Suzanne Shaw

Suzanne Christine Crowshaw (born 29 September 1981), known as Suzanne Shaw, is an English actress, singer and television personality, who rose to fame after winning the talent contest Popstars and subsequently being a member of the band Hear'Say.

Shaw is now an established musical theatre and West End performer, actress, model and television presenter in her own right.

Shaw's break came in 2000 when the ITV show Popstars launched a competition for contestants to become part of a newly formed pop band.

Shaw had just turned 18, and attended the auditions and successfully made it through several elimination rounds.

She was chosen as one of the ten finalists and became one of the members of Hear'Say, along with Kym Marsh, Myleene Klass, Noel Sullivan and Danny Foster, having beaten 4,000 other hopefuls.

Their debut single was the fastest selling non-charitable record ever in the UK, selling 1.3 million copies.

Their first album, Popstars, went on to sell 1.2 million copies in the UK, followed by their own television show entitled Hear'say It's Saturday, performing with established artists such as Lionel Richie, Joe Pasquale, Bradley Walsh, Blue and Atomic Kitten.

Subsequently, the band achieved a sell-out arena tour and performed numerous television guest appearances.

They released their second album Everybody for the Christmas market in 2001.

Shaw made many appearances with the band on TV and in live performance venues, including "Hear'Say: A New Chapter in Full", "The Hear'Say Story", "Hear'Say It's Saturday!"

and the "Royal Variety Performance" for television.

Hear'say had two number one singles, a number three single and a number six single in the British charts as well as many awards and accolades, before splitting in 2002.

Since the band broke up on 1 October 2002, just after her 21st birthday, Shaw has established herself as a leading lady in musical theatre as well as an actress, television presenter, model and as a popular media personality.

Shaw has appeared in musical theatre from a young age but following the break-up of Hear'Say has begun to firmly establish herself as a leading musical theatre actress.

She landed a role in the remake of the Summer Holiday musical in London's West End, and later in a UK tour of the show starring alongside Darren Day and Christopher Biggins.

Despite initial scepticism about the part going to a popstar Shaw received huge praise for the role such as from the British Theatre Guide which stated "And those who, like me, only know Suzanne Shaw (Bobby) as part of the manufactured pop group Hear'Say, had their eyes opened. She was a dancer, singer and actress long before Popstars, and it shows".

and Nowt2do.com stating "Suzanne Shaw no doubt had the most to prove as Barbara, having come from Hear'Say but she has wowed this critic over. She light up the stage with her stunning smile and had the most powerful voice. It's hard to think that she was in Hear'Say when she was strutting her stuff with such professionalism that you would think she has been in West End Musicals for years. A real killer and big voice mixed with some superb dancing skills showed that Suzanne was the pure and simple choice for the role...sorry couldn't resist!".

In February 2005, Shaw took on the role of narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, also in the West End.

The leading role in Snow White followed, and then as Janet in The Rocky Horror Show national tour, appearing twice on Londons West End.

Shaw once again received rave reviews for her role from fans of the show, critics as well as creator Richard O' Brien.

The Stage commented that Shaw was "a delectably wide-eyed Janet", with Critic Chris High stating "Shaw is delightful as the naive Janet and proves she has far more to offer than anything a reality TV show could ever uncover" and the British Theatre guide stating "A big surprise to me was how outstanding former Hear'Say popstar Suzanne Shaw was: she is so at home on stage with strong voice and fabulous presence".

Shaw has also appeared in the musicals Chicago and White Christmas; for further details see notable roles and appearances.

Acting roles post Hear'say have included The Court for Channel Four and a guest appearance on the British television police procedural The Bill, broadcast on ITV1 in June 2007, playing the character of Laura Matthews.

Shaw has been a panellist for Loose Women on ITV1 as well as appearing in the reality television programmes Have I Been Here Before? and Britain's Worst Celebrity Driver and the popular ITV show Dancing on Ice.

Shaw is the face and body of the Michelle for George Ultimo range at Asda.

She won the third series of the ITV skating show Dancing on Ice in 2008 and participated in the 'All Stars' series in 2014.

Shaw played the character of Eve Jenson in the soap opera Emmerdale.

At the age of two, Shaw started ballet and tap classes at the Janet Lomas School of Dancing in Bury.

While training at the school, she took exams in ballet, tap and modern.

She also performed in annual shows and competed successfully in dance festivals and competitions across the North West.

At five years of age, Shaw performed in her first amateur dramatics show, Annie.

Shaw developed a love for theatre, performing in various amateur dramatic productions, including The Sound of Music and a West End production of Showboat at the age of nine.

Shaw went on to train at Freelance Dance School (formerly Lupino School of Dancing).

She was a member of an ABBA tribute band, The Right Stuff, and appeared in television roles including an Esso advertisement, Holby City, and a BBC production, Elidor.

She also tried for the part of Maria Sutherland in Coronation Street, and made it to the final three along with Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh, but lost out to Samia Smith.

Shaw also developed her musical abilities, learning the recorder and violin, at St. Mary's primary school and later the saxophone at St. Gabriel's R.C. High School.

After leaving school, she attended Oldham College for a BTec National Diploma in Performing Arts with extra units in acting essentials and devising and developing performance.

In 2008, Shaw wrote a weekly column for Woman Magazine which has a circulation of over 370,000 each week.

Shaw is also an ambassador of Mattel and the deal with Shaw is the first time that Mattel and Barbie DVD distributor Entertainment Rights have undertaken together.

Shaw lent her vocals to the theme tune "Connected" from 2008's "Barbie(TM) and the Diamond Castle" children's movie.