Abi Phillips | |
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| Born | Abigail Louise Phillips 14 January 1994 Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England |
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| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels | |
Abigail Louise Phillips (born 14 January 1994) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for playing Liberty Savage in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and for her debut single "Summer Sunshine".
Phillips got her big break after writing a song for soap opera Hollyoaks titled "Missing You", which proved popular with viewers when it was featured in the character Steph Cunningham's death scene. [1] Phillips penned the song after being inspired by Steph's cervical cancer storyline and later submitted it to be used on the show. [1] Following the strong response to the track, Hollyoaks bosses arranged a meeting with Phillips and subsequently invited her to audition for the part of Liberty – a musical character they had been developing for some time. [1] She debuted as Liberty at the age of 16 in December 2010. [2] In April 2011, Phillips showcased her vocals as Liberty when the character took part in a karaoke competition giving a show-stopping rendition of Adele's version of Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love".
In 2011 Abi released her debut single "Summer Sunshine" featuring popular rapper Fugative. The song's music video was uploaded onto YouTube and to date has received almost 400,000 views. As a gesture of goodwill Phillips offered a free sample of a song she recorded called "Somebody Without You". Abi has climbed Mt Snowdon for the checkemlads.com charity which helps young men going through testicular cancer.
Phillips performed her debut single at T4 on the Beach 2011 in which she performed on the sessions stage. The scenes of Phillips' performance aired on Hollyoaks shortly afterwards. At the time Abi also announced to fans on her Twitter account that herself, Jorgie Porter (Theresa McQueen) and Craig Vye (Ethan Scott) also recorded scenes for Hollyoaks at the event.
From the age of 12, Phillips has been a member of the Birmingham pub band Shampoo, which is fronted by hairdresser dad Richard and mum Linda at wedding receptions and clubs. More recently Phillips has toured and fronted premier function band Capital Groove at large corporate events and parties. In September 2014, Phillips sang a show stopping rendition of Sia's 'Titanium' and one of her own songs 'On My Way' at The Pride of Birmingham Awards to over 2,000 people including rock legend Tony Iommi, UB40's Ali Campbell, comedian Jason Manford and footballer Dion Dublin. Phillips continues to perform and write her own material and plans to release her debut EP during 2015. [2] She considers Adele as one of her musical idols. [3] And also cites Wynter Gordon and Ellie Goulding as her musical influences. [4]
Phillips appeared on The Voice UK in 2017 as a contestant, although was unsuccessful in getting a place in the competition.
Phillips was born in the Birmingham town of Sutton Coldfield, to Richard and Linda Phillips. [2] Phillips was a student at Birmingham's Stage Coach performing arts school. [2] She is close friends with her co-stars Hollie Jay Bowes and Tamaryn Payne. [5]
In May 2022, Phillips announced that she had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. [6]
On 10 September 2023, Phillips was attacked and robbed after sustaining injuries in Ibiza which resulted in her phone being stolen. [7]
In March 2012, Phillips along with some of the Hollyoaks' cast and crew successfully completed a sponsored sleep-out in a bid to raise funds for youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. [8] Later in the night, Phillips and Hollie-Jay Bowes provided some musical entertainment. [8] Lights went out in the village at 1 am and the challenge was complete when the sun rose just after 6 am.
During 2013–14, Phillips completed a tour of primary schools in the West Midlands in relation to bullying and the effects it has on young people, drawing from past personal experience. Phillips' school campaign achieved national coverage on Television with the BBC, ITV and on radio.[ citation needed ]
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. In 2023, Hollyoaks was removed from Channel 4's early evening schedule, but remains on E4 and Channel 4's on demand service with episodes now uploaded to YouTube. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but it has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has 37 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.
Lisa Hunter is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Gemma Atkinson. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 23 April 2001. The character is noted for her storylines including bullying and self-harming. After her exit from Hollyoaks, Atkinson reprised the role twice in two spin-off series. In November 2021, it was announced that Atkinson would be returning to Hollyoaks for a guest appearance, with her return airing in March 2022.
Steph Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Carley Stenson. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 29 March 2000. Steph was introduced into the serial by executive producer Jo Hallows. In 2009 Stenson decided to quit, but the then producer Lucy Allan convinced her to stay to play out a dramatic storyline. The announcement of her departure was made public in June 2010. Stenson's fellow cast members have described her as a "Hollyoaks legend" because of her lengthy duration.
Ben Richards is a British stage and television actor and dancer. Richards studied dance from an early age and later took part in theatre. He gained supporting roles in London's West End and gradually filled the role of the lead. After small roles in two films, Richards began his television career with guest roles in various British serials. In 2004, he joined the regular cast of the ITV drama Footballers' Wives and after the series ended he resumed theatre work. Richards went on to secure roles in Holby City and The Bill. While working on the latter, Richards said that he would always pursue his career in theatre. After leaving the series he returned to theatre work. In 2015, he joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks and finished filming the following year. He then returned to stage roles in the West End.
Carley Stenson is an English actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Steph Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and Harriet Shelton in the BBC soap opera Doctors. For her role as Steph, she received numerous nominations at the British Soap Awards.
Hollie-Jay Bowes is an English actress, known for her roles as Dawn O'Malley in the BBC drama Grange Hill and Michaela McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. Since 2023, she has appeared in the BBC drama Waterloo Road as Debs Rafferty.
Matthew Wolfenden is an English actor best known for his role as David Metcalfe in the British soap opera Emmerdale.
Amy Barnes is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Ashley Slanina-Davies. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 2 January 2006. Amy was created by executive producer David Hanson and Slanina-Davies was offered the role whilst looking for work as an extra. In 2009, Slanina-Davies stated that she would be lost without the role and confirmed her loyalty to the serial. In July 2010, it was announced that Slanina-Davies would be leaving the show. However, it was later revealed that she was back filming and staying in the serial in 2011. Amy's storylines have included underage pregnancy which resulted in the birth of daughter Leah Barnes and the subject of domestic abuse in her relationship with Ste Hay, portrayed by Kieron Richardson. Whilst filming the storyline, Slanina-Davies cut her long hair off for charity and this was scripted into the storyline.
Gilly Roach is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Anthony Quinlan. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode broadcast on 6 October 2005. Gilly was created in 2005 by executive producer David Hanson. Gilly has often been portrayed as a push-over and has a double act partnership with fellow character Rhys Ashworth. His main character traits have been his "nice attitude", with Quinlan branding Gilly in his first five years as a "push-over". He has been labelled a loser and unlucky in love after failed relationships with Jessica Harris, Beth Clement, Cheryl Brady and Jem Costello. In 2009, executive producer Lucy Alan made changes to the character and reached a mutual agreement with Quinlan to shave off his hair, which has characterised Gilly during his early years.
Lee Hunter is a fictional character from the English soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Alex Carter. The character made his first on-screen appearance on 4 July 2001. Lee was introduced as part of the show's new family, the Hunters. He is the youngest son of Les and Sally Hunter. Lee is characterised as "wayward", a "cheeky chap" and a "wheeler dealer". Carter announced his decision to quit the serial in 2005 to have more free time, filming his departure scenes in October 2005 and departed on-screen 23 December 2005.
Jorgina Alexandra Porter is an English actress and model. She is known for portraying the role of Theresa McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2008 until 2016 and again from 2020.
Cheryl Brady is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Bronagh Waugh. The character first appeared on-screen on 24 November 2008, during the first series of the Hollyoaks spin-off Hollyoaks Later, as the former love interest of Malachy Fisher. She made her first appearance in main Hollyoaks episodes in July 2009, introduced to the serial by series producer, Lucy Allan. In 2010 when Paul Marquess began producing the serial, he felt that Cheryl was being used in the wrong way, subsequently making her a central character to the show. It was announced on 1 February 2013 that Waugh quit her role. Cheryl departed Hollyoaks on 22 March 2013, after four years on the show, along with her brother, Brendan Brady.
Rachel Joy Shenton is an English actress and writer. She gained prominence through her role as Mitzeee Minniver in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2010–2013). She is also known for her role as Courtney in Waterloo Road and has starred in the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth (2014–2017), the BBC2 sitcom White Gold (2019), and the Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small (2020–).
Liberty Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by actress and singer-songwriter Abi Phillips from 2010 to 2013, and Jessamy Stoddart from 2018. She made her first on-screen appearance on 10 December 2010. Phillips was approached by Hollyoaks producers after she submitted one of her songs to be played on the show. Following a strong response to the song, producers invited her to audition for the role of Liberty, in which she was successful. Liberty was introduced to Hollyoaks along with her fiancé, Ethan Scott. After an absence of four months during 2013, it was announced that Liberty would be written out of the serial, and she departed on 24 July 2013. On 22 May 2018, it was announced that Liberty would return, but this time with Stoddart in the role, and she returned on 5 June 2018. Stoddart went on maternity leave in December 2022, with the character of Liberty set to return in 2024.
The fourth series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series aired in September 2011 at 10pm. The series revolved around Silas Blissett's search for another murder victim which culminated in the death of Rae Wilson, the stag do of Riley Costello, the hen party of Mercedes McQueen and Ricky Campbell and Duncan Button's trip to fat camp.
Mark "Dodger" Savage is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 serial drama, Hollyoaks, played by Danny Mac. He made his first on-screen appearance on 7 April 2011 and was introduced as part of the Savage family by creator Paul Marquess. Dodger is played as being a bit "cocky" and as thinking he has "got it all". For his portrayal, Mac has won and been nominated for various awards. In November 2014, Mac opted to leave the role and Dodger made his last appearance on 20 January 2015. Dodger is the biological son of Jez Blake (Jeremy Sheffield) and Anna Blake, the twin brother of Sienna Blake, the adoptive son of Anna's husband Dirk Savage, the half-brother of Will Savage, Liberty Savage and Minnie Minniver and the father of Nico Blake and Myra-Pocahontas Savage-McQueen.
Jessamy Helen Stoddart is an English actress. She is known for taking over the role of Liberty Savage in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, having portrayed the role since 2018. Prior to joining the soap, Stoddart appeared in numerous theatre productions, including Legally Blonde, Mack and Mabel, Follies and Songs for a New World.