Actresses hired to play Oompa Loompas at Willy Wonka ‘scam’ speak out (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
Actresses forced to perform at a disastrous ‘Willy Wonka experience’ in Glasgow have spoken of their embarassment and shame at being associated with the event- and claim they have still not been paid.
Attendees at the event in Glasgow’s Boxpark on Saturday were promised ‘a universe where your dreams come true,’ but were instead greeted with a sad, grey warehouse half-filled with plastic mushrooms, cheap posters and embarrassed employees.
When it transpired that the so-called chocolate factory didn’t even stock enough sweets to hand out to their audience of mostly young children, a mob of irate parents called the police on organiser Billy Coull and chased him off the premises.
Mr Coull, who organised a similarly-disastrous Santa’s Grotto in 2021, later promised to refund all attendees and admitted the imagery for the event had been created by artificial intelligence.
Police were called to the event after outraged parents staged a revolt (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
Punters who paid £35 a ticket for the ‘immersive experience’ were left fuming by the lacklustre set design, which was worlds apart from what was promised (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
But some of the employees have also hit back at Mr Coull after pictures of their shabby costumes and cheap sets went viral, claiming they have been made scapegoats for the event organiser’s poor planning.
One of the actresses, Kirsty Paterson, ended up inadvertently becoming the face of the disaster, after a photo of her dressed as an Oompa-Loompa while standing next to a billowing chemistry set was widely mocked online.
Nicknamed ‘Meth-lab Oompa-Loompa lady,’ Ms Paterson later admitted that not only had she not been paid the £500 she was promised, but that she had not even been briefed on her role before being thrown into the chaos.
Speaking to MailOnline, she said: ‘I was angry at the time because I felt like this is embarrassing for me, and I felt bad for the people coming in as well.
Actress Kirsty Paterson says she was embarrassed to be associated with the event (Picture:Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
‘I actually ended up shouting at the guy. I just said to him he’s a joke and this is like embarrassing, and how can we basically live with himself, doing this to people.
‘This is really embarrassing for me. My job is teaching kids yoga and I go into schools and stuff and I do kids’ entertainment. This is none of our faults at all. We got the job and then we were given the script.’
Regarding the infamous ‘meth-lab’ photo which went viral, she added: ‘I got stuck to the jelly bean bit and by that point I felt awful.
‘There was a part where they were saying it was like a science lab, and you were supposed to hand out jelly beans, and by that point they had run out of jelly beans, so I was just trying to make slightly exciting for the kids.
‘Then I walked off scene because I was so embarrassed.’
Ms Paterson said she ‘felt awful’ about the whole ordeal, and walked off set because she felt ‘so s*** for the kids’.
‘It was shocking, honestly,’ she added.
Actress Jenny Fogarty complained of the inappropriate costumes and said the script looked like it was generated by an AI (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
Fellow actress Jenny Fogarty, 25, also lashed out at the event organisers, and told the Mail she was given just hours to memorise a bizarre 15-page script which she suspects was also generated by an AI.
She told the publication the strangely-written script bore little resemblance to the rest of the event, and promised features that didn’t exist.
‘It was horrendously embarrassing. We didn’t want to walk out just because I feel like that would make it even worse. ‘When we arrived we were handed a script to learn in 12 hours or something like that.
‘There was meant to be a live performance of Willy Wonka taking the children through the factory. The script – I showed it to my partner – and we think it was AI generated.
‘There were parts in the script where we thought oh that sounds really good, because there were supposed to be interactive elements. There was a bit in the script where it was like if you touch the grass it will start laughing, and you thought oh so it’s got sensors in it, that will be really cool.
‘There were supposed to be bubble machines, there were supposed to be projectors, there was supposed to be so much more that was promised.’
Event organisers have promised refunds to everyone involved (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
Ms Fogarty also complained that she and the other actresses were made to wear ‘sexy’ Oompa-Loompa costumes, which didn’t fit with the family-friendly vibe of the event.
Upon arriving at the event for the dress rehearsal, performers noted the minimalist setup, leading them to speculate that the organizers had just begun and would likely be working on building the experience throughout the night.
She added: ‘At one point they told us just get rid of the script, there’s no show anymore, just have people walk through, and I think that’s when it kind of fell off a cliff.
Ms Fogerty also noted that the bouncy castle she was assigned to only had room for around a dozen children, despite hundreds of kids turning up to the event.
Pictures of the event, which was hosted by the House of Illuminati and meant to last two days, showed how its warehouse staging area was barely filled with props (Picture: Jenny Fogarty / SWNS)
Actor and comedian Paul Connell, who played Willy Wonka, described being handed a script of ’15 pages of AI gibberish’ which he was forced to improvise around.
Describing his ordeal on TikTok, he said children were given just one jelly bean and half a cup of supermarket-brand lemonade during the tour.
‘It’s easily the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever been a part of’ he said.
When it was revealed the organisers had ran out of free sweets, having sold them all at the kiosk instead, performers were told to just improvise or make up a story to explain their absence.
None of the actors have yet been paid for the event, she added, claiming they were promised around £400 for the weekend.
The event was organised by Mr Coull’s company House of Illumination, who claim to ‘transform ordinary venues into immersive environments that transport guests into a realm of wonder.’
In a statement on their Facebook page, the company said: ‘We fully apologise for what has happened and will be giving full refunds to each and every person that purchased tickets.
‘We planned a fabulous event and it just did not take shape as planned and for that we are truly sorry we are devastated at how this has turned out and understand people’s anger and frustration that everyone has had, refunds have already started being issued and the rest should be over the coming days, again we are truely [sic] sorry to everyone.’
They said refunds would take about 10 working days.
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