A popular north east comedian has taken her side-splitting comedy act on the Tyne and Wear Metro, wowing customers and staff as part of the countdown to this year’s Northern Pride and Sunderland Pride festivals.
Miss Rory, host at Newcastle’s Boulevard Show Bar, got glammed up in a sequined one-piece outfit and stiletto heels for her eye-catching Metro trip.
Nexus, the public body which operates Metro, arranged the visit as part of its role as the official transport and accessibility partner of Northern Pride, and Rainbow Sponsor of Sunderland Pride, championing inclusive travel for everyone.
And she went down a storm with customers, many of who wanted to grab selfies with the comedy queen, and compliment her on her dazzling costume.
Measuring 6ft 9ins in her high heels, Miss Rory really wasn’t too hard to spot as the Boulevard and Sunderland Empire panto favourite mingled with customers, and turned heads on a busy summer’s day.
She travelled on the Metro network though Newcastle city centre before visiting to the Metro Control Room at South Gosforth, where she cracked jokes with staff, before recording a series of special announcements for Metro’s public address system to help people get to Pride events this summer.
Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “It’s a huge honour for Nexus to be transport and accessibility partner for this year’s Pride festivals in Sunderland and Newcastle.
“What better way to start the countdown to the Pride celebrations than by inviting Miss Rory to entertain Metro customers and staff. She proved really popular with everyone. Listen out for special recorded announcements over the Metro public address system by Miss Rory promoting sustainable travel to this year’s Pride events. They’re absolutely brilliant.
“Inclusivity is the cornerstone of our brand, right across the communities that we serve. We are looking forward to customers travelling with us for the Northern Pride and Sunderland Pride festivals. Metro is a great way to get to and from these brilliant events.
“Accessibility has always been a core value for us, one where customers can feel safe, comfortable and encouraged to be themselves on the Metro, and celebrate individuality and identity, free from discrimination.”
Miss Rory said: “I consider it important for high profile organisations to support and embody pride values both in principle and practice, which Nexus and Metro clearly do.
“They have a clear commitment to accessibility and diversity across the network and in their workforce, they practice what they preach. Metro is truly iconic in the North East, and so am I, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that they wanted to work with me. I considered wearing yellow and black during my visit to the control room, but didn’t want the hard working people in there to think a 7ft gorgeous bee had entered the building, so I stuck to a subtle pink number.
“It was a real pleasure to meet the team as they ensured the whole system ran as it should. It was also great to meet people using the system - the people of the North East, there’s nobody like them!”