Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden is a British actress most famous for her role in Wild at Heart and for being a judge alongside Pierce Morgan and Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent. Her chief talent? Being incredibly hot. Her father, Frank Vallely Holden, was a Petty officer in the Merchant Navy, from Liverpool. Her mother, Judith Mary Harrison, was a secretary from Gloucestershire. [1] Her father left her mother when Amanda was four. Her mother married Leslie, whom Holden regards as her real father, shortly afterwards [2] Her parents bought a guesthouse in Alum Chine in Bournemouth. Holden went to school at Swanmore Secondary School in Hampshire for five years. She then studied Drama at the Jellicoe Theatre, now part of Bournemouth and Poole College. She gained two A levels, and went to the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in Wood Green. Amanda 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[5]. On November 19, 2004 she appeared on the BBC's Children in Need charity appeal singing Carol King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". On that night also, she announced her engagement to record boss Chris Hughes.

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 20th January 2008 to 9th March 2008 and her character, Sarah, died at the beginning of the final episode.

Amanda'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, the comedy series Mad About Alice with Jamie Theakston, 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.