Page 3 icon Linda Lusardi comes out of retirement to do sports activities draw as followers ‘speechless’
British Speedway fans were left speechless after a legendary Page 3 girl was on hand to present the MAXiCab Championship knockout competition draw
Linda Lusardi conducted the draw(Image: @SpeedwayGB/X)
Motorsport fans have been left speechless after a Page 3 icon came out of retirement to host a cup draw.
Linda Lusardi was on hand to present the MAXiCab Championship knockout competition ties on Monday, but fans were divided about the organisation booking the legendary glamour model for the role. Linda is a Page 3 icon – first appearing in 1976 at age 18 and continuing to 1988, while also posing for the pages of adult magazines and lad mags.
However, some British Speedway fans were less than impressed with the draw, as the curvaceous Londoner, now 67, pronounced Workington as “Wokeington” with club names on bits of paper pulled out of an orange bag.
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“Linda Lusardi doing the draw for the from a Gift Bag in her Bedroom!! So much for the sport trying to appeal to a younger audience and be more professional,” one fan sighed.
“You’ve completely lost the plot! Most embarrassing thing I’ve seen in my life. The sports gone, how sad,” a second fumed. While a third posted: “No wonder no clubs can get a decent crowd… speechless.”
Another added: “24 hours on and this still has me rattled! It’s a simple thing, but Ian Brannan with a couple of speedway personalities in a studio with balls in a bowl. Is it that hard to get right? For a ‘professional’ sport this is shameful…”
However, one fan joked: “The ‘Knockers Out’ Cup draw!” And others welcomed her booking, with one posting: “Would like to see some of the uncut versions of the draw.”
One fan said: “Well to all the knockers in here (no pun intended!!) I would rather watch Linda doing the draw than Phil Morris!!!”
Meanwhile, another fan posted: “Wow! Great having Linda connected with Speedway “a bit of glamour and showbiz can’t be bad” and she did a fine job too “roll on the 2026 Speedway season”.”
Linda earned fame and fortune as a glamour model before starring as an actress in soaps including Hollyoaks, Brookside and Emmerdale – in the latter as Carrie Nicholls, an ex-girlfriend of Tom King and mother of his secret child, Scarlett – plus as Maggie in The Bill.
Along with films, theatre and pantomime, she has also appeared as a panellist on Loose Women and in shows ranging from Ready, Steady, Cook; Come Dine With Me; Celebrity Masterchef; Big Brother’s Bit on the Side; Detectorists; Celebrity Ghost Trip and ITV’s Dancing on Ice.The famous model has admitted she’s “deeply embarrassed” about her early career.
She told the Daily Mail: “I have mixed feelings about it. Part of me, which I had to admit, is deeply embarrassed by it. Part of me is proud, because if you’re going to do something, it’s good to be the best, and I got voted Page 3 girl of all time ten years after I finished…
“It was different times, and you can’t put today’s values on the things that were happening in the 70s and 80s…I cringe at it now.
“The further I get from it and the more times are changing and attitudes are changing to all that sort of stuff, I suppose I find it slightly embarrassing.
“It wasn’t anything to be ashamed of in those days, but looking back now, with today’s eyes, it’s like everything in those days is shameful. The way men treated women was shameful.”
In the draw, Linda pulled KO Cup holders Poole against Scunthorpe while Glasgow face a long trek to Plymouth.
