Katie Puckrik on The Word, Take That & Coining ‘Ladette’

<p>The Word was the gateway drug to the 1990s, and everyone remembers Oliver Reed. Katie Puckrik was the one standing next to him, and this is the full behind-the-scenes story.</p><p>Katie Puckrik arrived in London in 1984 expecting the future and found powdered milk, orange squash and restaurants advertising the fact that they had ice. Within seven years she had danced with Michael Clark, toured the world with the Pet Shop Boys, and beaten five thousand applicants to become one of the faces of The Word, the Channel 4 show Martin Deeson calls the gateway drug to the 1990s.</p><p>She takes us inside the most notorious night in the show&#39;s history: Oliver Reed, a dressing room rigged with hidden cameras and stocked with booze, and Katie sent out to narrate it live while it happened. Her account of how he turned it around is not the one you have heard.</p><p>She also tells the story of the note Liza Minnelli sent backstage at Radio City Music Hall, the day she sat down in the middle of Take That and found they were considerably less gay than advertised, and the moment she reveals to Martin that she is the person who coined the word ladette.</p><p>Plus: she now fronts an Iggy Pop tribute band alongside the drummer from Blondie and the bassist from the Sex Pistols, and Iggy himself sent word back that he thought it was good.</p><p>Three things you will get from this episode</p><ul><li>A first-hand account of the Oliver Reed night on The Word, from the presenter who was told to narrate it, and a reading of him that nobody else offers.</li><li>The story behind one of the defining words of 90s British culture, told by the person who coined it.</li><li>A working method for a life spent saying yes: how to walk into a room, distil yourself down, and get hired.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><ul><li>1:10 Intro</li><li>2:49 How to interview someone: part diplomat, part prostitute</li><li>3:38 An army childhood: Moscow at the height of the Cold War</li><li>5:13 Scoliosis, a metal rod in the spine, and the end of ballet</li><li>6:02 Michael Clark, Leigh Bowery, The Fall and London&#39;s mid-80s avant garde</li><li>7:21 Moving to Britain to become a pop star</li><li>8:13 Kensington Market, Hyper Hyper and finding a scene before social media</li><li>10:40 Dancing on the Pet Shop Boys Performance tour</li><li>13:07 Radio City Music Hall, and the note Liza Minnelli sent her</li><li>14:51 Britain in 1984: powdered milk, orange squash and &quot;we have ice&quot;</li><li>18:55 Beating 5,000 applicants to a job on The Word</li><li>20:00 Piers Morgan digs for dirt at the Groucho</li><li>21:25 Famous overnight, and the girl on the till at Marks &amp; Spencer</li><li>23:54 The audition day, and Take That</li><li>24:28 Celebrating the biggest job on television with a 50p Harrods scrunchie</li><li>25:44 Oliver Reed, the hidden cameras and &quot;Wild Thing&quot; with the Lemonheads</li><li>30:45 Terry Christian, Mark Lamarr and men who cannot stop talking</li><li>34:03 The BFI, Loaded, and the 90s being taken seriously 30 years on</li><li>37:12 Pyjama Party, The Girlie Show and inventing the word ladette</li><li>40:08 &quot;She seems so intelligent&quot;: being told off for having fun</li><li>41:22 Yacht rock, and pitching it to Radio 2</li><li>43:32 On being a savourer</li><li>44:45 Lust for Life: singing Iggy with Kevin Armstrong, Glen Matlock and Clem Burke</li><li>48:25 What Iggy Pop actually said about it</li><li>49:34 Shame, vulnerability and girl testosterone</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Links &amp; Mentions:</strong></p><p>Katie Puckrik live, September 2026</p><p>THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 10 SMELLS. <br><a href="https://www.tickettailor.com/events/circleandstar/2307137" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://www.tickettailor.com/events/circleandstar/2307137</a></p><p>ZIGGYFEST 2026. <br><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ziggyfest-2026-tickets-1995646334909" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener norefer