Brookside's Jennifer Ellison slates fellow actors as she joins G'wed

Actors who can’t do decent Scouse accents shouldn’t be cast as Liverpudlians, Brookside legend Jennifer Ellison has claimed.

The soap star is joining the next series of ITV comedy G’wed, as Anna, Aimee's estranged mum.

And she said of the show: ‘It is amazing to see Liverpool getting the recognition it truly deserves. 

‘Coming from one of the most iconic Liverpool shows Brookside to now being cast in G’wed really does mean the world to me. Phil Redmond [creator of Brookside] was always very passionate about using authentic Liverpool actors and so is Mario [Stylianides, producer of G’wed] and I think that’s what currently sets G’wed aside from other "Liverpool" shows out there. You can tell the difference. 

‘The Scouse accent is one of the hardest to get right and I feel if you can’t do it convincingly then you shouldn't be cast.’

Ellison also reveals that she ‘got very far down the line’ to play Jodie, the mum of Dylan Thomas-Smith’s character Reese, in the series, before landing her current role.

She said: ‘I actually screen tested with Dylan before he was officially cast so I feel like I was part of the process from the start. It’s amazing that it actually happened for me in the end as I love the show.’

Published: 2 Jun 2026