Kym Marsh

Kym Marsh
Marsh in 2015
Born	Kimberley Gail Marsh (1976-06-13) 13 June 1976 Whiston, Merseyside, England
Other names	Kym Ryder Kym Lomas
Occupation	Actress, singer, songwriter
Home town	Garswood, St Helens, Merseyside, England
Television	Coronation Street
Spouse(s)	Jack Ryder (m. 2002–09) Jamie Lomas (m. 2012–14)
Children	4
Musical career
Genres	Pop rock
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Island Records
Associated acts	Hear'Say
Website	kym-marsh.com

Kimberley Gail "Kym" Marsh (formerly Ryder and Lomas;^[1] born 13 June 1976) is an English actress and former singer and songwriter, who rose to prominence in 2000 after winning a place in the band Hear'Say on Popstars. After leaving the group in 2002, she released a solo album titled Standing Tall in 2003, which peaked at number nine in the UK and spawned two UK top ten singles.

Since 2006, she portrays Michelle Connor in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. For her role on the show Marsh had received Newcomer awards at the 2007 British Soap Awards and the 2007 National Television Awards, as well as the 2017 British Soap Award for Best Female Dramatic Performance, among others. In 2010, the actress finished fourth in the first series of Popstar to Operastar.

Early life

Marsh was born on 13 June 1976 in Whiston, Merseyside to Pauline Marsh and David Marsh. She is the youngest of four children, having a sister, Tracy, and two brothers, David and John. Marsh was raised in Garswood, in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside.^[2] She attended the Elliot Clarke Stage School in Liverpool for two years, but was unhappy at only singing there one day a week, and decided to leave when she was fifteen. After leaving school, she had a number of jobs including a receptionist and a shop assistant.^[2]

Music career

Early singing career and Hear'Say

Marsh provided session vocals for artists including Matt Darey, the group Freaky Realistic and the duo Hemstock & Jennings. She sang in Norwegian on the latter's track "Arctic", which caught the attention of Paul van Dyk, and was remixed and re-recorded with additional vocals from Jan Johnston. The track, renamed "Nothing But You", was released in the UK via Positiva and reached number 14 in the UK charts^[3][4]

In late 2000, Marsh auditioned for the ITV talent show Popstars. She was one of the five singers chosen for the newly formed band Hear'Say, along with Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan. In March 2001, Hear'Say released their first single "Pure and Simple", a cover of a track by Girl Thing. The song went straight to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in March 2001, selling just under 550,000 copies. The group then released their second single, "The Way to Your Love," in June 2001. The song became their second consecutive number 1 single. Shortly afterwards the group toured the UK.

In January 2002, Marsh announced that she was leaving Hear'Say. She later revealed that she had often fought with Klass and Sullivan. Auditions were held to find a replacement for Marsh, but the group split up in October 2002.

Standing Tall

After a while out of the spotlight Marsh signed a solo record deal with Island Records. Her first single, "Cry", went to number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and her second single, "Come on Over," made it to number 10.

In July 2003, Marsh released her debut solo album, Standing Tall, which contained three solo singles and twelve other tracks. However, her make-or-break third single, "Sentimental", stalled at number 35, and that resulted in her being dropped by her record label.

Marsh has said that she would like to return to music one day, but "Right now I'm focusing on Corrie and I am putting all my effort into it."

Eurovision

In early 2006, Marsh entered Making Your Mind Up, a show intended to pick a singer and a song for the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. With a song, called "Whisper to Me", Marsh came fourth in the contest, which was won by Daz Sampson.

Television career

Marsh opening a clothes shop at the Arndale Centre in Manchester in 2012

Marsh made her television acting debut in 2005, in an episode of the BBC One soap opera Doctors, playing a character called Ruth Parry. That same year, she also became a regular panellist on ITV's daytime show Loose Women for its eighth season.

In 2006, after playing prostitute Kay Price in one episode of Channel 4's soap opera Hollyoaks: In the City, Marsh joined the cast of Coronation Street, playing Michelle Connor from 3 April 2006 onwards.^[5]

On 14 December 2008, she appeared as a presenter on The X Factor final. She presented for Alexandra Burke in North London, Burke's home town. Burke later went on to win the show.

Popstar to Operastar

In January 2010, Marsh participated in the first series of Popstar to Operastar. She was voted out in the fifth week, along with Marcella Detroit, after receiving 13.5% of all public votes.

Personal life

Marsh has a son named David (born 1995) and a daughter named Emilie (born 1997) from a relationship with Dave Cunliffe. The actress married the actor Jack Ryder in St Albans, Hertfordshire, on 10 August 2002. It was announced on 20 March 2008 that the couple had decided to separate and would be seeking a divorce.^[6] Marsh and Ryder announced their divorce on 12 August 2009.^[7]

Marsh dated the actor Jamie Lomas from July 2008 onwards.^[8] They married in Cheshire in September 2012.^[9] She and Lomas announced that they were expecting a baby in 2009.^[10] Their son, Archie Jay Lomas, was born 18 weeks early on 11 February and died moments after birth. Marsh stated that "Archie is our beautiful angel and we will miss him so much. Thank you all for your support."^[11] On 23 March 2011 Marsh gave birth to a daughter, Polly.^[12]

Marsh filmed a documentary for ITV about premature births, called Born Too Soon; and in late 2010 she helped to organise, and spoke at, a gala to raise money for the special care baby charity Bliss.

On 3 October 2012, Marsh announced that she would be known, not as Kym Marsh, but as Kym Lomas,^[13] but in October 2013, she filed for divorce, citing unreasonable behaviour. The divorce was finalised on 10 January 2014,^[14] and she reverted to the name Kym Marsh.^[15]

In January 2015, Marsh's daughter, Emilie, was one of the auditionees for the fourth series of The Voice UK. Marsh was also present at the audition as family support. However, her daughter's audition was unsuccessful and she was not selected by any of the coaches.^[16][17]

Filmography

Discography

• Standing Tall (2003)

Awards and nominations

Other

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kym Marsh.

• Kym Marsh on IMDb