Denise van Outen

Denise van Outen (born Denise Kathleen Outen; 27 May 1974) is an English actress, singer, dancer and presenter.

She presented The Big Breakfast, played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago both in the West End and on Broadway and finished as runner-up in the tenth series of the BBC One dancing show Strictly Come Dancing.

In 1986, she played Éponine in Les Misérables (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, van Outen had brief roles on a number of television dramas; these included Kappatoo and The Bill.

In the mid 1990s, she sang with former video game soundtrack singer Cathy Warwick in a 'girl group' called Those2Girls, by which time she had become Denise van Outen.

In 1992, she appeared in a Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives commercial.

She also performed backing vocals with Melanie Blatt for the band Dreadzone.

Those2Girls were signed to BMG's Final Vinyl record label and had a minor Top 40 hit in 1995, called "All I Want".

Wanting to further develop her acting career, she left The Big Breakfast at the end of 1998.

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.

During her first stint on The Big Breakfast show, she appeared as Jill in ITV1's version of the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk alongside Julie Walters and Neil Morrissey.

In 1999, she appeared on several episodes of The Bill and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star, the BBC's Murder in Mind short series of crime dramas, and on 2 series of Babes in the Wood with Karl Howman and Samantha Janus.

Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey.

In the anthology film Tube Tales, set on the London Underground, she played the lead character of Alex in the "Horny" segment, directed by Stephen Hopkins.

Van Outen has played a small role in the romantic comedy Are You Ready For Love?

She first played Roxie Hart on the stage in the hit musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End in April 2001.

Her run proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entire 20 weeks.

Unknown in the United States, she reprised her role on Broadway in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002.

Late the same year, Van Outen appeared as one of many special guest stars in a performance of The Play What I Wrote once again in London's West End.

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, which he reworked for her.

She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year.

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, continuing for two series.

She was a judge on Any Dream Will Do in 2007, Born to Shine in 2011, and Ireland's Got Talent which ran for two seasons (2018–2019).

Van Outen also narrates the ITVBe reality television series The Only Way Is Essex.

Born Denise Kathleen Outen in Basildon, Essex, England, she has a brother Terry and sister Jackie.

She claims that her ancestors "are all Dutch", which was the reason she added "van" into her name.

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.

Van Outen played Maureen in the 2007 London revival of Rent Remixed directed by William Baker until 22 December.

She was forced to cancel some performances owing to a throat infection.

In July 2009, van Outen played Mary in Hotel Babylon for the BBC.

Her character was at the hotel for a science convention.

In August 2009, van Outen made her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in Blondes, a show by Jackie Clune.

Van Outen took over the role of Paulette Bonafonté from Jill Halfpenny in the West End production of Legally Blonde on 25 October 2010.

She continued in the role for 6 months.

In 2012, Van Outen was cast in the film of the Ray Cooney farce Run for Your Wife alongside Danny Dyer, Sarah Harding and Neil Morrissey.

In 2013, she co-wrote the one-woman musical play Some Girl I Used To Know with Terry Ronald, which she will tour in from January 2014.

In February 2015, it was announced that Van Outen would be joining the cast of EastEnders.

Van Outen plays intelligent businesswoman Karin Smart who gets involved with Max Branning (Jake Wood), and has business history with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).

In August 2015, Van Outen performed the title role in a concert performance of the musical Sweet Charity at Cadogan Hall, with actor/singer Michael Xavier, ex-Girls Aloud band member Kimberley Walsh and West End star Kerry Ellis.