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Sweet Valley High Exclusive Interviews and Articles

Being a long-time Sweet Valley fan who lives in the UK, I have, over the years, collected many articles and interviews from UK magazines, that I am yet to find anywhere else on the Internet.

Ryan James Bittle Articles   |   Jeremy Garrett Articles   |   Cast Articles   |   Sweet Valley Documents  

Jeremy Garrett

1 page spread "Top to Tum" - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
2 page spread "What's In Your Suitcase?", Big! Magazine - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
2 page spread "Kissing Girls Is My Job" - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
1 page article "Sweet Valley Boy", TV Hits Magazine - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
1 page article "Vital Statistics", Big! Magazine - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
1 page article "Who Is...Jeremy Garrett", Big! Magazine - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
Small article "Shakespeare Dude", Big! Magazine - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
Small article "Sweet Valley Guy" - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)<
Small article "TV Slot" - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)
1 page article "Talent Spotting" - Jeremy Garrett as Todd Wilkins (#2)

All these articles are now transcribed! - Please note: all articles, words and pictures are NOT my property and belong to their relevant magazine publishings.

Jeremy Garrett

- "Top to Tum"

His MIND has worked overtime to suss out the meaning of life: "My motto for life is: pick a job you like and you'll never have to work a day in your life." Genius!
He knows exactly what tickles his NOZZLE: "I love fruity creams from The Body Shop. They do a Dewberry moisturiser and if I smell that on a girl I get a hungry feeling!"
Feed him his fave NOSH and you'll be in his favour: "I'm Italian so that's my favourite food. I just love pasta, shellfish, shrimp and lobster. And sweet things are my weakness - especially cakes with cream."
Its not acting that gets his TUM a-flutterin': "The only time I get butterflies is when I go on a date for the first time - I get so scared of messing up. But I just take a couple of deep breaths and start talking."
He's a tad talented with his HANDS: "I write in my spare time. I've just about finished a screenplay about a young boy who has to choose between his girl and the Mafia. I'm going to play the lead!"
There's just one thing that really gets his BACK UP: "I can't stand small-minded people, like racists, or those who judge people without knowing them."
Jeremy knows exactly what he's LOOKING for in a girl: "Simplicity - I like a girl who's honest, likes to laugh, and isn't too complicated. I like natural girls with no make-up - casual, but feminine."
His sunkissed CHEEKS went all blushy on his first day of filming: "In a cafe scene, I had to chat up a girl. I moved nearer to her and there was a huge fart sound! It was my jeans rubbing on the seat - honest!"
He remembers the first time he SNOGGED: "I was 16. It was prom night. We drove to the top of a mountain, put a slushy tape on, looked over the ocean and..."
His HEART has been struck by Cupid's arrow - but only once: "I've been in love. It was the greatest, but most painful experience of my life. But time has healed me and I look forward to doing it again."
He just loves using these strong ARMS for bonding puposes: "I love hugging all the people I care about. But the person I go to for a top hug is my mum. She's still the first person I go to whenever I've got a problem." Bless!

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Jeremy Garrett

- "What's In Your Suitcase?"

Sunglasses - "I have a cousin who works for an Italian manufacturer of sunglasses, so when I need some I call her! The last time I went to Italy was over 2 years ago, but I'm going to try and come to Europe at least once a year. I'd like to live over here for about seven months of the year. I'd love to be in Brookside - I could be the cousin from America!"

Tatler Magazine - "I'm a big fan of Posh Spice. My friend likes Emma who we call American Spice. But Posh Spice always looks go angry - someone needs to put a smile on her face! She looks so sad and mad, so I wanna make her a little happy. I didn't know she had a boyfriend but maybe that's why she's so miserable. I've heard Wannabe so much I never want to hear that song again!"

Passport - "I'm getting more stamps in here all the time but I don't have loads. I usually stay in one place for a while. I've been to Tokyo, Madrid, Italy, France, Monaco and other places. I try to see a lot of countries. Its nice here in Europe cos everything's so close. When I'm back home the closest thing to me is Mexico - I've been there a lot. It's beautiful when you go deep south past the cities. The next place I'd like to go is Prague cos everyone says its beautiful and the history behind it is great."

Wham CD - "Whenever I go to another country I buy the CDs they don't have in America. I love Wham and George Michael. I've never met George but I'd love to see him in concert. I wish I could have seen him when he did his Unplugged concert in London. My favourite Wham song is called A Different Planet and its very sad. I'm getting into the new Eurohouse music too cos we don't have that in America"

Map of Europe - "Travelling is my favourite thing and I always tell people if they have some extra money to go travelling. I consider Europe to be my favourite palce. I love the rain in London. After a while in LA you can get tired of the sun. When its December you can still go down to the beach, its a bit too much."

Book on Europe - "That's the first book I ever bought about travelling. It tells you how to travel on $50 a day. I've been staying in little cheap hostels having a really good time. DUring the day I take my backpack and get on the bus. I only go to the hostels to sleep. I don't need luxury - its good to do it on a budget. I get recognised a little bit in the States cos Sweet Valley High is on every day back home, but in Europe I can pretty much travel around and not have to worry."

Trainers - "There are basketball shoes but I run in them. I haven't been running since I arrived in London. In America I usually go to the gymnasium, but I figured cos I was in Europe I'd take a nice little break and eat lots of food and relax. I brought the shoes cos I thought I might wake up and go running, but I'm enjoying just waking up and eating breakfast!"

Aftershave - "Its Lagerfeld Photo. I have another one but I don't bring that with me. The other day my friend was messing around and knocked my cologne on to the floor right by the bed. The bottle broke and the perfume went all over the place. So now when I go to sleep the scent is so strong. I like this perfume called Angel. Its for girls and its so nice. In America we have fruit creams like you can buy in Body Shop. I like the smell of them, they're great."

Camera - "I love taking pictures. I went to the Philippines for seven days and tool 12 rolls of film! I sometimes walk through the streets and take pictures non-stop. I used to be a photographer's assistant. When I was in high school I really got into photography and because I did modelling when I was 18, I watched and learned. Then when I came back to the States I assisted photographers. If I wasn't acting that's what I'd do."

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Kissing Girls Is My Job"

What's it like snogging Cynthia Daniels twenty takes at a time? - "Well you need those takes to get the scene absolutely right, don't you? Yes, I've tried that little trick, ha ha!" (he means getting it slightly wrong on purpose so they have to run through it again). "I get on really well with Cynthia (who plays Elizabeth). We have good chemistry between us - on and off screen. But the first time we kissed was a little nerve-wracking I have to say. Its hardly romantic when you've got 30 people standing around on the set and the director yelling, 'Come on. Let's do it'."
Have you ever slipped your tongue in during a screen song? - "You mean a full French kiss? Usually there are no tongues involved in a screen kiss. But sometimes you get carried away filming love scenes and things slip in where they shouldn't. You can only laugh about it later and hope the actress you did it with doesn't mind. Love scenes can be very technical to shoot. You have to hold your head in a certain position for the right camera angle. It feels so unnatural."
What runs through your mind when you're 'making out' for the cameras? - "Have I remembered to pay my phone bill? Do I have to go to the supermarket tonight? Have I done my laundry? No, I'm joking. When you're acting you have to become the character you're portarying - otherwise it wouldn't look convincing on screen. I pretend Cynthia really is my girlfriend...which isn't that difficult to imagine, really. She's a lovely girl. But we're not going out in real life. She has a boyfriend right now."
Do you think of yourself as a heart-throb? - "No, I don't really consider myself as an actor. But my guy friends...they really take the mickey out of me! They give me a little bit of razz and tease me a lot. 'Hey, hunk, how's it going?' That sort of thing. But its just fun!"
Did you watch Sweet Valley High before you got the part? - "I'd seen it a couple of times but never really watched it on a regular basis. The books, however, I'd heard of a lot, so I knew about the story. When I was offered the role I was very happy. I was living in San Diego at the time, which is two hours from Los Angeles, where the show is filmed. So I had to move to LA to live, which isn't a bad thing."
Were you worried about taking over such an established character as Todd (previously played by Ryan James Bittle)? - "I was concerned about that. When you've seen someone in a TV show for two seasons you get used to seeing them. When a new person comes in you go, 'Why are they in there?'. So when I got the role I was a little bit apprehensive. But when I watched how Ryan played the role I knew that I was going to bring something a lot different to the character of Todd. So I wasn't that nervous by the time filming began."

Were you a high school sports jock like Todd? - "I was never a jock. I was more into theatre than sports - though I did play basketball. In my last year of high school I really concentrated on theatre. My drama teacher really helped and encouraged me - he made me want to become an actor. I'd only done theatre before Sweet Valley High, never television. I was in a few stage productions in the San Diego area. I found that it was such a wonderful thing to do. I really enjoyed playing characters. Before I became an actor i was a model. I worked in Paris, Tokyo and Milan modelling clothes on the catwalk for all the top fashion houses."
How important are looks when it comes to having a successful career in Hollywood? - "When people see a good-looking actor they often say, 'Oh, he's only on TV because of his looks'. Many a time getting your first shot at a role is based on your look. You can get your foot in the door. But if your talent doesn't match your look then the door quickly closes. Its your talent that gives you a long career. You only have to look at the so-called 'pretty boy' stars like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt to see what I mean."
What's a typical day at the studio like? - "We arrive very early. I'll get there around five-thirty or six in the morning and go straight to the make-up department. Us guys have to wear mark-up too, you know! The girls get there a lot earlier - probably because they have more make-up to put on and they need to have their hair styled. We work long, 12-hour days, five days a week. Four days of production and one day of pre-production where we prepare and practise for filming. In the evenings we have to read scripts for the next day. Sometimes when I go to the gym to work out I bring my script along with me. I usually read the script while I'm on the treadmill. It's so difficult to read when you're jogging along the conveyour belt. But I never seem to have any other time in the day to do it."
When you're not working do you ever leave the house looking rough? - "I love to go out without brushing my hair or shaving. On set Todd is like seventeen years old.And I'm twenty-one. Not that there's a huge difference in age. But every day I have to shave to keep that fresh-faced look. I like shaving, but after a while - when oyou constantly wake up at four in the morning and have to shave - its so nice to have a day off."
What do you do at the weekend? - "I enjoy going home to San Diego and staying with my family. I come from a close-knit Italian family and I really miss my mom's home-cooked pasta and spaghetti. Half of my family is Italian - my grandparents, aunts and uncles. We all speak Italian when we're together. My father is American - he can't speak Italian. The surprising thing is that I'm an only child. The typical Italian family is usually big with lots of daughters."
Do you have a girlfriend to make up for it? - "No, I don't. No girlfriend as of now. The business I'm in kills romance...if you could only buy time it would be so nice to have a girlfriend. But my time right now doesn't allow me to have a girlfriend. I wouldn't want to be in a relationship if I couldn't give a girl one hundred percent. So I'd rather just focus on my career for now."

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Sweet Valley Boy"

Taking over the role of Todd in Sweet Valley High was never going to be easy, but Jeremy Garrett just loves being in the job that almost every guy in the world wants.
FACTFILE: Name - Jeremy Garrett | Age - 20 | Born - San Diego | Fave Music - I like all types of music, but love Euro-dance and The Gypsy Kinds | Fave Movie - I Just saw Shine and it was really great. | Fave actor and actress - I think Leo DiCaprio is amazing - he's the same age as me and has done so much. Meryl Streep is my fave actress. | Hobbies - I've got really into photography and I like basketball and golf. | Girlfriend Status - I'm single at the mo.

So how did you get your fab new job in SVH? - "Well, I was at college in San Diego when my modelling agent called me and said there was an audition for a TV role he thought I'd be good for, so I went along. I hadn't been acting much because I was concentrating on my studies, but I went and did three auditions in three days, and that was that!"
How are you enjoying it so far? - "Oh, man, its fantastic! Its really been a lot of fun and the people I work with are just great. Even though I got the job a year ago, I'm still the new boy on set, and they've all been really helpful"
What's the atmosphere like when you're on the set? - "We work really hard doing the show, but things are quite relaxed. We do a lot of goofing around which the producers get annoyed at, but we do it anyway!"
Who's the main culprit? - "I think I can claim that title! If you were to ask some of the other cast members they'd say the same. I can make people laugh and that's a nice things to be able to do, don't you think?"
A lot of guys would love to work with the twins - how do you get on with them? - "Really well. On set, I don't work much with Brittany ,but as Elizabeth's boyfriend, I'm with Cynthia a lot, and she's really great to work with. Off set, a lot of us hang out together. We often go and play pool or sometimes we'll go over to the twins' house and swim in their outdoor pool, which is a lot of fun!"
Has being on TV meant loads of girls ask you out? - "My episodes have only just started showing, so it hasn't made much difference. I've always been quite a flirt though, so I've never had trouble talking to girls."
Have you ever been to Britain? - "I've travelled all over the world, but Britain is one place I've never been. I really can't wait thogh, and I'm hoping that being on the show will mean I get to visit."
What do you think it will be like? - "When I lived in Japan, an English friend told me the sun doesn't come out often, and that it's pretty damp, but still really beautiful. I've also heard there are lots of nice girls!"
What do you think of the Spice Girls? - "Oh, they do the zigga-zigga song, don't they? Man, they are all so nice. I really like them. Maybe when I come to Britain I can try and get a date with Mel B!"

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Vital Statistics"

Name: Jeremy Vincent Garrett
Occupation: Plays Todd in Sweet Valley High.

Jeremy was born on April 4, 1976, so he's 21
He's an adorable Aries but says he doesn't really believe in horoscopes "except when they're good!"
Jeremy told us that everyone on Sweet Valley High gets along really well. "I know it sounds corny, but its true."
He's a huge Spice Girls fan and think they're 'tasty'! Posh Spice is his favourite and she'd be his top Valentine's snog.
He says his school was nothing like Sweet Valley High. "I didn't really enjoy school, but I'm sure I'd have liked it more if the girls were as good-looking as the ones at Sweet valley!"
Todd goes out with Elizabeth in the show and Jeremy says that she's be the twin he'd choose in real-life, too.
Tune into Sweet Valley High, only on Fox Kids Network, every Saturday and Sunday at 12.00. You can also catch Jeremy on Fox Kids network as a guest presenter on Valentine's Day between 9am and 12.00.

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Who Is...Jeremy Garrett?"

He's the new Sweet Valley High heatthrob. It's time to find out more about hunky Jeremy Garrett.

Say hello to Sweet Valley High new boy Jeremy Garrett. He plays Liz's boyfriend, the sexy basketball star Todd. Jeremy replaced Ryan James Bittle who quit after two seasons. So what was it like for Jezza joining the show so late? "I was a little nervous because when you replace someone it's always hard," says Jeremy. "Viewers get used to seeing a certain actor play a certain part and then suddenly it changes."

So does Jeremy find it tough acting with Cynthia and Brittany, the sexy blonde twins who play Liz and Jessica Wakefield. Not really cos the fella prefers British babes - especially those Spice Girls. "I think they're beautiful," he says. "I used to like Mel B but now there's another one I likve which I hadn't noticed before, Victoria, is that her name? Hmm, she's pretty good."

Good news girls! Jeremy's a single lad who's desperate for a girlfriend. He claims he hasn't had a serious girlfriend for six years and comes home every night to his pet cat, Patches. "Its funny cos she knoes when I've been away and she always get pays me more attention than normal when I get back," says Jeremy. Bless.

Sweet Valley High may look glam and glitzy on the box, but its a laugh a minute for the cast says Jeremy. "We were filming in this cafe," he says, "and the seats were made of creaky vinyl so every time you sat down it made a farty sound. There was one scene where it was the loudest, most realisitc fart sound I've ever heard in my life. Everyone looked at me cos they thought I'd done it. It was so funny.

When he's not filming Sweet Valley High, Jeremy often jets to Tokyo and Milan - for a spot of modelling. But his life hasn't always been this glam. "I used to mow lawns when I was 16 so for three days of the week I'd cut people's lawns, all day." Was it glamorous? "Ha ha! What do you think?"

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Shakespeare Dude"

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Sweet Valley Guy"

What's Todd up to? - "He's a goody-goody at the mo, but he gets into major trouble later in the series! His head gets realy big 'cause he's the star of the basketball team."
But does he carry on snogging Liz? - "Well, Todd and Liz have been together for four years now, and all they've done is kiss! Todd wants to do a bit more but they break up. I probably shouldn't have told you that!"
Do you confuse the twins Brittany and Cynthia? - "Brittany has a birthmark on her hand, so I used to take a peek to see who's who! She's got bangs now (a fringe) so its much easier!"
Are you into the blonde, tanned and healthy Californian look? - Californian girls are definitely not 'it'! My mum has dark features and hair and that's the look I always go for!"
So are you a smoothie? - "Actually, no! I'm very shy with woman! I'd rather they made the first move!"
Are you the tidy type? - "No my flat's a real mess 'cause I never put any clothes away. I've got layers of clothes on the floor!"
Who's your favourite Spice Girl? - "The Spice Girls are huuuge aren't they?! I like the posh one - Victoria."
What d'ya reckon to all their girl power malarky? - "I think Spice Girls are quite hyper, but people like energy! Are all English girls like that?!"

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Jeremy Garrett

- "TV Slot"

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Jeremy Garrett

- "Talent Spotting"

Elizabeth's sports jock boyfriend has been replaced in the new series of Sweet Valley High. Out goes the old Todd, Ryan James Bittle, and in comes the even hornier Jeremy Garrett. In fact there are quite a few changes down in Sweet Valley, California. You'll be able to findout about them on Beeb One when the third series starts round about April. But if you can't wait until then, you can check out series two on Trouble, the new teenage TV offshoot of TCC, starting on February 3rd.

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