Local Woman to Star in tombola bingo's National TV Campaign

    TYNE AND WEAR, ENGLAND, May 19, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Diane McGrath aged 37, from The Oval, London stars in the third season of Emmerdale bumpers created by tombola.co.uk which launch this month which again stars real online bingo players by the UK's number one online bingo site, www.tombola.co.uk. The new sponsorship bumpers launched last week on ITV1.

The sponsorship deal includes broadcast sponsorship on ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3, online sponsorship at itv.com/emmerdale, interactive sponsorship, mobile interactive bumpers and licensing.

It means Diane who is better known on tombola.co.uk as fannieann will be regularly exposed to audiences of more than seven million people across the UK.

In all, twenty-five tombola.co.uk players took part in a three day fly-on-the-wall documentary style filming. Each individual will appear in up to 21 bumpers and will feature as the main star in at least one of the bumpers for a few seconds, either at the start or end of the show or between breaks on one of ITV's most popular TV shows.

The idents or 'break bumpers' were filmed in March in Cornwall including the pretty coastal town of Looe, Truro and Newquay which is famous for its beaches. tombola.co.uk, which is officially the UK's most popular online bingo site, put an appeal on its website for players to be a part of their sponsorship deal. Players enjoyed a range of activities on the beach, deep sea fishing, a pasty making lesson, quad biking, and a balloon ride.

Diane said: "I was so excited to be picked to star on the Emmerdale bumpers. I only got the call two days before we were due to leave so it was a bit of a rush to organise! I had such a good time at the casting day and made lovely friends that I knew had already been picked to star in the tv bumpers so as soon as I got off the phone from tombola, I called them straight away. I had the most amazing time, it felt like a mini holiday."

Head of Marketing at tombola.co.uk, Dawn-Elizabeth Howe, said: "These ads have the same creative format as the previous ads on the Emmerdale show. We had great feedback as the warmth and fun the players have together comes across brilliantly in the final bumpers and it really reflects what tombola.co.uk is all about. So when we decided to produce new ads we knew we wanted to repeat much of the existing look and feel. This time, we have pushed the boat out - literally by taking the players deep sea fishing and also up in a hot air balloon. They've had a great time and we have some great ads so everyone's happy!"

Every week, GBP4m is won in cash prizes on tombola. Howe added: "Sponsoring Emmerdale, one of ITV's leading brands, is a significant opportunity for tombola.co.uk. The show's reach, the affection in which it's held, and its values of drama, fun and community make it the ideal partner for the tombola brand."

You can see all the players chosen for the bumpers and play tombola bingo online at tombola.co.uk.

Media information: Christian at Quay2 Media on 0191 296 6800

# # #