Denise van Outen
Encyclopedia
Denise van Outen is an English actress, singer and television presenter. Her most notable roles to date are as a presenter on The Big Breakfast
, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago
on both the West End
and on Broadway
.
, Essex
, she is the youngest of Ted and Kathleen Outen's three children and was raised Catholic. She has a brother Terry and sister Jackie.
At the age of seven, she began modelling for knitting patterns, and showed an early flair for performing. This resulted in her attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School
. In 1986, at age 12, she played Eponine
in Les Misérables
alongside fellow Sylvia Young student Melanie Blatt
(the role paid her school fees), the Anthony Newley
directed production of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off
, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
with the Royal Shakespeare Company
.
and The Bill
. She also sang with Cathy Warwick in "girl group" Those2Girls, by which time she had become Denise Van Outen. She also did backing vocals with Melanie Blatt
for the band Dreadzone
.
Van Outen has retained her distinct looks gracing the covers of popular men's and Women's titles and being voted both Rear of the Year
in 1999, and top of a poll to find the most desired "bikini body" in a 2007 poll of readers of Grazia
magazine.
Van Outen joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4
as a weather
and travel reporter in 1996 and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky "Essex Girl
" personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan
, and together they recovered audience figures to respectable levels.
She took a break from presenting the show towards the end of 1998 but returned in 2000 for a further year-long stint in an attempt to boost the ratings, which had tailed off following her departure. When the show closed down, van Outen gave Vaughan a present of a set of AMG
wheels for his Mercedes Benz CLK
- commented on as a "very Essex Girl" by Jeremy Clarkson
when the pair appeared on the BBC
's Top Gear
programme. She presented Something for the Weekend on Channel 4 in 1999. In 2001 she co-hosted the 3rd series of the Sky TV show Prickly Heat with Julian Clary
.
Van Outen then returned to television, reviving her on screen relationship with Johnny Vaughan in 2004 for one series of the BBC's Saturday night family revival show Passport to Paradise
. She continued in 2005 co-presenting ITV
's This Morning
with Richard Bacon
.
Van Outen was asked to be a panellist How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
in 2006 for the BBC
, a programme searching for a girl to play the role of Maria
in The Sound of Music
, but was unable to accept the offer due to commitments in the USA co-hosting NBC
's Grease: You're the One that I Want!
After her commitments ended on the show she began re-establishing her television career in the UK. In November 2006, she hosted Sky1's The Race - set at Silverstone Circuit
- in which a celebrity Girls Team headed by David Coulthard
raced against a celebrity Boys Team headed by Eddie Irvine
. In December 2006, she hosted the National Lottery
Christmas special, and in January 2007 hosted one show of The Friday Night Project
. She also guested on The Charlotte Church Show
, and was one of the judges at the Miss World
pageant in Warsaw, Poland.
In 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One
's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do!
which was casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
. In July 2007, she appeared in a commercial advertising the rebranding of Morrisons
supermarket.
In 2008, she presented 'Backstage at the Brit's' for ITV1 and continued with a new Saturday night entertainment series for ITV1
, alongside Ben Shephard
, called Who Dares Sings. Challenging 100 members of the studio audience to hit the right notes in the largest karaoke competition on TV. Her on screen presence continued with For One Night Only alongside Michael Buble and Hairspray: The School Musical
for Sky One. The programme saw van Outen mentor a group of regular school kids to put on their own version of Hairspray on the West End Stage. She also recently appeared in the BBC One
drama Hotel Babylon
on 24 July 2009. In June 2010, Denise presented a week's run of The 5 o'clock show with Melanie Sykes
.
Van Outen had been due to co-present new Channel 5 magazine show OK! TV
from 14 February 2011 but pulled out due to a "busy schedule". Her role has now been taken by former Live from Studio Five
presenter and Apprentice participant, Kate Walsh.
Van Outen currently narrates the popular ITV2
reality television series The Only Way Is Essex
. In 2011, she was a judge on the panel of Born To Shine
on ITV1
, a show that raises money (with phone votes) for Save The Children
.
Jack and the Beanstalk
alongside Julie Walters and Neil Morrissey. Wanting to further develop her acting career, she left The Big Breakfast at the end of 1998. In 1999, she appeared on several episodes of The Bill
and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star
, the BBC
's Murder in Mind short series of crime dramas, and on 2 series of Babes in the Wood
with Karl Howman
and Samantha Janus
.
Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey
. She had a cameo tease as red head Alex, in the low-key Tube Tales
in one of the four separate short films, based on the London Underground
. Other directors included Ewan McGregor
, Jude Law
and Jarvis Cocker
; while her part in "Horny" was directed by Lost In Space
director Stephen Hopkins
. Van Outen has played a small role in the romantic comedy
Are You Ready For Love?
She first played Roxie Hart on the stage in the hit musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre
in the West End in April 2001. Her run proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entire 20 weeks. Unknown in the United States, she reprised her role on Broadway in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002. Late the same year, Van Outen appeared as one of many special guest stars in a performance of The Play What I Wrote once again in London's West End.
In 2003, she returned to the London stage at the Gielgud Theatre
in Andrew Lloyd Webber
's one-woman show Tell Me On A Sunday
, which he reworked for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year. She then joined the cast of the established ITV sentimental drama Where the Heart Is
as one of the lead characters, playing single mother Kim Blakeney, continuing for two series.
Van Outen played Maureen in the 2007 London revival of Rent Remixed
directed by William Baker until 22 December. She was forced to cancel some performances due to a throat infection.
In July 2009, Van Outen played Mary in Hotel Babylon
for the BBC. Her character was at the hotel for a science convention.
In August 2009, Van Outen made her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in Blondes, a show by Jackie Clune
.
Van Outen took over the role of Paulette Bunafonte from Jill Halfpenny
in the West End
production of Legally Blonde
on 25 October 2010. She continued in the role for 6 months.
Van Outen has been cast in the film of the play Run For Your Wife alongside Danny Dyer
, Sarah Harding
and Neil Morrissey
.
and become the co-host of Capital Breakfast on Capital Radio, from 4 February 2008.
On 29 July 2008 she decided to quit the show half way through her contract due to juggling her extensive TV commitments with the early mornings
However, in April 2011 Denise revealed that she left the show because relations between her and Johnny Vaughan had soured. She says Johnny has not spoken to her since.
In 2009 Van Outen climbed Mt Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief. Joining her on the climb were Girls Aloud
members Cheryl Cole
and Kimberley Walsh
, Fearne Cotton
, Ben Shephard
, Gary Barlow
, Ronan Keating
, Alesha Dixon
and Chris Moyles
.
Van Outen will be doing the Inca Trek in Peru for Breast Cancer Care with Fearne Cotton
and Alexandra Burke
amongst six women with breast cancer
.
. In 1996, Van Outen dated Dodgy
guitarist Andy Miller
. From 1998 to 2001, she dated Jamiroquai
lead singer Jay Kay. They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; his album A Funk Odyssey
is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L
" expressing his fight against cocaine
addiction during their break up.
From 2003, she dated 'Brown's' club owner Richard Traviss, but split up with him in May 2005, moving out of the Marylebone
home they shared and back into her own garden flat in North London. After appearing on Channel 4
's The Friday Night Project
and describing her first real kiss with fellow Sylvia Young
student James Lance
, subsequently they dated for a few weeks in 2007. In November 2007, she began dating Any Dream Will Do
winner, Lee Mead
. She married Mead in April 2009 in the Seychelles
. They have a daughter, Betsy who was born on 1 May 2010.
The Big Breakfast
The Big Breakfast was a British light entertainment television show shown on Channel 4 and S4C each weekday morning from 28 September 1992 until 29 March 2002 during which period 2,482 shows were produced. The Big Breakfast was produced by Planet 24, the production company co-owned by former...
, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
on both the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Early life
Born Denise Kathleen Outen in BasildonBasildon
Basildon is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.It lies east of Central London and south of the county town of Chelmsford...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, she is the youngest of Ted and Kathleen Outen's three children and was raised Catholic. She has a brother Terry and sister Jackie.
At the age of seven, she began modelling for knitting patterns, and showed an early flair for performing. This resulted in her attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School
Sylvia Young Theatre School
Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent fee-paying stage school, in Westminster, London, named after its founder and Principal, Sylvia Young.-Outline:...
. In 1986, at age 12, she played Eponine
Éponine
Éponine Thénardier is a fictional character in the 1862 novelLes Misérables by Victor Hugo.- Éponine in the novel :As children, Éponine and her younger sister Azelma are described as pretty, well-dressed, charming and a delight to see. They are pampered and spoiled by their parents the Thénardiers...
in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
alongside fellow Sylvia Young student Melanie Blatt
Melanie Blatt
Melanie Ruth Blatt is a singer, actress, television personality and was a member of the multi-million selling girl group All Saints. Following their split she launched a solo career.-Early life:...
(the role paid her school fees), the Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
directed production of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off
Stop the World - I Want to Get Off
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.Set against the backdrop of a circus, it focuses on Littlechap, whose first major step towards improving his lot is to marry Evie, his boss's daughter...
, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
.
Early career
As a teenager she had brief roles on a number of television dramas including KappatooKappatoo
Kappatoo was a CITV show based on a book by Ben Steed. In the show, Kappatoo travels back in time to the present and meets a similar looking boy called Simon Cashmere; they exchange lives. Kappatoo lives in the past whilst Simon lives in the far off future.The show premiered on CITV in 1990, with a...
and The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
. She also sang with Cathy Warwick in "girl group" Those2Girls, by which time she had become Denise Van Outen. She also did backing vocals with Melanie Blatt
Melanie Blatt
Melanie Ruth Blatt is a singer, actress, television personality and was a member of the multi-million selling girl group All Saints. Following their split she launched a solo career.-Early life:...
for the band Dreadzone
Dreadzone
Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock. They have so far produced six studio albums and two live albums.-Career:...
.
Van Outen has retained her distinct looks gracing the covers of popular men's and Women's titles and being voted both Rear of the Year
Rear of the Year
Rear of the Year is a light-hearted British award for celebrities who are considered to have a notable posterior. It was created by publicity consultant Anthony Edwards and is organised by Rear of the Year Limited.-History:...
in 1999, and top of a poll to find the most desired "bikini body" in a 2007 poll of readers of Grazia
Grazia
Grazia is an Italian weekly women's fashion and celebrity gossip magazine, with international editions printed in France, Serbia, Australia, United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal, Japan, the Netherlands, India, Bulgaria and Germany....
magazine.
Television
During 1995, van Outen started her television career on Saturday morning ITV show Scratchy and Co's mini youth programme Massive!Massive! (TV programme)
Massive! was a short-lived Saturday morning British television programme aimed at a "youth" audience. It ran for two seasons, each of 22 episodes, between 1995 and 1996...
Van Outen joined The Big Breakfast on 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...
as a weather
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
and travel reporter in 1996 and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky "Essex Girl
Essex girl
An Essex girl is a pejorative stereotype in the United Kingdom of a female who is said to be promiscuous and unintelligent, characteristics jocularly attributed to women from Essex. It is applied widely throughout the country and has gained popularity over time, dating from the 1980s and 1990s...
" personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan
Jonathan Randall Vaughan is an English broadcaster and journalist. Vaughan has become well known as a television and radio personality and has also built a reputation as a film critic. He co-presented Capital Breakfast alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011...
, and together they recovered audience figures to respectable levels.
She took a break from presenting the show towards the end of 1998 but returned in 2000 for a further year-long stint in an attempt to boost the ratings, which had tailed off following her departure. When the show closed down, van Outen gave Vaughan a present of a set of AMG
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz car company specializing in high-performance luxury cars....
wheels for his Mercedes Benz CLK
Mercedes-Benz R170
The Mercedes-Benz R170 was an automobile platform for sports cars produced since 1996 and was the first Mercedes-Benz hard top convertible.R170 models were originally sold as the SLK-Class and was based on the W202 C-Class. It was replaced by a new SLK-Class platform - the R171 - for 2005...
- commented on as a "very Essex Girl" by Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
when the pair appeared on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Top Gear
Top Gear (current format)
Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
programme. She presented Something for the Weekend on Channel 4 in 1999. In 2001 she co-hosted the 3rd series of the Sky TV show Prickly Heat with Julian Clary
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
.
Van Outen then returned to television, reviving her on screen relationship with Johnny Vaughan in 2004 for one series of the BBC's Saturday night family revival show Passport to Paradise
Passport to Paradise
-Cast:* Jack Mulhall as Bob* Blanche Mehaffey as Elsa* Eddie Phillips as Gordon Battle* William P. Burt as Amos Turkle* Gloria Joy as Norma* John Ince as Ship's Captain...
. She continued in 2005 co-presenting ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's This Morning
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
with Richard Bacon
Richard Bacon (television presenter)
Richard Paul Bacon is an English television and radio presenter.Bacon's first high-profile media role was as a presenter of Blue Peter, from which he was sacked in 1998 following newspaper reports of him taking cocaine...
.
Van Outen was asked to be a panellist How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was a British television talent series, that was broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One between 29 July and 16 September 2006. It documented the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the 2006 Andrew...
in 2006 for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, a programme searching for a girl to play the role of Maria
Maria von Trapp
Maria Augusta von Trapp , also known as Baroness Maria von Trapp, was the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers...
in The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, but was unable to accept the offer due to commitments in the USA co-hosting NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Grease: You're the One that I Want!
After her commitments ended on the show she began re-establishing her television career in the UK. In November 2006, she hosted Sky1's The Race - set at Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
- in which a celebrity Girls Team headed by David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
raced against a celebrity Boys Team headed by Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...
. In December 2006, she hosted the National Lottery
National Lottery (United Kingdom)
The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
Christmas special, and in January 2007 hosted one show of The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
. She also guested on The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show
The Charlotte Church Show was a Channel 4 entertainment television show presented by Welsh singer Charlotte Church. It was first broadcast on 1 September 2006 and ran for 6 subsequent Fridays. The show was commissioned for a further two series, the first of which aired from 23 February to 6 April...
, and was one of the judges at the Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
pageant in Warsaw, Poland.
In 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do!
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
which was casting Joseph in 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...
. In July 2007, she appeared in a commercial advertising the rebranding of Morrisons
Morrisons
Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc is the fourth largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The company is usually referred to and is branded as Morrisons formerly Morrison's, and it is part of the FTSE 100 Index of companies...
supermarket.
In 2008, she presented 'Backstage at the Brit's' for ITV1 and continued with a new Saturday night entertainment series for ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, alongside Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
, called Who Dares Sings. Challenging 100 members of the studio audience to hit the right notes in the largest karaoke competition on TV. Her on screen presence continued with For One Night Only alongside Michael Buble and Hairspray: The School Musical
Hairspray: The School Musical
Hairspray: The School Musical is a 2008 reality TV series, broadcast on Sky1 in the UK, charting the development of a comprehensive school's production of the Broadway and West End musical Hairspray.-Format:...
for Sky One. The programme saw van Outen mentor a group of regular school kids to put on their own version of Hairspray on the West End Stage. She also recently appeared in the BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
drama Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon was a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One...
on 24 July 2009. In June 2010, Denise presented a week's run of The 5 o'clock show with Melanie Sykes
Melanie Sykes
Melanie Ann Sykes is an English television presenter and model.-Career:Melanie Sykes was born to an English father, and an Anglo-Indian mother. She first came to public attention as the bikini-clad girl in the Boddingtons beer advertisements with the broad "Northern" accent in the mid-1990s...
.
Van Outen had been due to co-present new Channel 5 magazine show OK! TV
OK! TV
OK! TV is an early evening magazine programme, broadcast on Channel 5 as a brand extension of celebrity title OK! Magazine. It replaced Live from Studio Five on 14 February 2011, and was presented by Kate Walsh and Matt Johnson, both of which have since left the programme. Jeff Brazier and Jenny...
from 14 February 2011 but pulled out due to a "busy schedule". Her role has now been taken by former Live from Studio Five
Live from Studio Five
Live From Studio Five was an early evening, British magazine programme which was produced by Sky News for Channel 5. The show was presented by Kate Walsh and a line-up of other co-presenters during its run. It consisted of interviews and discussing topical issues, with an emphasis on showbusiness...
presenter and Apprentice participant, Kate Walsh.
Van Outen currently narrates the popular ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
reality television series The Only Way Is Essex
The Only Way Is Essex
The Only Way Is Essex, is a British BAFTA award-winning semi-reality show based in Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way."...
. In 2011, she was a judge on the panel of Born To Shine
Born to Shine
Born To Shine was an ITV entertainment programme which featured celebrities who learn a new skill taught to them by talented teenagers, live on ITV. It was presented by Natasha Kaplinsky.-Format:...
on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, a show that raises money (with phone votes) for Save The Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
.
Acting career
During her first stint on the Big Breakfast show, she appeared as Jill in ITV1's version of the pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk
Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
alongside Julie Walters and Neil Morrissey. Wanting to further develop her acting career, she left The Big Breakfast at the end of 1998. In 1999, she appeared on several episodes of The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star
The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star
The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star was a successful British comedy series, which aired on Channel 4 in 1998.It was a six-part satirical take on the music industry, written by BAFTA award-winner Bryan Elsley...
, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Murder in Mind short series of crime dramas, and on 2 series of Babes in the Wood
Babes in the Wood (TV series)
Babes in the Wood is a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1998 to 1999. Starring Karl Howman and Denise van Outen, Babes in the Wood was written by Geoff Deane, Paul Alexander, Simon Braithwaite, Ian Searle and Fleur Costello.-Cast:...
with Karl Howman
Karl Howman
Karl Howman is an English actor and also a British voice-over artist.He is well known but notable to many television viewers for his work as Jacko in the mid-1980's and early-90's BBC TV sitcom Esmonde and Larbey's Brush Strokes and as the title character in the series Mulberry .However Howman first...
and Samantha Janus
Samantha Janus
Samantha Zoe Womack is an English actress, singer and director, both on television and stage. In recent years she has been best known for playing the role of Ronnie Branning in EastEnders, but made her name in the early 1990s as Mandy Wilkins in Game On, and also represented the United Kingdom in...
.
Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey
Love, Honour and Obey
Love, Honour and Obey is a 2000 mock gangster film starring several members of the Primrose Hill set. It was jointly written and directed by Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis as a follow-up to their 1998 film Final Cut...
. She had a cameo tease as red head Alex, in the low-key Tube Tales
Tube Tales
Tube Tales is a collection of nine short films based on the true-life experiences of London Underground passengers as submitted to Time Out magazine. The stories were scripted and filmed independently of each other...
in one of the four separate short films, based on the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
. Other directors included Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
and Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
; while her part in "Horny" was directed by Lost In Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
director Stephen Hopkins
Stephen Hopkins (director)
Stephen Hopkins is a Jamaican-born film director and producer. He is best-known for his continuation of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise with A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and the Predator franchise with Predator 2...
. Van Outen has played a small role in the romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
Are You Ready For Love?
Are You Ready for Love?
This article refers to the film. For the Elton John song see Are You Ready for LoveAre You Ready For Love? is a British romantic comedy feature film, directed by Helen M Grace, produced by Carnaby Films, 2006.- Plot :...
She first played Roxie Hart on the stage in the hit musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
in the West End in April 2001. Her run proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entire 20 weeks. Unknown in the United States, she reprised her role on Broadway in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002. Late the same year, Van Outen appeared as one of many special guest stars in a performance of The Play What I Wrote once again in London's West End.
In 2003, she returned to the London stage at the Gielgud Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's one-woman show Tell Me On A Sunday
Tell Me On A Sunday
Tell Me on a Sunday is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love...
, which he reworked for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year. She then joined the cast of the established ITV sentimental drama Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1997 TV series)
Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
as one of the lead characters, playing single mother Kim Blakeney, continuing for two series.
Van Outen played Maureen in the 2007 London revival of Rent Remixed
Rent Remixed
Rent Remixed is a stage production that opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End on October 16, 2007. The show was directed by William Baker, who is best known for his work with international pop icon Kylie Minogue...
directed by William Baker until 22 December. She was forced to cancel some performances due to a throat infection.
In July 2009, Van Outen played Mary in Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon
Hotel Babylon was a BBC television drama series based on the book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One...
for the BBC. Her character was at the hotel for a science convention.
In August 2009, Van Outen made her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in Blondes, a show by Jackie Clune
Jackie Clune
Jackie Clune is a British entertainer, noted as a woman journalist, actress, voiceover artiste and radio/TV broadcaster. She performs cabaret, and is known for her one-woman shows and late Karen Carpenter tribute act...
.
Van Outen took over the role of Paulette Bunafonte from Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny
Jill Halfpenny is an English actress.Halfpenny is best known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins in the British soap opera Coronation Street from 1999–2000, and as Kate Mitchell in rival soap EastEnders, from 2002-2005...
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production of Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde (musical)
Legally Blonde is a musical with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach. The story is based on the novel Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown and the 2001 film of the same name. It tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who enrolls at Harvard Law School to...
on 25 October 2010. She continued in the role for 6 months.
Van Outen has been cast in the film of the play Run For Your Wife alongside Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer is an English actor, media personality, and chairman of Greenwich Borough, a non-League football team.-Biography:Daniel John Dyer was born in Custom House, an area of East London, to Antony and Christine Dyer...
, Sarah Harding
Sarah Harding
Sarah Nicole Harding is an English singer-songwriter, actress and model best known for being a member of the pop group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
and Neil Morrissey
Neil Morrissey
Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....
.
Radio
It was announced on 10 January 2008 that van Outen would be reunited with Johnny VaughanJohnny Vaughan
Jonathan Randall Vaughan is an English broadcaster and journalist. Vaughan has become well known as a television and radio personality and has also built a reputation as a film critic. He co-presented Capital Breakfast alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011...
and become the co-host of Capital Breakfast on Capital Radio, from 4 February 2008.
On 29 July 2008 she decided to quit the show half way through her contract due to juggling her extensive TV commitments with the early mornings
However, in April 2011 Denise revealed that she left the show because relations between her and Johnny Vaughan had soured. She says Johnny has not spoken to her since.
Fashion ranges
Van Outen has designed two collections thus far for the website, Very, part of the Shop Direct Group. The first collection was a maternity range launched in March 2010 and the second an Autumn/Winter collection.Charity work
Van Outen has lent her support to design limited edition T-shirts or vests for the 'Little Tee Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care which donates money for breast cancer research. She continues to support Breast Cancer Charities and Great Ormond Street Hospital.In 2009 Van Outen climbed Mt Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief. Joining her on the climb were Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
members Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
and Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Walsh
Kimberley Jane Walsh is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, television presenter and actress. She is best known for being a member of girl group Girls Aloud, formed through ITV's reality television programme Popstars: The Rivals...
, Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...
, Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
, Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
, Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
, Alesha Dixon
Alesha Dixon
Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model and television personality. She first found fame in the all-female R&B trio Mis-Teeq, however, the trio separated in 2005 and Dixon continued pursuing her music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records...
and Chris Moyles
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....
.
Van Outen will be doing the Inca Trek in Peru for Breast Cancer Care with Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton
Fearne Cotton is an English television and radio presenter who is known for presenting a number of popular TV programmes such as Top of the Pops and the Red Nose Day telethon. In 2007, she became the first regular female presenter of BBC Radio 1's Chart Show...
and Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Burke
Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke is a British R&B and pop recording artist who rose to fame after winning the fifth series of British television series The X Factor in 2008...
amongst six women with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
Personal life
Van Outen's personal life has been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media. In 1991, aged 17, she had a relationship with popstar Gary GlitterGary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
. In 1996, Van Outen dated Dodgy
Dodgy
Dodgy are an English power pop rock trio, that rose to prominence during the Britpop era of the 1990s, who are best known for their hits "Staying Out for the Summer", "If You're Thinking of Me", and "Good Enough"...
guitarist Andy Miller
Andy Miller (musician)
Andy Miller is the guitarist for the band, Dodgy. In 1996, he had a relationship with Denise Van Outen.- References :...
. From 1998 to 2001, she dated Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
lead singer Jay Kay. They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; his album A Funk Odyssey
A Funk Odyssey
A Funk Odyssey is the fifth studio album by British acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 3 September 2001 in the United Kingdom, and 11 September 2001 in the United States.-Background:...
is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L
Little L
"Little L" is the lead single from British Acid Jazz band Jamiroquai's fifth studio album, A Funk Odyssey. The song was written by Jay Kay, and was inspired by the breakup between himself and Denise van Outen, his former girlfriend, over his cocaine problem. The song was featured in the film The...
" expressing his fight against cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
addiction during their break up.
From 2003, she dated 'Brown's' club owner Richard Traviss, but split up with him in May 2005, moving out of the Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
home they shared and back into her own garden flat in North London. After appearing on 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...
's The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
and describing her first real kiss with fellow Sylvia Young
Sylvia Young Theatre School
Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent fee-paying stage school, in Westminster, London, named after its founder and Principal, Sylvia Young.-Outline:...
student James Lance
James Lance
James Lance is a British actor who is best known for his appearances in a number of British comedy series. James Lance attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School...
, subsequently they dated for a few weeks in 2007. In November 2007, she began dating Any Dream Will Do
Any Dream Will Do (TV series)
Any Dream Will Do, often known as 'Joseph', was a 2007 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It searched for a new, unknown lead to play Joseph in a West End revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.The show...
winner, Lee Mead
Lee Mead
Lee Stephen Mead is an English musical theatre actor, best known for winning the title role in the 2007 West End revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat through the BBC reality TV casting show Any Dream Will Do...
. She married Mead in April 2009 in the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
. They have a daughter, Betsy who was born on 1 May 2010.
Discography
All singles, unless otherwise stated:- 1994: "Wanna Make You Go... Uuh!" (with Those 2 Girls) [UK #74]
- 1995: "All I Want" (with Those 2 Girls) [UK #36]
- 1998: "Especially for You" - shown as Denise & Johnny (a cover of the Kylie MinogueKylie MinogueKylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
& Jason DonovanJason DonovanJason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
song of the same nameEspecially for You"Especially for You" was the fifth international single released from singer Kylie Minogue in time for the Christmas 1988 market and is a duet with Jason Donovan. It did not appear on her debut album but was included on Jason Donovan's 1989 debut album Ten Good Reasons. The track did appear on the...
) [UK #3] - 1999: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - from the ABBAManiaABBAmaniaABBAmania is a tribute album to Swedish pop band ABBA, released in 1999. It followed an ITV programme of the same name and featured various British and Irish artists covering ABBA songs.-Track listing:# "Money, Money, Money" – Madness...
compilation album - 2002: "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (With Andy WilliamsAndy WilliamsHoward Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
) [UK #23] - 2003: "Tell Me On A Sunday" (Original cast recording) [UK Album Charts #34]
- 2007: "Baby It's Cold" - duet with Russell WatsonRussell WatsonRussell Watson is an English tenor who has released singles and albums of both operatic-style and pop songs. The self-styled "People's Tenor" had been singing since he was a child, and became known after performing at a working men's club...
on his 2007 album Outside In