Tuesday 19 June 2012

Interview with Adele Silva

Adele Silva is best known for playing Kelly Windsor in Emmerdale. Having been acting since she was a young girl, Adele has had roles in Doctor Who, The Bill, Eastenders and more recently The Real Hustle.

Adele spoke to Kim O’Meara about returning to Emmerdale, her latest film, Strippers vs Werewolves and the two loves of her life, Buster and Misty.

Tell us about your dogs – we’d like to know everything about them!

I have two dogs, Buster and Misty. They’re like little and large! Buster is an 8 year old Yorkshire Terrier girl. We’ve always had Yorkies in our family, we’ve had four over the years but Buster was the first we’ve bought. She’s a funny girl really, very lovable and she snorts all the time – she has a small windpipe so she’s always making funny noises. She has the nicest temperament, people love her and she is so funny, sometimes when she gets over excited she’ll wee a little. But she has a lot of health problems sadly so she’s at the vets every two-three months.

Out of the two, Buster is the character. When anyone comes to the house she’ll paw at their legs for fuss. She loves any attention!


Misty is 8 years old aswell and she’s a Shar Pei. She’s the complete opposite to Buster. She’s very stand-off ish. I bought her with an ex-boyfriend of mine. When we got her I’d never had a big dog before, I’d always been used to small dogs. So we went through The Kennel Club route and found a breeder. Misty’s very aloof, she’s quiet and sticks to one person to the point she’ll sit outside the bathroom waiting for them. She’s a lovely girl, she has a great temperament. One memory sticks out in my mind when she got excited when getting ready to go for a walk, she screwed her face up, it went overly wrinkly and she was wiggling her bum around, it was so cute to see.

She’s fiercely protective over the little one, Buster, aswell. If people come round to see us she’ll sit and spectate for 5-10 minutes taking it all in, wheras Buster’s all over everyone from the start happy for fuss and attention.

I think Misty’s personality is just typical of her breed though. I have a friend who has a Shar Pei aswell and she said her dog is just the same.

When I go back home with them Misty is my dad’s best friend, she sticks to him like glue – but I have a feeling that’s because he’s always eating and she knows if she stays around by him she’ll get something to eat.

When did your interest in pets/animals begin and how long have you been a pet owner?

We got our first Yorkie, Goldie, on my 6th birthday. Then we had Dinky, her daughter and then Katie. By the time Katie was with us Goldie had passed away and Misty was home with me.

I think I really benefited growing up with our dogs over the years, my mum has always been really pro-animals. They were great family pets and being Yorkies and small dogs, good for travelling and good with kids.

You’ve probably best known on-screen for playing Kelly Windsor in Emmerdale on and off since 1993. What do you love most about Kelly and do you see her making a come back any time soon?

Well, Kelly couldn’t be any more from me so when I first read about her in 30 seconds/1 minute I thought ‘I really don’t like her’, she’s so sly, a bit of a bitch and has no living parents but she has so many dimensions. In her most recent time back, I got a call and they told me a little about her plans for coming back with a kid, how she would shake things up with Jimmy and Nicola and they asked if I’d like to come back for a few months.

I started acting when I was 8 years old so I have a theatre background. I spent a lot of good years at Emmerdale and I enjoy playing Kelly, she always had great storylines. I get itchy feet and so that’s why I took a break to try other things. At the moment I have no real ties apart from my dogs. I’m not married, I don’t have kids and there’s other things I’d still like to try so I can always look back and say ‘well at least I tried’.

I think Kelly’s a ‘love to hate’ character. I’m really open minded on it so I never say never. Emmerdale’s always a fun place to be with a cast and crew I grew up with so it really feels like going home whenever I go back.


Misty is 8 years old aswell and she’s a Shar Pei. She’s the complete opposite to Buster. She’s very stand-off ish. I bought her with an ex-boyfriend of mine. When we got her I’d never had a big dog before, I’d always been used to small dogs. So we went through The Kennel Club route and found a breeder. Misty’s very aloof, she’s quiet and sticks to one person to the point she’ll sit outside the bathroom waiting for them. She’s a lovely girl, she has a great temperament. One memory sticks out in my mind when she got excited when getting ready to go for a walk, she screwed her face up, it went overly wrinkly and she was wiggling her bum around, it was so cute to see.

She’s fiercely protective over the little one, Buster, aswell. If people come round to see us she’ll sit and spectate for 5-10 minutes taking it all in, wheras Buster’s all over everyone from the start happy for fuss and attention.

I think Misty’s personality is just typical of her breed though. I have a friend who has a Shar Pei aswell and she said her dog is just the same.

When I go back home with them Misty is my dad’s best friend, she sticks to him like glue – but I have a feeling that’s because he’s always eating and she knows if she stays around by him she’ll get something to eat.

When did your interest in pets/animals begin and how long have you been a pet owner?

We got our first Yorkie, Goldie, on my 6th birthday. Then we had Dinky, her daughter and then Katie. By the time Katie was with us Goldie had passed away and Misty was home with me.
I think I really benefited growing up with our dogs over the years, my mum has always been really pro-animals. They were great family pets and being Yorkies and small dogs, good for travelling and good with kids.

You’ve probably best known on-screen for playing Kelly Windsor in Emmerdale on and off since 1993. What do you love most about Kelly and do you see her making a come back any time soon?

Well, Kelly couldn’t be any more from me so when I first read about her in 30 seconds/1 minute I thought ‘I really don’t like her’, she’s so sly, a bit of a bitch and has no living parents but she has so many dimensions. In her most recent time back, I got a call and they told me a little about her plans for coming back with a kid, how she would shake things up with Jimmy and Nicola and they asked if I’d like to come back for a few months.

I started acting when I was 8 years old so I have a theatre background. I spent a lot of good years at Emmerdale and I enjoy playing Kelly, she always had great storylines. I get itchy feet and so that’s why I took a break to try other things. At the moment I have no real ties apart from my dogs. I’m not married, I don’t have kids and there’s other things I’d still like to try so I can always look back and say ‘well at least I tried’.

I think Kelly’s a ‘love to hate’ character. I’m really open minded on it so I never say never. Emmerdale’s always a fun place to be with a cast and crew I grew up with so it really feels like going home whenever I go back.


Many Thanks Adele!

Adele Silva Speaking With Kim O’Meara
Article and photos by K9 Magazine - Full article available at K9 Magazine






The Origin of Dog Names


From Ape Dog to Big Nose, Where Does Your Dog’s Name Come From?

Some breed names have no mystery about them at all. The Golden Retriever, the English Short Haired Pointer and the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever being cases in point, they’re breeds that do exactly what it says on the tin. But other breeds have such seemingly weird and wonderful names that we thought it about time we uncovered the origins of these monikers. Rather than coming across simple translations, we were wowed by cultural idiosyncrasies, ancient idioms and misleading misnomers that have all informed and altered the process by which dog breeds have gotten their names.


Even common, everyday names such as Mastiff or Collie have colourful and interesting etymological origins. What surprised us the most however, was how much the origin of dog breed names tell us about the history and culture of the place where the breed comes from.

There are certain types of dog that have collective names and further names to differentiate separate breeds, but what does the name that links these breeds actually mean?

Terrier, derives from the Latin terre which means ‘to go to ground.’
Mastiff, comes from the French mastin, from Latin mansuetus meaning ‘tame’.

Collie, The name Collie derives from the same Anglo-Saxon word as ‘coal’, Coll, which means ‘black’.
Pinscher, comes from the German word for ‘Terrier’ and is applied to many different types of dog.

Poodle, is a corruption of the German word Puddlehund which means ‘dog that splashes in water’
Many breeds are named after the people that bred them, whilst other breeds, such as the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, are named in honour of people.

The Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier, are both

By K9 Magazine