Stars of West End show have spat as actress wants to return from maternity leave just weeks before final curtain
The stars of West End stage show Legally Blonde will be treading the boards very carefully this week after a row has broken out amongst the cast over an original cast member’s planned return from maternity leave. The issue? The show’s only got eight weeks left. West End star Aoife Mulholland was originally cast as defendant Brooke Taylor-Windham - who ironically is in the middle of her own legal debate. After falling pregnant, Aoife’s part was taken up by understudy Tamara Wall, who’s now been in the role for over a year. Aoife’s planned return has reportedly disgruntled Tamara, who took to Twitter to tell followers, “I can’t believe someone would do that to another person.” Now, we can understand Tamara’s disappointment – she clearly feels she’s missing out of the final glory of the show, which is set to close for good. But, let’s look at it from Aoife’s point of view. She’s entitled to up to 52 weeks Statutory Maternity Leave, as set out by the Government, with full confidence that she’ll have a job to return to. So she’s not in the wrong legally. And let’s not forget the point of maternity leave – to spend time with your newborn baby. Over 2.2 million mothers who have children under six months work full time, reports the Daily Mail, so Aoife is simply making the most of her maternity rights to return to the job she was doing. What do you think? Has Tamara got a right to feel disgruntled?
I don't get why people shouldn't be allowed to walk back into their old job when they come back from maternity leave. I had similar problems when I returned to work that my job had been given away and I was moved down a level if I wanted to return. As I didn't have a written contract not a lot I could do but I did feel penalised for having a baby.
i personally found returning to work really hard not because of being away from my daughter which was obviously hard enough but I just felt really out of it with everyone else working together day in day out for the 11 months I took it is hard to walk back into it and feel included without having your job taken off you or lots of arguements over if the job should be hers. Poor girl.
