Denise van Outen

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Denise van Outen

Van Outen filming on Waterloo Bridge for Morrisons advert
Born May 27, 1974 (1974-05-27) (age 34)
Basildon, Essex, England
Other name(s) Denise Douglas
Years active 1986 - present

Denise van Outen (born May 27, 1974, Basildon, Essex) is an English television hostess and stage actress of partially Dutch descent. Her most notable roles to date were as a presenter on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born as Denise Outen in Basildon, Essex, her father is a security guard and her mother a child carer. Denise is the youngest of three siblings; her sister is a doctor's assistant and her brother is a hairdresser.[1]

At the age of seven she began modelling for knitting patterns,[1] and showed an early flair for performing. This resulted in her attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School. As a student, she appeared in the chorus of Les Misérables with fellow Sylvia Young student Melanie Blatt,[2] and then as Eponine - the role paid her school fees;[3] 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.[1]

[edit] Early career

As a teenager she had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo, when her stage name was Denise Douglas.[4] She also sang in a "girl group", by which time she had become Denise van Outen, with the van added reputedly to give her name an interesting twist and to acknowledge her Dutch roots. She also did backing vocals with Melanie Blatt for the band Dreadzone.[2]

Success was not forthcoming, and she turned to being a glamour model (which included one topless shoot for a lads mag).[5] Van Outen has retained her distinct looks, 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.[6]

[edit] Television

During 1995, van Outen started her television career on Saturday morning ITV show Scratchy and Co's mini youth programme Massive! Van Outen joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996[7] 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 record 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.[8] When the show closed down,[9] van Outen gave Vaughan a present of a set of AMG wheels for his Mercedes Benz CLK - commented on as "very Essex Girl" by Jeremy Clarkson when the pair appeared on the BBC's Top Gear programme.[10]

Van Outen then returned to television. The revival of her on screen relationship with Vaughan failed in 2004 in the BBC's Saturday night family revival show "Passport to Paradise,"[11] but she returned again in mid-2005 to co-presented ITV's This Morning with Richard Bacon.

Van Outen had been set to present 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,[12] but pulled out in favour of seeking fame in America and was replaced by Irish comedian Graham Norton.[13]. She subsequently presented 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 Sky One'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.[7] After viewers on 9 June 2007 voted Lee Mead as the winner of Any Dream Will Do! - to play the role of Joseph in a revival at London's Adelphi Theatre of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat van Outen said: "From the very beginning right through to the very end, Lee has been the most consistent out of all the contestants. He has the ability to make even really popular songs his own and he has his own unique style of performing. The next time he lands a role as a leading man, can he put me forward to be the leading lady?"[14]

In July 2007, she appeared in a commercial advertising the rebranding of Morrisons supermarket, with a backing track from revived boy band Take That.[15]

Denise will present 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.[16]

[edit] Acting and stage

During her first stint on the Big Breakfast show, she appeared as "Jill" in a racy TV version of the children's pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk.[17] However, she wanted to further develop her acting career, so 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 Rockstar, the BBC's Murder in Mind short series of crime dramas,[18] and on Babes in the Wood with Karl Howman and Samantha Janus.[17]

Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as "Maureen" in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey. She also had a cameo tease as red head Alex, a slut, in the low-key Tube Tales in one of the four separate short plays, 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.[19] Most recently, 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 on the West End in April 2001.[20] The show proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entire 20 week run. Unknown in the United States, she reprised her role on Broadway for five weeks in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002.[21] 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,[22][23] which he reworked for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year before embarking on a 10-month UK tour in 2004.[24] 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, but stayed for only one series.[25] She will be making an appearance at the UCL Summer Ball.

Van Outen could be seen in the 2007 London revival of RENT in the role of "Maureen" until December 22, when the role was taken over by former EastEnders actress Jessie Wallace.[26] Van Outen was forced to cancel some performances due to a throat infection.[27]

[edit] Radio

It was announced on January 10 2008 that van Outen would be reunited with Johnny Vaughan and become the co-host of the Capital Radio breakfast show, from February 4 2008.[28]

[edit] Personal life

Van Outen's personal life has been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media.[29] She had a relationship with convicted child sexual abuser rock star Gary Glitter in the early 1990s.[30] Later that decade, she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay. They were reported to be on the verge of marriage,[31] 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.[32]

From 2003 she dated lap dance club owner Richard Traviss, but split up with him in May 2005 after three years due to his adultery,[24] moving out of the Marylebone home they shared and back into her own garden flat in Hampstead, North London.[3] After appearing on Channel 4's "The Friday Night Project" and describing her first real kiss with fellow "Sylvia Young" student James Lance, he got in touch and they shared a short romance in 2007.[33] As of November 2007, she has been dating Any Dream Will Do winner, Lee Mead,[34] who is eight years younger than her. She has a house in Hove.[citation needed]

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[35].

[edit] Discography

All singles, unless otherwise stated:

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c A blonde has more fun The Observer - March 25, 2001
  2. ^ a b Biography All Saints A to Z Accessed Jan 2, 2006
  3. ^ a b van Outen: Why heartbreak only makes her stronger Sunday Mirror - February 6, 2005
  4. ^ Anita Dobson and Denise Douglas anitadobsonfanclub.com - retrieved 11th August 2007
  5. ^ Denise van Outen at uk.askmen.com retrieved 11th August, 2007
  6. ^ MyVillage - various, from 2007
  7. ^ a b Bio at BBC Joseph BBC.com - retrieved 11th August 2007
  8. ^ Van Outen's Breakfast return BBC News - 4 August, 2000
  9. ^ Breakfast over for Denise and Johnny BBC News - 12 January, 2001
  10. ^ "Top Gear" Series4, episode5 bbc.co.uk/topgear - retrieved 11th August 2007
  11. ^ Johnny and Denise lose Passport BBC News - 30 November, 2004
  12. ^ Denise Van Outen - Unreality TV
  13. ^ sky.com
  14. ^ BBC - Press Office - Public vote says West End in need of Lee Mead
  15. ^ Denise Van Outen Is New Face Of Morrisons LSE.com - 23rd July 2007
  16. ^ "Denise Van Outen to present Who Dares Sings", ITV.com, 30 May 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
  17. ^ a b CV at agents PfD - retrieved 11th August 2007
  18. ^ BBC - Drama - Murder in Mind
  19. ^ "Van Outen's career goes down the Tube" BBC News - 3 December, 1998
  20. ^ "Van Outen lights up Chicago" BBC News - 18 April, 2001
  21. ^ Ovation for returning Van Outen BBC News - 30 April, 2002
  22. ^ Cast List - "Tell Me On a Sunday - reallyuseful.com: retrieved 11th August 2007
  23. ^ The Basildon princess and the King of easy melody - united at last in a West End musical - BBCNews, 2003
  24. ^ a b Denise Van Outen -'I'm getting old and kids think I'm..." Sunday Mirror, November 30, 2003
  25. ^ Van Outen joins Where the Heart Is RTE.ie, 2005 - retrieved 11th August 2007
  26. ^ Jessie Wallace joins cast of RENT - IndieLondon, 2007
  27. ^ - Denise Van Outen gives costar laryngitis after lesbian kiss - Now Magazine, 2007
  28. ^ Denise van Outen to become Capital Radio Breakfast Co-host. BBC News (10 January 2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
  29. ^ Denise van Outen: Why heartbreak only makes her stronger Sunday Mirror - February 6, 2005
  30. ^ Brentwood Weekly News
  31. ^ Jay Kay: 'I will marry Denise' BBC News - 19 November, 1999
  32. ^ contactmusic.com retrieved on 11 August, 2007
  33. ^ Denise dumps first-kiss guy - Sunday Mirror
  34. ^ Sara Nathan (12 Janauary, 2008). My dreamboat in a dreamcoat. The Sun. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
  35. ^ newkerala.com

[edit] External links

v • d • e
BBC/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical revival search
Series
Musicals
Winners
Connie Fisher • Lee Mead • Jodie Prenger • Gwion Jones • Harry Stott • Laurence Jeffcoate
Host and judges
Graham Norton (2006-) • Andrew Lloyd Webber (2006-) • John Barrowman (2006-) • Zoe Tyler (2006-2007) • David Ian (2006) • Bill Kenwright (2007) • Denise van Outen (2007-) • Barry Humphries (2008) • Cameron Mackintosh (2008)


Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH Today!
PLACE OF DEATH Scunthorpe or Neasden (can't decide!)