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I dreaded lezzie love in

SULTRY Simone Lahbib dreaded filming lesbian scenes for hit TV drama Bad Girls - because of what her gran might say. Sexy 30 year old Simone, who plays prison governor Helen Stewart, is forced to quit her job after embarking on the passionate affair with inmate Nikki Wade. Viewers were stunned when Simone was filmed kissing Nikki, played by Mandana Jones. And last night Stirling born Simone told of her fears about the steamy antics.

She said: " I was really worried about telling my granny, but she was really cool about it.
She just said: " That's all right dear, as long as you did't enjoy it."

Simone steams up screen again

Sexy Simone Lahbib finally beds her lesbian lover in tomorrow night's episode of the prison drama Bad Girls. As former prison governor Helen Stewart, the Scots star created controversy last year with a scene in which she and prisoner Nikki Wade had a passionate embrace in the jail pottingshed. This week it goes much further when Nikki, played by Mandana Jones escapes from prison disguised as a nurse, and begs Helen to go to San Francisco with her. Simone, 30, who is engaged to an actor, says she thinks the episode, the last in current series, will please Bad Girls huge gay following.

The Stirling-born actress said: "The love scenes have never bothered me. We are both straight so we're acting - even more so than if we were having a love scene with a male actor".

Simone & Bad Girls in SA

Prisoners on the run are always cause for concern, especially when they’re running loose in the midst of your city. But Britain’s most famous convicts and their keepers made headlines of a different kind when the stars of the award winning British television series, Bad Girls, visited Cape Town and Johannesburg in May this year. Local fans were thrilled at the prospect of meeting fiery, compassionate Nicky Wade, junkie Zandra Plackett, idealistic wing governor Helen Stewart and sensitive warden Dominic McAllister, all from the fictitious Larkhill Women’s Prison. But the hottest news of all is that NICRO was the charity of their choice and benefitted from two spectacular Bad Girls fundraising events – one held at Monsoon Lagoon, Gauteng’s vibrant new entertainment venue, and the other at one of the oldest club in Cape Town, Club Galaxy Westend

Set in an all-female prison Bad Girls portrays the stark and often tragic lives of the English women behind bars who struggle to come to terms with being away from their families, while coping with the guilt of their crimes and enduring the pressures and conflicts of prison life. The riveting, gritty mini-series elicited such interest in the United Kingdom that it became one of the most popular shows on television, capturing an audience of more than 9-million. Bad Girls has also taken South Africa by storm. But be warned - this is not for the faint-hearted. It is vivid viewing that harshly reminds us of just how precious freedom truly is. Chief scriptwriter and co-producer, Maureen Chadwick, reveals that Bad Girls was fuelled by a spirit of protest: against an unjust prison system, male violence towards women and children, poverty and deprivation. And this reminds us that at NICRO we are both charged with the responsibility of and committed to working towards a safer South Africa - in partnership with the community.