Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress who is well known for her role as Sarah Trevanion on Wild at Heart and for being a judge on Britain‘s Got Talent.
She began her career at the age of 17 when she studied at London’s Mount View drama school. She made her television debut on “Blind Date” and had her first role in the “EastEnders.” In 2004, she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier theatre award. The actress was born on Feb 16, 1971, in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire, England. Her measurements are 34b-24-34, and she is a supporter of the Everton football club.
Early life
Holden was born in Southsea, Hampshire. She was brought up in the village of Waltham Chase in Hampshire by her mother Judith Mary (Harrison) Collister and her stepfather Leslie Drew Collister. Her biological father having left the family when she was four years old, to this day she still refuses to speak to him. She joined the Bishop’s Waltham Little Theatre Company when she was nine and credits Angie Blackford as influential in her early stage career. At 16 the family moved to Bournemouth and ran a small guesthouse while Amanda studied drama and English literature A levels under Terry Clarke and Charles Lamb at the Jellicoe Theatre, part of Bournemouth University. She successfully auditioned for the independent drama school Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in the Wood Green area of North London when she was 18 and left in July 1992 with an agent.
TV career
Holden is well known for her role in the ITV drama Wild at Heart as Sarah Travanian. She is also known for being a judge on Britain’s Got Talent alongside Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell.
Acting career
Holden has appeared in several stage musicals and in 2004 was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the West End production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Her most recent TV appearance was in the ITV1 drama Wild at Heart, alongside Stephen Tompkinson. The first series aired in 2006 and a second series followed in early 2007. Series 3 ran from January 20 to March 9, 2008.
Holden’s other TV credits include three series of the hit comedy Kiss Me Kate alongside Caroline Quentin, three series of the ITV comedy series The Grimleys, Celeb with Harry Enfield, the critically acclaimed BBC series Hearts and Bones alongside Damien Lewis and a Boxing Day special Marple alongside Geraldine McEwan and John Hannah. She also co-starred with Bill Nighy and Sir Tom Courtenay in Ready When You Are, Mr McGill, Jack Rosenthal’s classic comedy drama.
Personal life
Holden married the comedian Les Dennis in 1995. They separated in December 2002 and divorced in 2003. She had an affair with Neil Morrissey in 2000, which allegedly contributed to the breakup of her marriage to Dennis. Piers Morgan, Holden’s fellow judge on Britain’s Got Talent, publicly exposed Holden’s affair in one of his articles, which reportedly caused a conflict between the two. Any differences were reconciled when both of them were cast as judges for Britain’s Got Talent. On January 20, 2006, Holden gave birth to her first child, Alexa “Lexi” Louise Florence Hughes. Amanda married Chris Hughes in December 2008 with former Formula 1 racing driver David Coulthard acting as the best man.
Amanda is an Everton F.C. supporter, expressing her dismay in May 2007 on ITV’s Parkinson to Everton’s 4-2 loss to Manchester United after leading 2-0. She was the face of Everton’s “Breast Cancer Campaign” in 2007.
Holden ran the London Marathon in 4 hours and 13 minutes on April 13, 2008, in the name of the Born Free Foundation, having collected public and celebrity sponsors online.
Filmography
- Big Top (TV series) (2009)
- Britain‘s Got Talent (TV show) (2007-present)
- Wild at Heart (2006 to 2008) (TV series)
- Mad About Alice (2004) (TV series)
- 4:50 From Paddington (2004) (TV film)
- Eternal Rectangle (2003) (TV series)
- Ready When You Are, Mr McGill (2002) (film)
- Cutting It (2002 to 2005) (TV series)
- Celeb (2002) (TV series)
- Now You See Her (2001) (TV film)
- Happy Birthday Shakespeare (2000) (TV film)
- Hearts and Bones (2000) (TV series)
- The Grimleys (1999 to 2002) (TV series)
- Virtual Sexuality (1999) (film)
- Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (1998) (film)
- Kiss Me Kate (1998 to 2001) (TV series)
- Jonathan Creek (1998) (TV series)
- Goodness Gracious Me (1998) (TV series)
- Intimate Relations (1996) (film)
- EastEnders as Carmen (1994) (TV series)
source: wikipedia
