Panto queen Twink’s tears as ‘best friend’ pet parrot killed in rehearsals before star cheats death in shock crash

Pet parrot Timby was due to have a speaking role, alongside Twink, in Cinderella
SHOWBIZ legend Twink is grieving after her pet parrot died in rehearsals for her panto comeback.

Timby was due to have a speaking role in Cinderella alongside Twink, who will play the Queen of the Fairies.

Her part is being pre-recorded and shown on screens at Dublin’s National Stadium — with Timby killed the day before the beloved bird’s lines were due to be filmed.

Breaking down in tears, she told The Irish Sun: “My beloved Timby, who has been on my shoulder for 26 years, was killed tragically at rehearsals. I have lost my best friend, frankly — and a huge part of me has died with him.”

The horrific accident happened three weeks ago in rehearsals.

And still reeling from her sad loss, Twink, 76, declined to say exactly what happened to her pet, admitting it was too distressing.

She told us: “My own children have asked me what happened and I can’t tell them, I just can’t talk about it. I then came home, a broken person with no daughters there. I sat in the house alone.

“I had Timby longer than a cat or a dog or anything. He lived here in this house with me, on the pillow beside me in bed and in the car behind me, when we went driving.

“The nights now are the worst, because Timby would shout ‘Dinner, dinner’, and I’d shout back ‘Oh Timby, I know it’s dinner time’. Or he’d shout ‘We go car’ because we went everywhere in the car.

“He was the best friend I ever had and now he’s gone. I texted a ­handful of trusted friends and told them what happened.

“And I said, ‘Please don’t ring me. I can’t talk, I can’t answer, I haven’t coped with it yet, I’m broken.’”

Devastated Twink revealed the plans for Timby — aka Timberlake — to be a major part of Cinderella.

She said: “We had such funny lines for the panto.

“I was going to say, ‘You’re cute and clever for a young bird’. And Timby was going to say back, ‘You’re cute and clever for an old bird’ — but we never got to film it.”

Mum-of-two Twink rescued Timby and another parrot, Poppy, from a pet shop near Dublin Airport that was being closed down in the late Nineties.

‘TERRIBLE STATE’

She said: “They were in a terrible state. The vet warned me they would both be dead in three months. That’s exactly how long Poppy lasted, but Timby lived for 26 years with me in this house.

“He was never in a cage, he was my constant companion. The pain of losing him is unbearable.

“I want to pay tribute to vet Turlough McNally, in Summerhill, Co Meath, and his assistants Rozalia, Claudia and Ana who did everything they could — but couldn’t save Timby.”

In an exclusive Irish Sun interview, Twink also revealed how she cheated death just 24 hours after her parrot’s passing.

She narrowly escaped a horror car crash while out driving in Dublin with Cinderella’s musical director, Karl Broderick, the hubby of Ireland AM star Alan Hughes.

Twink explained: “Karl and I were coming around a bend in Summerhill when a big juggernaut came around the far side of the road and forced the two of us into a ditch. ‘Oh my God,’ I thought.

“The bird is gone and now the bloody guest star. Thank God there were no injuries and we came out of it alive.”

‘THE SHOW MUST GO ON’

Twink revealed panto producers Alan and Karl gave her the chance to walk away from their show ahead of this Tuesday’s opening night, which she is due to attend.

But she told us: “I said no — the show must go on. I wanted to continue because I wouldn’t let Timby down. I wouldn’t want him to think he had been responsible for letting the whole show down, and the country down.

“I have never let a show down in my life. I’ve gone on stage with broken legs. I’m always amazed people are so willing to quit — and I don’t let punters down.”

Twink also made it clear to Alan and Karl that Timby’s death would not result in them falling out.

She explained: “Alan told me, ‘I don’t want this to break up this friendship.’ Well, I got Alan by the scruff of his neck and said, ‘Listen to me, you are dealing with one tough cookie.

“This is a friendship that has been going on a long time and it’s not going to break up.’

“They didn’t book Twink, they booked their dear friend. Twink is an artist and a commodity.

“It’s owned by a 74-year-old woman called Adele King. I own a product called Twink and I know what people like me to say and I know what is expected of Twink.”

‘TERRIBLE LOSS’

However, filming her inserts as the Queen of The Fairies came with its own risks.

Twink said: “I was up standing on a box for five hours in a huge pink dress.

“Doing my big songs in act one and act two with all the dialogue. I was wearing six-inch heels with two-inch platforms. Four times I fell off the box but bizarrely landed OK. But I’ve had falls off stages before. I know how to fall.”

She added: “I’m a drama queen and things happen to me. I could be ready at half three, and a slate could fall off the roof and hit me on the head, going out the driveway.

“I’m one of those people that attracts disasters and drama”.

He was never in a cage, he was my constant companion. The pain of losing him is unbearable.”Twink

Twink also had to deal with the death of one of her oldest friends, fashion designer Paul Costelloe, as she rehearsed for her panto return.

The Dubliner died in London aged 80, on November 21. And Twink said: “Between dear Timby and Paul Costelloe, I feel I have been shot with bolts and arrows, and then clubbed with a mallet.

“But I’ve always dug deep to produce the goods. This show must go on.”

Contacted by The Irish Sun, a spokeswoman for Alan and Karl told us: “It was a terrible loss for Adele; Timby was to be part of the production with dubbed speaking lines in the opening of the show.

“With Timby passing, the scene was rewritten for Adele and she played the scene like the absolute star she is, although it must have been so difficult to do.”

Cinderella runs until January 4. Get your tickets at Panto.ie