TV star Lisa Riley enjoyed having the whip hand at Darlington Civic Theatre when she was confirmed as the ring mistress in this year's pantomime, Goldilocks And The Three Bears.

The 27-year-old, famous for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and hosting You've Been Framed, said her recipe for success was being fat and funny.

She said: "The biggest surprise for the Darlington audiences will be when I do the splits.

"Everyone goes 'Oh! How the hell can she do that?' I've just started warming up. All I need is a lot of Deep Heat (muscle rub) and a lot of stretching. My dressing room will smell like a football team's dressing room."

Ms Riley, who will be the panto's narrator, will star alongside father and son comedy act Clive Webb and Danny Adams.

The trio enjoyed a panto run at Swansea last year.

Ms Riley has just handed her six-year job presenting You've Been Framed to Godspell singer Jonathan Wilkes and has opted to star in a one-off episode of the BBC soap, Doctors, and another series of ITV's Fat Friends.

She said: "During the panto run we'll be playing the Make Yourself Fat game, where you see how quickly you can eat a whole bag of Starbursts."

The panto runs from December 4 to January 18, 2004.