LAST week's Bygones uncovered a Blackburn link to legendary US TV show The Waltons.

Actor Jon Walmsley, who played Jason Walton, spent the early part of his life in East Lancashire.

Well this week we have another trans-Atlantic star who has roots in the area.

If you mention the name Debbie Travis in the UK it will mean nothing to anyone.

In Canada, however, Debbie is known as an iconic interior decorator and TV personality.

Born in Blackburn in September 1960, she is best known as the host of Debbie Travis' Facelift and Debbie Travis' Painted House.

Debbie actually grew up in Rochdale, after a spell as a model worked in television as a freelance editor and producer.

She met her future husband Hans Rosenstein, a television distributor, in 1985 during a visit to a television buyers' market in Cannes. They married soon after and moved to Montreal, Canada.

After redecorating her old Victorian house using paint effects, Travis formed a small decorating business which quickly grew to include commissions from large department stores, auditoriums, theatres, and grand reception halls.

Her work attracted media attention, and Travis opened a small studio and hired a partner to teach workshops to both professional decorators and homeowners.

She later produced an instructional video entitled Decorative Paint Finishes Made Easy, and later produced three additional, more advanced instructional videos, available in both French and English.

She hosted Debbie Travis' Painted House from 1995 to 2002, airing on the Women's Television Network.

In 2006, Travis hosted From The Ground Up with Debbie Travis on Global TV for two seasons. In 2010, Travis hosted the series All for One on CBC Television.

In December 2010, Travis hosted the CBC show Corrie Crazy: Canada Loves Coronation Street, exploring Canadians' love of the British TV series Coronation Street.

As well as her TV work, Debbie has authored several books on decorating and painting techniques, as well as an autobiographical book on parenting.