| Samia Ghadie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Samia Maxine Ghadie 13 July 1982 Eccles, Greater Manchester, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Ethnicity | English-Arab |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Employer | ITV |
| Television | Children's Ward Coronation Street |
| Spouse | Matthew Smith (m. 2005–2011) (divorced) |
| Partner | Will Thorp (2011–present) |
Samia Maxine Ghadie (previously Smith, born 13 July 1982), is an English actress best known for playing Maria Connor in the ITV Soap Coronation Street.
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Samia Ghadie was born in Eccles, Salford, Greater Manchester to a Lebanese father and an English mother who met while working in Abu Dhabi, where she also lived as a child.[1][2] She also has a brother named Tariq.
She made her acting debut when she was 11, appearing in a single episode of Cracker ("The Big Crunch"). She then made appearances in Children's Ward, Heartbeat, Doctors, and the children's series Life Force. Her big break came in 2000, when she beat Suzanne Shaw and Kimberley Walsh to the role of Maria Sutherland in Coronation Street, where she has been at the centre of some of the show's biggest story lines in recent years.[3]
Along with Jennie McAlpine in December 2008, she participated in a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? where the pair won £50,000 for charity.
Her film debut was a role of Sara in There's Only One Jimmy Grimble.
Smith was placed 52nd in the 2003 FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World, and voted sexiest female by the readers of Inside Soap magazine in 2005. In the same year she impersonated Holly Valance in a celebrity version of Stars In Their Eyes – which she won.[4] She also appeared alongside her Coronation Street castmates in a celebrity version of the TV show Family Fortunes in December 2006.[5] In 2008 she appeared in the fourth episode of Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour, which was set in Egypt. In early September 2009 she appeared on Saturday and Sunday morning ITV kids' entertainment show Toonattik as a stand-in for regular Anna Williamson; her team lost 147–60 to Jamie Rickers and she was given the humiliating Toonattik pie in the face at the end of the show. In Autumn 2009, Smith took a short break from her role as Maria on Coronation Street for maternity leave. She returned to the show and resumed filming in May 2010.
Ghadie married Matthew Smith, a property developer, in St Philip's Church in Alderley Edge, Cheshire on 10 September 2005 after a seven month engagement. On 19 October 2009, she gave birth to a baby girl called Freya[6] Her character temporarily left Coronation Street to go on maternity leave. She and her husband announced that they have separated by mutual agreement on 4 January 2011.[7]
Smith is currently in a relationship with on-screen boyfriend Will Thorp. They were first linked on 30 January 2011, a few weeks after she announced her split with husband Matthew. On 4 November, it was revealed that Samia has reverted back to her maiden name of Ghadie following her decree absolute which was granted the same day.[8][9] [10]
Smith's father, Joseph Ghadie, died of cancer on 14 April 2009.[11]
| Preceded by Suranne Jones as Karen McDonald |
Inside Soap Awards Sexiest Female as Maria Sutherland 2005 |
Succeeded by Kara Tointon as Dawn Swann |