Ribble Valley based model who starred in chart topping Wham's 'Last Christmas' video recalls the experience on its 40th anniversary

And this year marks not only the 40th anniversary of the Wham mega hit Last Christmas, but the second year topping the charts at number one, the first time that any song has achieved this.

Model Kathy Hill, who appears in the video as the ex girlfriend of George Michael, recalls how filming in Switzerland was lots of fun, but also very long days. “We were up at 5am and filmed for hours some days, “ said Kathy, a former dental nurse who became a model in her teens, living and working in Milan. She went along to a casting call for the ‘Last Christmas’ video and found herself filming on location with George and his fellow band member Andrew Ridgeley. “ I went for the casting call even though I’m not an actress,” said Kathy, who is originally from Accrington.

Married to Ian Wilson, the owner of Simonstone based Fort Vale Engineering, Kathy recalled how she was told to take all her own clothes with her for the shoot. “I had been modelling in Tokyo so had a lot of designer wear that I still have now including the scarf I wore,” said Kathy.

Written and produced by George Michael, the 1984 track conveys the pain of unrequited love from the perspective of someone "once bitten and twice shy.” It reached number one in 16 countries and has ratcheted up four billion audio streams and one billion video views.

One element of the video includes shots of Kathy and George playing in the snow. And Kathy said the scenes look so natural as they were not scripted at all. Kathy said: “We just had a lot of fun and there is a part where George falls over that the director kept in because it was so natural.”

One person who wasn’t happy about Kathy being involved with the ‘Last Christmas’ video was her boyfriend at the time, ‘Chariots of Fire’ composer Vangelis. Kathy said: “He offered to pay me not to go because he felt that because George was so handsome I may fall for him.”

Kathy and George stayed in Switzerland to film their scenes while the rest of the team flew to Geneva. She recalls: “We joined them later and I remember boarding the plane and everyone knew who George was, he was at the very height of his fame. I remember we both fell asleep on the plane, we were exhausted after the long days of filming. I don’t think any of us realised at the time how iconic the song or the video would become.

"I loved being part of it and seeing it now brings back so many lovely memories.”