Cheryl Fergison has replaced Lindsay Lohan to switch on Kettering town’s Christmas lights after the star pledged to do the job but then failed to respond further to the invitation.
The Mean Girls actress originally agreed to travel to the town after implying earlier this year that nobody had heard of the place .
She was invited to visit after a series of tweets she made during the night of the EU referendum when she suggested to her nine million followers that she had no idea where Kettering was, tweeting: “#REMAIN Sorry but #KETTERING where are you.”
The town’s Conservative MP Philip Hollobone then asked the star to “to switch on the Christmas lights … thus redeeming her political reputation and raising money for good causes” in a speech to the House of Commons on June 30.
She subsequently tweeted: “Direct message me about your offer. Would be happy to light the Christmas tree in #Kettering.”
However, since then Kettering Borough Council, which is organising the switch-on on November 24, has not heard from her .
Fergison, who played Heather Trott in the BBC soap and will be appearing in pantomime in the town, wrote on Twitter: “Hi all yep I’m switching on the Xmas lights in Kettering on 24th of November so I hope to see you all there can’t wait to meet the peeps.
“Sorry 2 disappoint some folks but I’m not Lindsay Lohan! but I am going 2 b switching on Kettering Xmas lights .. The party starts here.”
She added: “Ok so I may not be YOUR 1st choice to turn on the lights but I can guarantee a fun time all round with lots of interaction with the crowd.”
Fergison will play Malevolent in the town’s production of Beauty And The Beast, which opens at the Lighthouse Theatre on December 10.
