love being the loudest and the centre of attention," says Emma. That's the character bit sorted, then.

Career Greats: For a while, Emma turned herself into "Goldilocks", a rapperette-type girlie singer with blonde dreadlocks. However, things are looking up. She's dyed her hair red, boasts a tattoo of Otis and some angels on her back, and has a role on a US television comedy, Boy Meets World. She's also making a new album and she teaches a spot of ballet.

Fame Prospects: "I was very wild and reckless," says Emma. We know. Expect the same quote in 30 years, along with a face-lift, Otis's autobiography, and a semi in Welling.

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