Dotty dog aces motherhood

A dotty TV star who appeared on screen with Wimbledon’s proudest mum has become a first time mother herself.

Tilly, a three-year-old dalmatian from Bearsden, was ‘spotted’ by a film crew for Strictly Come Dancing last year.

In the Hallowe’en special dancer Anton du Beke, appearing with Judy Murray, mum of tennis greats Jamie and Andy, was transformed into a cute dalmatian, played by Doreen Nielson’s dog. And while she never made it to the studio, her moment of fame was captured on camera in an eye-catching video sequence.

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Doreen, who lives in North Erskine Park, said: “You are lucky if you saw her for 12 seconds but she was seen by twelve and a half million people. It was quite clever how they did it.’’

Judy Murray was doing all her dance training for the popular BBC1 show in Glasgow and Doreen, a registered Kennel Club owner, was selected by a specialist firm which matches animals for TV shows. Mild-mannered Tilly was totally relaxed for her filming, unlike her canine counterparts who appeared on the live show, who were scared of the crowd and lights.

Now Tilly has taken centre court again, producing her first litter of pups.

“She’s had four boys and four girls,” said Doreen this week, “though sadly one of the boys didn’t make it. I am now trying to choose which one to keep for myself. I am very tempted to keep two!”