Denise van Outen
Denise van Outen | |
|---|---|
 Van Outen filming on Waterloo Bridge for Morrisons advert | |
| Other names | Denise Douglas |
| Years active | 1986 - present |
Denise van Outen (born May 27, 1974) is an English television host and stage actress. Her most famous roles have been as a presenter for The Big Breakfast and as Roxie in the musical Chicago on both West End and Broadway.
Biography
Born Denise Outen in Basildon, Essex, her father is a security guard and her mother a child carer. Denise is the youngest of three siblings; her sister is a PA and her brother a hairdresser.[1]
An admitted show-off, aged seven she started modelling for knitting patterns,[1] and an early flair for performance resulted in her attending through her own choice the Sylvia Young Theatre School. While a student, she appeared in the chorus of Les Misérables with fellow Sylvia Young student Melanie Blatt,[2] and then as Cosette - the role paid her school fees;[3] 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.[1]
Early career
As a teenager she had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo, when her stage name was Denise Douglas.[4] She also tried singing in a girl group, by which time she had become Denise van Outen, with the van added reputedly to give her name an interesting twist and to acknowledge her Dutch roots. She also did backing vocals with Melanie Blatt for the band Dreadzone.[2]
However, success was not forthcoming, and she used her looks to create an income with limited glamour and one topless shoot for a lads mag.[5] Van Outen has retained her distinct looks, being voted both Rear of the Year in 1999, and top of a poll to find the most desired "bikini body" in a 2007 poll of readers of Gracia magazine.[6]
Television
Van Outen joined The Big Breakfast on Channel4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996,[7] and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky "Essex Girl" personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan, and together they recovered audience figures to record levels. She took a break from presenting the show towards the end of 1998 but returned in 2000 for a further year-long stint in an attempt to boost the ratings, which had tailed off following her departure.[8] When the show closed down,[9] Van Outen gave Vaughan a present of a set of AMG wheels for his Mercedes Benz SLK - commented on as "very Essex Girl" by Jeremy Clarkson when the pair appeared on the BBC's Top Gear program.[10]
Having proven herself as an actress, van Outen began again appearing on television. The revival of her on screen relationship with Vaughan failed in 2004 in the BBC's Saturday night family revival show "Passport to Paradise,"[11] but she returned again in mid-2005 to co-presented ITV1's This Morning with Richard Bacon.
Van Outen had been set to present How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? in 2006 for the BBC, a programme searching for a girl to play the role of Maria in The Sound of Music,[12] but pulled out in favour of seeking fame in America and was replaced by Irish comedian Graham Norton.[13]. She subsequently presented NBC's Grease: You're the One that I Want!, a spin-off version of Maria.[14]
Although accepted in America, after her commitments ended on the show she began re-establishing her television career in the UK. In November 2006, she hosted Sky One's "The Race" - set at Silverstone Circuit - in which a celebrity Girls Team headed by David Coulthard raced against a celebrity Boys Team headed by Eddie Irvine. In December 2006, she hosted the National Lottery Christmas special, and in January 2007 hosted one show of The Friday Night Project. She also guested on The Charlotte Church Show, and was one of the judges at the Miss World pageant in Warsaw, Poland.
In spring 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do! which was casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[7] After viewers on 9 June 2007 voted Lee Mead as the winner of Any Dream Will Do! - to play the role of Joseph in a revival at London's Adelphi Theatre of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat van Outen said: "From the very beginning right through to the very end, Lee has been the most consistent out of all the contestants. He has the ability to make even really popular songs his own and he has his own unique style of performing. The next time he lands a role as a leading man, can he put me forward to be the leading lady?"[15]
In July 2007, van Outen appeared in a commercial advertising the rebranding of Morrisons supermarket, with a backing track from revived boy band Take That.[16]
Denisa has recently been announced as the new face Wallets.
Acting and stage
Having trained as an actress, and during her first stint on the Big Breakfast appeared as Dorothy in a more adult version of The Wizard of Oz and then Jill in a racy TV version of the children's pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk.[17] Van Outen wanted to develop her acting career, so left the The Big Breakfast at the end of 1998, and in 1999 acted in episodes of The Bill and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rockstar; and appeared in the sitcom Babes in the Wood alongside Karl Howman and Samantha Janus.[17]
Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey. She also had a cameo tease as red head Alex in the low-key Tube Tales in one of the four separate short plays, based on the London Underground. Other directors included Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and Jarvis Cocker; while her part in "Horny" was directed by "Lost In Space" director Stephen Hopkins.[18]
Van Outen first played Roxie Hart on the stage in the hit musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End of London in April 2001.[19] The marriage of a sexy show with the equally raunchy van Outen proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entirety of her 20 week run. Unknown in the United States, van Outen received rave reviews when she reprised her role on Broadway for five weeks in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002.[20]
In 2003, she returned to the London stage at the Gielgud Theatre in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show Tell Me On A Sunday,[21][22] which he reworked for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year before embarking on a 10-month UK tour in 2004.[23] She then joined the cast of the established ITV sentimental drama Where the Heart Is as one of the lead characters, playing single mother Kim Blakeney, but stayed for only one series.[24]
Personal life
Van Outen's personal life has been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media.[25] During the late 90's she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay. They were reported to be on the verge of marriage,[26] but split up in 2001 - his album "A Funk Odyssey" is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L" expressing his fight against cocaine addiction during their break up.[27]
From 2003 she dated lap dance club owner Richard Traviss, but split up with him in May 2005 after three years due to his adultery,[23] moving out of the Marylebone home they shared and back into her own garden flat in Hampstead, North London.[3] After appearing on Channel 4's "The Friday Night Project" and describing her first real kiss with fellow "Sylvia Young" student James Lance, he got in touch and they shared a short romance in 2007.[28]
Van Outen has lent her support to design limited edition T-shirts or vests for the 'Little Tee Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care which donates money for breast cancer research[29].
Discography
All singles, unless otherwise stated:
- 1995: All I Want - with Those 2 Girls [UK #36]
- 1998: Especially for You - shown as Denise & Johnny (a cover of the Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan song) [UK #3]
- 1999: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) - from the ABBAMania compilation album
References
- ^ a b c A blonde has more fun The Observer - March 25, 2001
- ^ a b Biography All Saints A to Z Accessed Jan 2, 2006
- ^ a b Denise van Outen: Why heartbreak only makes her stronger Sunday Mirror - February 6, 2005
- ^ Anita Dobson and Denise anitadobsonfanclub.com - retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ Denise van Outen at uk.askmen.com retrieved 11th August, 2007
- ^ MyVillage - various, from 2007
- ^ a b Bio at BBC Joseph BBC.com - retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ Van Outen's Breakfast return BBC News - 4 August, 2000
- ^ Breakfast over for Denise and Johnny BBC News - 12 January, 2001
- ^ "Top Gear" Series4, episode5 bbc.co.uk/topgear - retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ Johnny and Denise lose Passport BBC News - 30 November, 2004
- ^ http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/tag/denise-van-outen/
- ^ sky.com
- ^ Van Outen to front US talent show BBC News - 7 November 2006
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/06_june/09/dream.shtml
- ^ Denise Van Outen Is New Face Of Morrisons LSE.com - 23rd July 2007
- ^ a b CV at agents PfD - retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ "Van Outen's career goes down the Tube" BBC News - 3 December, 1998
- ^ "Van Outen lights up Chicago" BBC News - 18 April, 2001
- ^ Ovation for returning Van Outen BBC News - 30 April, 2002
- ^ Cast List - "Tell Me On a Sunday - reallyuseful.com: retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ The Basildon princess and the King of easy melody - united at last in a West End musical - BBCNews, 2003
- ^ a b Denise Van Outen -'I'm getting old and kids think I'm..." Sunday Mirror, November 30, 2003
- ^ Van Outen joins Where the Heart Is RTE.ie, 2005 - retrieved 11th August 2007
- ^ Denise van Outen: Why heartbreak only makes her stronger Sunday Mirror - February 6, 2005
- ^ Jay Kay: 'I will marry Denise' BBC News - 19 November, 1999
- ^ contactmusic.com retrieved on 11 August, 2007
- ^ http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2007/08/12/denise-dumps-first-kiss-guy-98487-19613098/
- ^ newkerala.com