Jennie McAlpine

Last updated

Jennie McAlpine
Born
Jennie Elizabeth McAlpine

(1984-02-12) 12 February 1984 (age 40)
Bury, Greater Manchester, England
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian, businesswoman
Years active1997–present
Spouse
Chris Farr
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2

Jennie Elizabeth McAlpine (born 12 February 1984) is an English television actress, comedian and businesswoman. She is known for her roles as Michelle Morley in Emmerdale and Fiz Brown in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street . She also took part in the seventeenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2017, where she finished in fourth place.

Contents

Early life

McAlpine was born and grew up in Bury. [1] She is of Scottish and Irish descent, with a grandfather from County Kerry and a grandmother from County Sligo. As a young girl, she used to put on shows on the patio for the neighbours, charging them 50 pence apiece. She did song and dance routines, copying groups like Bananarama. [2]

Her father Thomas McAlpine worked in mental health and was awarded the OBE for services to mental healthcare; he died in March 2017. With his encouragement, she took up amateur dramatics at the age of eight, [1] when father and daughter appeared together in a pantomime by the Bury Parish Players. [2] She was the fairy and he was the dame. [1] As a teenager she joined the Carol Godby Theatre Workshop. [2] McAlpine's parents separated when she was young, after which she lived with her father. She has one brother. [2]

Career

In 1997, at the age of 13, she entered a Young Comedian of the Year competition run by Fanta and came second in the final at the Comedy Store in London. Jennie entered the competition again in 1998, also finishing second. [2] From 1997 to 2001 she performed as a stand-up comedian at charity nights, galas and pub nights in and around Bury with her father. [2] McAlpine played Michelle Morley in Emmerdale from 1999 to 2000. After leaving school, she enrolled at her local college, Holy Cross, and began studying for her A-levels. [3] At the age of 17 she auditioned for the part of Fiz Brown on Coronation Street , a role she has played since 2001. McAlpine auditioned for the role with her arm in a sling, after dislocating her shoulder in a fall two days earlier. She was originally hired for five episodes, [2] and went back to studying for her A-levels and working part-time in Boots The Chemist. [1] [2]

In November and December 2016, McAlpine covered for Becky Want on BBC Radio Manchester. In 2017, McAlpine was confirmed to be taking part in season 17 of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! . [4] She finished in 4th place after spending 21 days in the jungle.

In December 2020, she became the voice of the new Burnley Bus Company Witchway buses running between Burnley, Rawtenstall and Manchester, providing onboard information and next stop announcements on the route.

Personal life

McAlpine married Chris Farr, a restaurant manager, in 2017. The couple have been together since 2005. [1] On the subject of her Scottish ancestry, and famous red hair she said:

I'm very proud of my Scottish roots and definitely love coming up to Scotland. When I'm in England I really stand out because of my red hair but when I come up to Scotland I feel normal because there are so many people with my colouring. I definitely feel different having red hair, but in a good way. Even though I may sound it, I am no way English. My granddad Alan was Scottish and my grandmother was Irish. My other granddad was born in England but his parents were Scottish. [1]

McAlpine gave birth to her first child in 2014. [5] In 2018 she announced that she was pregnant with her second child, and gave birth to the child the same year. [6]

Other projects

Since the age of 17, McAlpine has devoted her spare time to helping deprived children in Egypt through the Thebes Project in Luxor. [7] She has also opened a restaurant in Manchester city centre, Annie's, with her husband Chris Farr. The restaurant serves modern British cuisine.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999–2000 Emmerdale Michelle Morley3 episodes
2001–present Coronation Street Fiz Brown Regular role
2008 Coronation Street: Out of Africa Direct-to-video
2010 The Door Contestant2 episodes
2010, 2015, 2017 Loose Women Guest panellist3 episodes
2017 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Contestant Series 17
2019–2020 Supermarket Sweep VoiceoverGame show

Game show appearances

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2002 The British Soap Awards Best Newcomer Nominated [8]
2002 TV Quick Awards Best Soap NewcomerNominated [9]
2007 Inside Soap Awards Best ActressNominated [10]
2008 14th National Television Awards Serial Drama PerformanceNominated [11]
2011 TV Choice Awards Best Soap ActressNominated [12]
2013The British Soap Awards Best Actress Shortlisted [13]
2013The British Soap AwardsBest On-Screen Partnership (shared with Alan Halsall)Nominated [13]
2021Inside Soap AwardsBest ActressNominated [14]
2022I Talk Telly AwardsBest Soap Partnership (shared with Halsall)Nominated [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Connor</span> Fictional character from Coronation Street

Maria Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Samia Longchambon. The character made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 19 May 2000. During her time on the show, Maria has been the centre of major storylines. In late-2009, Longchambon took maternity leave and Maria was off-screen from November 2009 until June 2010. Longchambon went on maternity leave again in 2015 and Maria was off-screen from October 2015 until April 2016. In June 2019, it was announced that Longchambon had signed a new contract keeping her with the show for at least another 12 months.

Lisa Jane Riley is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. Riley is best known for portraying the role of Mandy Dingle in the long-running ITV soap opera Emmerdale between 1995 and 2001, and from 2019 onwards. She also replaced Jeremy Beadle as the presenter of You've Been Framed! between 1998 and 2002. She was also a contestant on the tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, and a panellist on the ITV daytime series Loose Women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiz Brown</span> Fictional character from Coronation Street

Fiz Dobbs is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street. Portrayed by Jennie McAlpine, the character first appeared on screen on 20 April 2001. Initially appearing for five episodes, McAlpine's contract was soon extended and Fiz became a regular character. In May 2014, it was announced that McAlpine was expecting her first child and Fiz temporarily departed on 14 November 2014, returning on 19 June 2015. In November 2017, McAlpine took a break from filming to take part in the 17th series of the ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and her exit aired on 18 December 2017, she returned on 2 March 2018. In April 2018, McAlpine announced that she is expecting her second child; she took maternity leave from the show on 5 December 2018 and returned on 30 August 2019. McAlpine took maternity leave a third time in 2023 and is set to return in March 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Parish</span> English actress (born 1969)

Diane Parish is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera EastEnders since 2006.

Alison Rosamund King is an English actress and model. She is known for her roles as Lynda Block in the Sky One drama series Dream Team, and Carla Connor in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2006–present). She won Best Actress at the 2012 British Soap Awards.

Natalie Joy Robb is a Scottish actress and singer. She played the roles of Gemma Clewes in EastEnders Trish McDonald in the Scottish Television soap opera Take the High Road (1990–1999) and Jude Carlyle in the BBC soap opera Doctors (2001–2004). Since 2009, she has portrayed the role of Moira Barton in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Her other television roles include Dream Team (2000–2001) and The Bill (2004–2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tameka Empson</span> English actress, comedian (b. 1977)

Tameka Lydia Empson is an English actress and comedian. She appeared as one of the three protagonists in the hidden-camera comedy sketch show 3 Non-Blondes. In 2009, she began portraying the role of Kim Fox in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelle Hardwick</span> English actress

Michelle Hardwick is an English actress. She is known for her roles as hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in the ITV drama series The Royal and Vanessa Woodfield in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stape</span> Soap opera character

John Stape is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by actor Graeme Hawley. He made his first on-screen appearance during the episode airing on 6 May 2007. The character departed on 3 June 2011 after four years on the show. Hawley made a short return to Coronation Street from 21 October 2011 until 28 October 2011 when he was killed off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Tyldesley</span> English actress

Catherine Mary Ann Tyldesley is an English actress, known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama Lilies (2007), Eva Price on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from (2011–2018) and Karen Norris in the BBC sitcom Scarborough (2019). She also appeared as a contestant on the seventeenth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Davis (actress)</span> English actress (born 1993)

Stephanie Ann Davis is an English actress. She began her career with small roles in British television series, and in 2010, she competed in the BBC talent-search Over the Rainbow. She was then cast in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, portraying the role of Sinead O'Connor between 2010 and 2015, and again from 2018 to 2019. In 2016, she was the runner-up in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother. In May 2023, Davis joined the cast of ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Courtney Vance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chesney Brown</span> Fictional character from Coronation Street

Chesney Winter-Brown is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sam Aston. He made his first on-screen appearance on 10 November 2003. The character is named after the singer, Chesney Hawkes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cilla Battersby-Brown</span> Fictional character from the soap opera Coronation Street

Cilla Petunia Aurelia Brown is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Wendi Peters. She made her first appearance on 20 October 2003. After three years in the role, Peters announced her departure from the show in January 2007. Cilla made her on-screen exit on 12 October 2007. Peters later reprised the role for the feature-length episode Coronation Street: Out of Africa, in November 2008. This was produced on the condition that it would be only be available on DVD and would never be broadcast on TV. On 26 June 2014, it was announced that Peters would reprise the role of Cilla for a short stint. She returned for three weeks from 22 October to 14 November 2014.

Rebecca "Becky" Hindley is an English television, stage and radio actress based in Lancaster, England. She is best known for her eight-month stint in Coronation Street as Charlotte Hoyle in 2010; her performance as the deranged bunny boiler was met with praise by the soap's producer Phil Collinson and her co-stars Jennie McAlpine and Graeme Hawley. Charlotte Hoyle was actually the third character Hindley had played in the soap, as she had made two previous guest appearances, in 2006 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirsty Soames</span> Soap opera character

Kirsty Soames is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Natalie Gumede. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 September 2011.

Nadine Rose Mulkerrin is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Cleo McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2015 until 2022 and since 2024. For her portrayal of Cleo, she has been nominated for Best Female Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards three times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruby O'Donnell</span> English actress (born 2000)

Ruby Victoria O'Donnell is an English actress. Since 2013, O'Donnell has portrayed the role of Peri Lomax in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. For her portrayal of Peri, she won the award for Best Young Actor at the 2016 British Soap Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhavna Limbachia</span> English actress (born 1984)

Bhavna Jayanty Limbachia is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Alia Khan in the BBC comedy Citizen Khan (2012–2016) and Rana Habeeb in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2016–2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Oates</span> British television producer

Kate Oates is a British television producer, who was born in Nottingham and graduated from Warwick University. She began her career working as a researcher and editorial assistant for Germaine Greer, before becoming a script editor for the soap opera Crossroads. In 2003, she joined the radio soap The Archers as a producer, a position which Oates credits as the majority of her training. After resigning from this job, Oates began working on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as a script editor, during which time she assisted with the soap's fortieth anniversary celebrations and worked on British Soap Award-winning storylines. She remained in the position until 2012 when she joined Coronation Street as the assistant producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Clay</span> English actor (b. 1991)

Tony David Clay is an English actor. He is known for portraying the role of Callum "Halfway" Highway in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2018. Prior to his tenure on EastEnders, Clay appeared in various stage productions and had minor roles in British films and programmes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rick Fulton, 'Fiz: I'm a Flaming Scot', Scottish Daily Record (21 March 2008), p. 24.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sue Crawford, 'Interview – Jennie McAlpine – Stand up and deliver', Daily Mirror (11 August 2001), p. 11.
  3. ↑ Claire Donnelly, 'Fiz Is the Biz' Daily Mirror (2 February 2005)
  4. ↑ "Coronation Street spoiler: Jennie McAlpine to leave as Fiz faces family tragedy". HOLA. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Corrie's Jennie McAlpine has baby boy". Made for Mums. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Jennie McAlpine on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Crawford, Sue (27 November 2005). "People.co.uk – Archive – Other – CARE-ONATION STREET". The People . Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  8. ↑ Welsh, James (16 May 2002). "British Soap Awards 2002: Nominations". Digital Spy . Hearst Communications . Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Welcome to the TVQuick Awards 2002!". TV Quick. H Bauer Publishing. Archived from the original on 23 May 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  10. ↑ Green, Kris (3 July 2007). "Inside Soap Awards 2007: The Nominations". Digital Spy . Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  11. ↑ "National Television Awards 2008 - Voting now open". digitalspy.co.uk. 6 July 2008.
  12. ↑ Wightman, Catriona (18 May 2011). "In Full: TV Choice Awards 2011 – Nominees". Digital Spy . Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  13. 1 2 Kilkelly, Daniel (22 April 2013). "'Coronation Street' leads British Soap Awards shortlist". Digital Spy . Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  14. ↑ Alexander, Susannah (28 September 2021). "Inside Soap Awards announces 2021 longlist as voting opens – here's who's up for prizes". Digital Spy . (Hearst Magazines UK). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  15. ↑ Gonzalez, Elliot (12 November 2022). "Mo Gilligan leads the I Talk Telly Awards 2022 Nominations". I Talk Telly.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.