Denise Van Outen is one of Britain’s foremost TV presenters and stage actresses. She was born in Basildon, Essex and attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School.

As a youngster she appeared in the chorus of Les Miserables and in her teenage years had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo.

Denise joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1995, and landed the main co–presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her famous chemistry with Johnny Vaughan taking audience figures to record levels.

She first played Roxie Hart in Chicago at London’s Adelphi Theatre in April 2001. Despite being unknown in the United States, Denise reprised her role on Broadway for five weeks in the Spring of 2002, to ecstatic reviews. She returned to the London version of the show in April 2002.

In 2003, she returned to the London stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s one-woman show Tell Me On A Sunday at the Gielgud Theatre, in a role that was specially rewritten for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year before embarking on a ten-month UK tour in 2004.

Denise has also co-presented ITV1’s This Morning, been a lead character in ITV drama Where The Heart Is and hosted Channel 4’s The Friday Night Project. She has also appeared in several films, including the role of Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour And Obey.