Kym Marsh

Kym Marsh is a musician and an award-winning actress who is best known as Michelle Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street. The Merseyside-born actress rose to prominence in 2000, when she won the talent show Popstars: The Rivals, and earned her place in the band, Hear’Say, alongside Mylene Klass, Donny Foster, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan. The group soon released their first single, Pure and Simple, which went straight to number one on the UK Singles chart in March 2001, as did their second single, The Way to Your Love, which was released in June 2001.

Despite the band’s success, Kym left in 2002 and released her solo album, Standing Tall - which featured two singles that made it into the top 10 of the UK Singles chart. Following a few more singles, Kym stepped back from the limelight for a while. After a brief stint on stage in Saturday Night Fever in 2004, her TV debut came in 2005, when she appeared on the BBC One soap opera, Doctors, and became a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women in its 8th series. It was in 2006 that Kym took on the role of Michelle Connor in Coronation Street.

She quickly became a favourite on the TV show, earning Best Newcomer awards at the British Soap Awards 2007 and the National Television Awards 2007. Her dramatic storylines captured the nation, but none more so than the stillbirth storyline in 2017, which earned her the British Soap Award for Best Female Dramatic Performance. Kym’s own son Archie being stillborn, she felt it was important for her to take on this storyline, in order to raise awareness of this tragedy that happens to so many women, as well as honouring her son. Viewers praised the actress for taking on such a difficult issue so well, while the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) also praised her for her work to raise awareness of the issue. Most recently, Kim has joined the lineup of Strictly Come Dancing 2022, putting her dancing skills to the test in the battle for the coveted Strictly Come Dancing glitter ball trophy.