Denise van Outen
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Denise van Outen (born Denise Outen May 27 1974) is a British television host and stage actress. Her most famous roles have been as a presenter for The Big Breakfast and as Roxie in the musical Chicago on both West End and Broadway.
Career
Van Outen was born Denise Outen (the van was added later to give her name an interesting twist, and also to acknowledge her Dutch roots) in Basildon, Essex. She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School and as a youngster appeared in the chorus of Les Misérables.As a teenager she had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo. She joined The Big Breakfast as a weather and travel reporter in 1995 and landed the presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough. Her feisty personality and sexy clothing played off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan and together they recovered audience figures to near record levels. Van Outen gathered many male fans.
She took a break from presenting the show towards the end of 1999 but returned in 2000 for a further year-long stint in an attempt to boost the ratings that had tailed off following her departure.
In 1998 she appeared in the sitcom Babes in the Wood alongside Karl Howman and Samantha Janus. The show's reviews were on the poor side. A brighter spot was her role as Jill in a racy TV version of the children's pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk.
Van Outen has also appeared in film; as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey and in the low-key release Tube Tales.
Van Outen first played Roxie Hart on the stage at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End of London in April 2001. The marriage of a sexy show with the equally raunchy van Outen proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entireity of her 20 week run. Despite being unknown in the United States, Van Outen reprised her role on Broadway for five weeks in the spring of 2002. She returned to the London version of the show in late 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, which was specially rewritten for her. She was a huge success and the show ran for nearly a year before embarking on a 10-month UK tour in 2004.
Over the summer of 2005 van Outen co-presented ITV1's This Morning with Richard Bacon. She then joined the cast of the established ITV sentimental drama Where the Heart Is as one of the lead characters. She hosted one show of The Friday Night Project in January 2006.
Van Outen was set to present How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, a programme searching for a girl to play the role of Maria in The Sound of Music, but she has pulled out of that in favour of seeking more fame in America. [link]
Personal life
Van Outen's personal life has been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media. She had a relationship with rock star Gary Glitter in the early 1990s. [link]Later that decade, she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay. They were reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001.
As of 2003, she was reported to be attached to lap dance club owner Richard Traviss, but split up with him in May 2005 after three years. She moved out of the Marylebone pad they shared and into her own flat in north London.
Van Outen has lent her support to design limited edition T-shirts or vests for the 'Little Tee Campaign' for Breast Cancer Care which donates money for breast cancer research. [link]
Trivia
In addition to her solo hit album and a single with Andy Williams, Van Outen also had a couple of hits in the early 1990s as part of the duo Those 2 Girls.
External link
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