Michelle_Heaton

Michelle Heaton

Michelle Heaton

Musical artist

Michelle Christine Heaton (born 19 July 1979) is an English singer, stage actress and television presenter. She is best known as member of the pop group Liberty X.[1]

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Early life

Heaton was born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, on 19 July 1979.[2][3] A former student of Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead and Newcastle College of Performing Arts,[4] she began her singing career in the group Sirens in the late 1990s with other girls from the northeast of England.[5]

Career

2001–2007: Liberty X

In 2001, Heaton auditioned for the ITV reality television music competition Popstars, a show intended to form a new group from individual contestants, becoming one of the finalist. While the five winning contestants formed Hear'Say, the five runner-up contestants – Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young – formed the group Liberty X and signed a multimillion-pound record contract with Richard Branson and V2 Records. Liberty X released three studio albums and enjoyed seven Top 10 singles from 2001 to 2005: Their biggest hit, "Just a Little", reached number one in May 2002; "Thinking It Over", "Got to Have Your Love", "Song 4 Lovers", and "Holding on for You" all reached the top 5 in the UK Singles Chart. They split up in 2007 after selling over 3 million records worldwide.

During this time, Heaton also starred two reality shows: Totally Scott-Lee (2005), based around the Lisa Scott-Lee solo career, and ITV2's Michelle & Andy's Big Day (2006) about Heaton and Andy Scott-Lee wedding.

2007–2012: Television appearances

In 2007 Heaton was one of the judges on You're a Star, an Irish talent show run on RTÉ.[6] In 2008, she competed on the reality television shows Fáilte Towers on RTÉ One in Ireland and on a celebrity edition of Come Dine with Me, finishing in third place. In 2009 Heaton appeared in the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother and as an elf on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on Saturday 21 March 2009.

In 2007/08 she appeared at the Sunderland Empire in Cinderella with her then partner Andy Scott Lee, Mickey Rooney and Les Dennis. In 2010 she was in Aladdin at the Southport Theatre where she played the role of Princess Jasmine. From 2010 to 2011 Heaton starred the comedy The Naked Truth as Gabby.[7] In 2015 she returned to Aladdin at Harpenden.[8][9]

2013–present: Liberty X return

In 2013 Heaton reunited with Liberty X for ITV2's reality show The Big Reunion, along with other pop groups of their time – B*Witched, Honeyz, 911, Five and Atomic Kitten – to solve past problems and do a live performance at the London Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February.[10][11] Due to the success, Liberty X returned for a full tour between 2013 and 2014.[12] In 2017, Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young reformed Liberty X again, but as a three-piece girl group, without Tony and Kevin.[13] Since then, they continued touring at music festivals and Pride events.[14][15]

In January 2023, Heaton competed in the fifteenth series of Dancing on Ice, paired with Łukasz Różycki, finishing in 10th place.[16]

In spring 2023, Heaton joined the presenting team of shopping channel Ideal World.

In September 2023, Channel 4 announced Heaton as one of the contestants competing on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.[17]

Personal life

Michelle married singer Andy Scott-Lee in October 2006 and announced their split in June 2008.[18] She married Irish businessman Hugh Hanley in The Bahamas in July 2010.[19]

Health and alcohol abuse

In 2012, Heaton was diagnosed with a mutated BRCA2 gene and then found out that she had an 80% chance of developing breast cancer and a 30% chance of developing ovarian cancer.[20] She underwent a double mastectomy and had breast reconstructive surgery[21] in November 2012.[22] During a part recorded and part live interview, Michelle stated that her daughter Faith has a 50% chance of inheriting the mutated gene that she has and her father is a BRCA2 carrier.[20]

In 2021, Michelle appeared on the UK television show Loose Women to speak about her alcohol addiction and her time in rehab.

Filmography

Television

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Stage

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Discography

For discography with her group, see Liberty X discography.

References

  1. [1]
    "'Big Reunion' stars return to the stage". Digital Spy. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Michelle Heaton stuns in glamorous birthday selfie". OK!. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. [3]
    "Michelle Heaton". Liberty X. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  4. [4]
    Michelle Heaton's dad reveals pride, chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  5. [5]
    Profile, AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  6. [6]
    "RTÉ TV Star judges". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  7. [7]
    "Michelle Heaton Has Massive Fall While Unveiling A Car". Sky News. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  8. [8]
    Alan Davies (23 September 2015). "Michelle Heaton to star in Harpenden panto Aladdin | Welwyn Hatfield Times". Whtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  9. [9]
    Madeleine Burton (24 September 2015). "Pop princess Michelle joins pantomime cast | Herts Advertiser". Hertsad.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  10. [10]
    Goodacre, Kate (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, B*Witched, 911, more to reunite for ITV2 show". Digital Spy.
  11. [11]
    Harvey, Joanna (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, Liberty X, 911, B*Witched and The Honeyz are all to reunite for ITV2 show The Big Reunion". Daily Mirror.
  12. [12]
    "Atomic Kitten and 5ive set to reform for ITV2's The Big Reunion". Metro. UK. 18 October 2012.
  13. [13]
    Bychawski, Adam (18 January 2017). "Liberty X are reforming as a girl band". NME. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  14. [14]
    Sigodo, Melissa (18 August 2021). "Where Liberty X are now, what they look like and net worths". MyLondon.
  15. [15]
    Benson, Rhianna (5 July 2022). "Michelle Heaton admits 'Booze gave me the confidence to perform with Liberty X'". OK!. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  16. [16]
    "Meet Michelle Heaton: Dancing on Ice contestant and Liberty X star". Radio Times. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. [17]
    "CELEBRITY SAS: WHO DARES WINS IS BACK AS SIXTEEN NEW CELEBRITIES FACE THEIR TOUGHEST CHALLENGE IN THE MOST BRUTAL VIETNAMESE JUNGLE | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  18. [18]
    "SHOCK! Andy Scott-Lee and Michelle Heaton split". Now. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  19. [19]
    "OK! Magazine: First For Celebrity News :: Latest Celebrity News :: Michelle Heaton Wedding EXCLUSIVE at her secret Caribbean ceremony". OK!. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  20. [20]
    "Michelle Heaton on cancer scare: I'm afraid of leaving my child motherless | Metro.co.uk". www.metro.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 August 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  21. [21]
    Ramsay, Peter (1 February 2013). "Michelle Heaton reveals her post-surgery figure after double mastectomy". The Harley Medical Group. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  22. [22]
    Loose Women, 27 February 2013
  23. [23]
    Marshall, Michelle (14 September 2023). "Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins line-up from shamed Matt Hancock to Pop Idol star". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
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