Denise van Outen
| Denise van Outen | |
|---|---|
van Outen filming on Waterloo Bridge
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|
| Born |
Denise Kathleen Outen 27 May 1974 Basildon, Essex, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) |
| Television |
The Big Breakfast Babes in the Wood Any Dream Will Do! Who Dares, Sings! Born to Shine Strictly Come Dancing EastEnders |
| Spouse(s) | Lee Mead (m. 2009–13) |
| Children | 1 |
Denise van Outen (born Denise Kathleen Outen on 27 May 1974) is an English actress, singer, dancer and presenter. She is best known for presenting The Big Breakfast, for playing Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago both in the West End and on Broadway and for finishing as runner-up in the tenth series of the BBC One dancing show Strictly Come Dancing.
Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, she is the youngest of Ted and Kathleen Outen's three children and was brought up a 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 the age of 12, she played Éponine 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.
As a teenager she had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo 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 was voted Rear of the Year in 1999, and was top of a poll to find the most desired "bikini body" in a 2007 poll of readers of Grazia magazine.
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