Natalie Gumede

Natalie Gumede (born 20 March 1984)^[1][2] is an English actress. She is best known for playing Kirsty Soames in the ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street from 2011 to 2013. She previously played China in BBC Three comedy show Ideal.^[3] She has also appeared in The Persuasionists, Emmerdale and Doctor Who among other television shows. Gumede was a runner-up in the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. From 2014, Gumede has led a comedy web series titled Sally the Life Coach. She has also passed her degree in fashion and is currently designing her own range of clothes.

Early life

Gumede was born in Burnley, Lancashire and lived in Colne during her early life, attending first Christ Church C of E Primary School and then Park High School.^[4] Her father is Zimbabwean and her mother is of English descent. Her grandfather Josiah Gumede was the only President of the short-lived Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.^[5] At the age of 11 while attending Pendle Hippodrome Youth Theatre, she was picked by BBC producers to help present the north-west regional insert for Children in Need in 1995.^[6] She attended the London Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts graduating with a BA Hons in 2003 from a three-year course in Acting.^[7]

Career

From 2004 until 2007, Gumede played China in the dark-comedy sitcom series, Ideal, who along with her friend Asia (Rebecca Atkinson), was one of Moz's regular clients. Her character featured in the pilot episode, and was a regular in the first three series. In 2008, she featured in her first full length film, Clubbed, a British drama about a 1980s factory worker who takes up a job as a club doorman. In 2005, Gumede made a guest appearance in the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, portraying Tania Coles. In 2010, Gumede featured in the sitcom The Persuasionists, broadcast on BBC Two, set in the world of advertising, starring Iain Lee, Simon Farnaby, Adam Buxton, Jarred Christmas and Daisy Haggard.

In September 2011, Gumede made her first appearance in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, portraying Kirsty Soames, who became the domestic abusive love interest to mechanic Tyrone Dobbs (Alan Halsall). She had previously tried out for the part of Kelly Crabtree, but lost out to Tupele Dorgu.^[8] For her portrayal of the character, Gumede had received the Best Newcomer accolade at the 2012 British Soap Awards.^[9] She was later nominated for Best Soap Newcomer at the TV Choice Awards and voted Most Popular Newcomer during the 18th National Television Awards.^[10][11] In Digital Spy's end of year reader poll, Kirsty's domestic abuse storyline with on-screen boyfriend Tyrone won Best Storyline with 28.3% of the vote.^[12] On 21 February 2013, it was announced that she would leave the soap after a year-and-a-half, and departed when her character, Kirsty, went to prison on 3 April 2013. Since March 2014, Gumede has starred in a comedy online series entitled Sally The Life Coach, in which she plays the lead role. This role allows her to show off her serious acting ability in this gritty drama. In April 2014, Gumede signed a deal with Derby House to launch her equestrian range of clothing for the corporation.

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2013, Gumede was a runner-up on the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing. Her professional partner was the eighth series champion, Artem Chigvintsev. They quickly became the early favourites for the title after a strong start.^[13] However, their progress also drew criticism after it emerged that Gumede had previously trained as a dancer when she was a child, and possibly gave her an unfair advantage. In the Final, She lost out to Abbey Clancy & Aljaz Skorjanec and came Joint second along with Susanna Reid & Kevin Clifton.

Television/Online Roles

Guest appearances

• Daybreak (24 May 2012) - 1 Episode
• Loose Women (10 February 2012, 21 January 2013) - 2 Episodes
• British Soap Awards (May 2013) - TV Special
• Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (2013) - 15 Episodes - Strictly Come Dancing Contestant
• The One Show (9 January 2014) - 1 Episode
• Lorraine (15 December 2014) - 1 Episode
• ITV News (21 January 2015) - 1 Episode
• National Television Awards (21 January 2015) - TV Special

Film/Stage Roles

Commercial Roles

References

External links

• Natalie Gumede at the Internet Movie Database
• Ideal Cast Page
• Sourcemodels Page
• Sainou Talent Agency page
• Spotlight page
• Natalie Gumede on Biogs.com