Michelle Collins

Michelle Collins
Michelle Collins in 2006
Born	Michelle Danielle Collins (1961-05-28) 28 May 1961 (age 55) Hackney, East London, England
Occupation	Actress, television presenter
Known for	Cindy Beale in EastEnders (1988–90, 1992–98, 2014) Nicki Matthews in Sunburn (1999–2001) Abby Wallace in Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–03) Stella Price in Coronation Street (2011–14)
Partner(s)	Fabrizio Tassalini (1995-1998)
Children	Maia Rose (b. 1996)

Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1961) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap EastEnders from 1988 to 1998, with a two-year break between 1990 and 1992. She played Stella Price in the ITV soap Coronation Street from 2011 to 2014. Her other notable TV roles include the BBC dramas Real Women (1998–1999), Sunburn (1999–2001) and Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–2003).

Collins was born at Hackney South East Hospital in Hackney, East London to an English father and Welsh mother. Her maternal grandfather Jack Horton was a Belgian Jew from Antwerp who emigrated to Wales to escape the Holocaust. She and her older sister, Vicki, were brought up by their mother, Mary, in Highbury, London. When Collins was 14, her mother went back to university to get her law degree.

She trained at the Royal Court Activists and Cockpit Youth Theatre from 14, and then Kingsway Princeton College where she studied drama and theatre at O/A level.

After her exams, Collins landed a role in Mikhail Bulgakov's The Crimson Island at The Gate Theatre, directed by Lou Stein. Her career changed direction when, having performed in the 1978 video for the Squeeze song "Up the Junction", she joined Mari Wilson and The Wilsations as the backing singer, "Candide". The band spent 18 months touring the country, working with artists such as Marc Almond, Level 42, Altered Images and Kid Creole and the Coconuts.