Tricia Penrose

She has an older brother called Paul and a long-lost sister Julie, whom she only met for the first time in 2001 She is best known for her role as Gina Ward in ITV1's long-running 1960s drama Heartbeat. She has also appeared in The Royal, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Boon and Dancin' Thru the Dark.

Penrose has made several attempts to break into the music industry. She has released two singles – "Where Did Our Love Go?" (1996) and "Don't Wanna Be Alone" (2000); neither of which was especially successful. In 2002 she reached the final of A Song for Europe (the competition to select the UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry) but did not win. She has also sung a number of times on Heartbeat.

Penrose has several times expressed a desire to try new things, but has always returned to Heartbeat. She has recently (2006) signed a new contract with the show, thought to be worth £100,000.

Tricia came second in the third series of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy on BBC1, beaten by reportedly approx. 5.76 million votes by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. In 2008 Tricia released an aerobics DVD.

Penrose is married to TV presenter Mark Simpkin, with two sons, Jake (born 10th September 2003), and Freddy Jay (born 8th August 2008).