Ashley Taylor Dawson is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Darren Osborne

Darren Osborne

Darren Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Darren was introduced by executive producer Phil Redmond as part of the Osborne family. Darren made his first on-screen appearance on 18 November 1996 and was initially played by Adam Booth, before the Booth...

 in the British Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks

Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

, in which he is one of the longest serving cast members and as being a member of UK pop band allSTARS*.

Personal life

Ashley Dawson was born Wilmslow

Wilmslow

-Economy:Wilmslow is well known, like Alderley Edge, for having many famous residents, notably footballers, stars of Coronation Street and rich North West businessmen. The town is part of the so-called Golden Triangle in the north west together with Alderley Edge and Prestbury...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He joined Wilmslow drama group Scamps at a young age and attended Ashdene primary school. He is the brother of singer and guitarist Catherine Taylor-Dawson. In January 2011 Dawson announced that he and his girlfriend Karen were expecting their first child, and their son Buddy Mac Taylor Dawson was born on 23 March 2011.
Ashley is fond of sports and plays football, tennis and basketball. He supports Manchester United and considered a career as a professional footballer when he was young. He currently plays occasional charity football matches with the "Hollyoaks All-Stars" around the country. These events are listed on The Hollyoaks Lads on Football Tour 2010 on Facebook. Dawson is now engaged to fiancée Karen McKay as of September 2011.

Career

Dawson has played the role of Darren Osborne in Hollyoaks since 1999. Actor Adam Booth originally played the part before leaving in 1997. The character rejoined Hollyoaks in 1999 when Dawson secured the part. Dawson joined Hollyoaks when he was 17 years old after getting his big break with the National Youth Theatre. He went onto secure the part of Darren following an audition, but soon after left in 2000 to join ALLSTARS*. Ashley re-joined the show in August 2003 after AllSTARS* split up. On playing the part Dawson said "I love playing the bad lad. He's my alter ego".

He was a member of the UK pop band allSTARS*. His college best friend, Sam Bloom, called him up for an audition and invited him over. Byrne Blood Productions (Steps, A1), the management company at that time, was surprised to find that the actor could also dance and sing. Dawson eventually made it in, getting accepted and rising to fame. Ashley and Sam also shared a flat together. Other than performing, he also appeared in allSTARS*' Accompanying CITV

CITV

CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...

 television show, STARStreet*. Dawson made a lot of appearances with the band, such as performing on the accompanying TV show, STARStreet*. Dawson was featured in other shows as well. He performed with the band on 80s Mania in 2001, and was next seen on episodes of Top of the Pops. He later made an appearance in Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...

, Stars in Their Eyes

Stars In Their Eyes

Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show that ran on Saturdays nights from 21 July 1990 until 23 December 2006 in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars...

 and RI:SE

RI:SE

RI:SE was a breakfast television show made by Princess Productions in collaboration with BSkyB for Channel 4 in the UK. It was scheduled to replace The Big Breakfast after declining ratings. It launched on 29 April 2002...

. While with the group they managed to score four Top 20

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 singles in their two year career.

Ashley Taylor Dawson appeared along with Darren Day in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...

 at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, UK. As a teenager, he appeared in a number of amateur productions in his home town, including Wilmslow Guild Players' production of Jack and the Beanstalk in 1996, for which he was nominated for The Barry Phillips Award for the Most Promising Youngster (Male) in the Cheshire Theatre Guild Awards.

TV Award Nominations

Year	Awards Event	Category	Film or series	Role
2005	Inside Soap Awards Inside Soap Awards The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...	Sexiest Male	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2005	Inside Soap Awards	Best Villain	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2007	Inside Soap Awards	Funniest Performance	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2009	British Soap Awards British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards is an annual awards ceremony to honour the best of British soap operas.The first event took place in 1999 and takes place in May each year. Although it is an ITV production, the events were held at the BBC Television Centre, in London until 2010. The 2011 awards relocated to...	Best actor	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2009	Inside Soap Awards	Funniest performance	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2010	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actor	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2010	Inside Soap Awards	Funniest Performance	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2010	Inside Soap Awards	Sexiest Male	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne
2011	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Male	Hollyoaks	Darren Osborne

External links