Hugo Speer Reveals Why He Was Fired From “The Full Monty” Series
Later this month, Disney is releasing a brand new original series, “The Full Monty”, which is a follow-on to the smash-hit Searchlight Pictures’ film of the same name from the 90s. The new show is set to debut on Wednesday, 14th June 2023, on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in the UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada.
Taking place 25 years after the original British smash hit, the eight-episode series follows the same band of brothers as they navigate the post-industrial city of Sheffield, and society’s crumbling healthcare, education, and employment sectors. The comedy-drama will uncover what happened to the gang after they put their kit back on, exploring their brighter, sillier and more desperate moments. It will also highlight how the fiercely funny world of these working-class heroes – still residing in Sheffield – has changed in the intervening decades.
This new series sees the lead cast reprising their fan-favourite roles with Robert Carlyle (“Trainspotting”, “Once Upon A Time”) as Gaz, Mark Addy (“Game of Thrones”, “A Knight’s Tale”) as Dave, Lesley Sharp (“Before We Die”, “Scott and Bailey”) as Jean, Paul Barber (“The Dumping Ground”, “Gloves Off”) as Horse, Steve Huison (“The Royle Family”, “The Navigators”) as Lomper, Wim Snape (“The Beaker Girls”, “Gentleman Jack”) as Nathan and Tom Wilkinson (“Batman Begins”, “Michael Clayton”) as Gerald.
However, initially, Hugo Speer was also returning for the new series, and would be reprising his role as Guy, but following an incident, Hugo was removed from the project due to “inappropriate conduct” during filming. Recently, the actor revealed to the Daily Mail why he was fired from the show.
According to Hugo, a female runner knocked on the door of his trailer and then walked in without waiting, to find Hugo naked. He explained that he tried to hide behind the wardrobe. Then six days later, he was told there had been a couple of complaints about that incident, but also that he had walked naked past his open trailer door.
There was then an investigation, which resulted in Hugo being kept away from the set, until the investigation was completed, and he was told his contract was terminated and that his character would be written out of the rest of the new series.
Since Hugo was terminated from his contract, he hasn’t worked, since other jobs were cancelled, and he has been suffering from depression and has even has contemplated suicide:
‘I just wanted to stop feeling what I was feeling. If it wasn’t for Vivienne and the girls, I would have ended it all. That was the worst thing. I didn’t want to be feeling like this, but I couldn’t stop living because of my family. My children, they’re so little I can’t . . . They’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives, seeing their daddy having a nervous breakdown. No child should have to see that. I didn’t think this was going to happen. I thought I was all cried out. In this industry reputation is everything, I have spent 31 years working really hard to build a reputation that now lies in tatters. How could this have happened? Where were the grown-ups in the room?’
His wife, Vivienne, had said that the termination had a major impact on him and how she was ‘scared to leave him at home alone in case he took his own life’. Hugo has since been prescribed sedatives and has begun counselling sessions over the situation.
The Daily Mail asked Disney for a comment about the situation, to which they replied:
“Last year, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Hugo Speer on the set of The Full Monty. As is policy, an independent investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his contract, with immediate effect.”
Roger Palmer
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