Jennifer Ellison (born May 30, 1983) is an English actress, singer and dancer. Ellison, who was born in Liverpool, is perhaps best known for playing Emily Shadwick in the television soap opera Brookside until 2003, when she became a pop singer.
Career
Dance
Since the age of three years old, Ellison has trained as a dancer. Her achievements in the field included world titles as well as winning the National Ballet and Modern Dance Championships two years running in
1996 and
1997. She also trained with the
Royal Ballet School until she was sixteen.
Acting
Ellison's acting career started in
1998 with her role as Emily Shadwick O'Leary on the British
soap opera,
Brookside. Her stay in
Brookside ended in
2003. In
2004 Ellison appeared on the
reality television show
Hell's Kitchen, which she went on to win. The same year Ellison ventured into film, where she played Meg Giry,
Christine Daae's friend and
Madame Giry's daughter, in
Joel Schumacher's adaptation of
The Phantom of the Opera. Ellison also recently appeared in an episode of the
ITV legal drama
The Brief.
Music
Ellison has also flirted with a
pop rock* career. Her first hit single was
Baby I Don't Care, released in
June 2003, which reached number six in the charts. The song was originally released by
Transvision Vamp in 1989. The following year in July, after being brought back into the public eye after winning
Hell's Kitchen, Ellison released her second single,
Bye Bye Boy, which reached number 13 in the UK charts.
Modelling and magazine appearances
Ellison recently took over
Jordan's contract with
lingerie giant, Ultimo, for its "Young Attitude" line, barely two months after signing Jordan on. Though Ultimo boss Michelle More had earlier chosen Jordan for being "sexy, fun and outgoing," she later changed her mind stating, "Jordan was just the wrong choice for
*. Jennifer is a far better option and far classier." In 2005 she was voted "world's sexiest blonde" by readers of the UK magazine,
Nuts, beating model
Victoria Silvstedt, who came second and pop superstar
Britney Spears who was voted third. Ellison is also a regular in the yearly
FHM "100 Sexiest Women in the World" feature. She first appeared in 2003 at number 50, then at number 40 in 2004 and in 2005 she was at number 23. In
FHM's current, 2006, poll Ellison is listed at number 31.
Recent times
It was announced in
2005, that Ellison was to act in the lead role opposite
Dexter Fletcher in the horror film,
The Cottage. Ellison was also cast as
Cleopatra in a modern version of the Caesar and Cleopatra story and is acting in the West End play,
Marlon Brando's Corset.
In early 2006 she broke up with longtime fiancé Tony Richardson. However, they were soon reconciled.
Jennifer is due to return to the Chicago musical, in London from July 10th 2006, for 6 weeks.
Trivia
- Ellison is a fan of Everton Football Club.
- For a while, she dated fellow Liverpudlian, Steven Gerrard who plays football for Liverpool and England.
- The question of whether or not her breasts (size 32DD) are real or as a result of plastic surgery is often the subject of much press speculation. Ellison herself strenuously denies that she ever got implants, giving as evidence the facts that since she grew up on camera (having been a member of the cast of Brookside since she was a pre-teen), and that any sudden increase (as would have been the result of surgery) could easily be detected. In addition, she was formerly a dancer, and when she stopped dancing she subsequently put weight on all over her body, resulting in her now-curvy figure.
Discography
Singles
- 2003 - "Baby I Don't Care" #6 UK
- 2004 - "Bye Bye Boy" #13 UK
External links
1983 births | Actor-singers | British female singers | British film actors | British television actors | Brookside actors | Liverpudlians | Living people | Reality show winners
Jennifer Ellison | ジェニファー・エリソン