Amanda Holden Biography

Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is a British actress, singer and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, and most recently as Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical. Since 2007, Holden has been a judge on Britain's Got Talent. She is married to record producer Chris Hughes. Her marriage to Family Fortunes presenter Les Dennis ended in divorce in 2003.

Biography

Holden was born in Bishop's Waltham, Hampshire to Judith Mary Harrison and naval petty officer Frank Holden. Her parents split up when she was four and she was brought up in the village of Waltham Chase, by Harrison and stepfather Leslie Drew Collister. She joined the Bishop's Waltham Little Theatre Company when she was nine, and credits Angie Blackford as influential in her early stage career. When she was 16 the family moved to Bournemouth and ran a small B&B while Amanda herself studied Drama and English literature A levels with Terry Clarke and Charles Lamb at the Jellicoe Theatre, now part of Bournemouth and Poole College. She successfully auditioned for the independent drama school Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in the Wood Green area of North London when she was 18, graduating in July 1994.

Television career

Her first television appearance was as a contestant on the UK game show Blind Date in 1991, since which she has become a familiar face on British television. Holden appeared in the ITV drama Wild at Heart as Sarah Trevanion. She is currently a judge on Britain's Got Talent alongside Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon and previously Piers Morgan, Kelly Brook, Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff. She has appeared on various British comedy and drama series such as Smack the Pony, EastEnders, Hearts and Bones, Cutting It and as a co-star with Harry Enfield in comedy series Celeb.

In April 2009, it was reported that the US network CBS had offered Holden the job of one-time guest presenter on The Early Show, a daytime talk show. Holden presented alongside regular presenters Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez on 1 June. Holden has since been signed up with CBS as a British correspondent for The Early Show.

In July 2009, Holden became a gossip columnist for the News of the World'. In January 2010, she started a new three-part show called Amanda Holden's Fantasy Lives.

In 2011, Holden narrated one-off documentary The Nation's Favourite Bee Gees Song on ITV and on 6 July 2012 she guest presented ITV Breakfast programme Lorraine.

Acting career

Holden has appeared in several stage musicals and in 2004 was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the West End production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which closed earlier than expected at the end of June 2004.

She appeared in the ITV drama Wild at Heart, alongside Stephen Tompkinson and Ross Kent. The first series aired in 2006 and a second series followed in early 2007. Series three ran from 20 January to 9 March 2008, after which Holden left the programme. She then appeared as Lizzie the Ring Mistress in the sitcom Big Top (BBC1, 2009), which ran for one series.

Holden's other TV credits include three series of the hit comedy Kiss Me Kate alongside Caroline Quentin, three series of the ITV comedy series The Grimleys, Celeb with Harry Enfield, the critically acclaimed BBC series Hearts and Bones alongside Damian Lewis, the Jonathan Creek episode "The Problem at Gallowes Gate" and a Boxing Day special Marple alongside Geraldine McEwan and John Hannah. She also co-starred with Bill Nighy and Tom Courtenay in Ready When You Are, Mr McGill, Jack Rosenthal's classic comedy drama.

She most recently finished playing the role of Princess Fiona in the original West End production of Shrek the Musical, which began on 6 May 2011. The show opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 14 June 2011. She starred alongside Nigel Lindsay, Richard Blackwood and Nigel Harman. Holden departed the show on 3 October 2011, ten weeks earlier than planned, to focus on her unborn child. She was replaced by Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh. For this role Holden won the WhatsOnStage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Personal life

Holden married the comedian Les Dennis in June 1995. They had a temporary split in 2000 when Holden's affair with actor Neil Morrissey was exposed in the press, before eventually separating in December 2002 and divorcing in 2003.

On 20 January 2006, Holden gave birth to her first child with fiancé Chris Hughes. She married record producer Hughes at Babington House, Somerset, on 10 December 2008 with former Formula One racing driver David Coulthard acting as the best man. On 23 January 2012 she gave birth to a daughter. They live in Richmond, Surrey.

Holden ran the London Marathon in 4 hours and 13 minutes on 13 April 2008, in the name of the Born Free Foundation, having collected public and celebrity sponsors online.

Holden is a fan of Everton Football Club and attends games when her work permits. Holden fronted Everton's breast cancer awareness campaign, sporting a limited edition baby pink club shirt, the colour of breast cancer awareness. In September 2011, Holden was sponsored to bake a cake for every child in the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Activism

Holden campaigned to keep a Sainsbury's out of Bishop's Waltham. Residents of her hometown later accused her of a double standard in November 2010 when she signed a deal with Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Celeb
2003	Eternal Rectangle
	Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
2004	4:50 From Paddington
	Mad About Alice
2006 - 08	Wild at Heart	Sarah Trevanion
2007-present	Britain's Got Talent	Judge
2009	Out of My Depth
	Big Top	Lizzie
2010	The Door	Co-Presenter	Co-hosted with Chris Tarrant
2012	Lorraine	Guest Presenter	Stand-in for Lorraine Kelly
	Superstar	Presenter

Other Appearances

• Cutting It (2002 - 2005) (BBC TV Drama Series)
• Now You See Her (2001) (TV Film)
• Happy Birthday Shakespeare (2000) (TV Film)
• Hearts and Bones (2000) (TV Series)
• The Grimleys (1999 - 2001) (TV Series)
• Virtual Sexuality (1999) (Film)
• Smack the Pony (1999) (TV Series)
• Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1998) (Film)
• Kiss Me Kate (1998 - 2001) (TV Series)
• Jonathan Creek (1998) (TV Series)
• Goodness Gracious Me (1998) (TV Series)
• Intimate Relations (1996) (Film)
• EastEnders as Carmen (1994) (TV Series)
• Blind Date (1991) as a Contestant