Claire Sweeney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claire Sweeney
Claire sweeney crop.jpg
Born
Claire Jane Sweeney

(1971-04-17) 17 April 1971 (age 50)
Walton, Liverpool, England
OccupationActress, dancer, singer and broadcaster
Years active1989–present
Partner(s)Tony Hibbard (2001–2007)
Daniel Reilly (2013–2015)
Children1

Claire Jane Sweeney (born 17 April 1971) is an English actress, singer and television personality, best known for playing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside and playing the role of Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago[1] in London's West End. She also starred opposite Patrick Swayze in the 2005 West End revival of Guys and Dolls,[2] the musical.

Early life[]

Sweeney was born in Walton, Liverpool, the daughter of a butcher[3] who had a shop in Toxteth. She trained at the Elliott-Clarke Theatre School in Liverpool, and worked at weekends in her father's shop.[4]

Her first singing gig, at the age of 14, was in the Montrose Club in Liverpool for which she was paid £25.[3] She was then educated full-time at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. In 1987, she was a member of the Southport Summer Youth Theatre Workshop's production of the musical Hair. Following this production, she auditioned for a part in the Southport Arts Centre's Centre Stage Company production of Chicago, but was turned down because she was considered too young; she later starred in a West End version of the same show.

Career[]

After leaving stage school, Sweeney had many singing engagements before landing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in Brookside in 1991.[3] She entertained on cruise ships for P&O as a singer for four years before returning to Britain. On her return, Sweeney reprised her role of Lindsey and remained on the show as a leading character until its demise in 2003.

Sweeney appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. Her appearance on the show prompted her to greater fame amongst the British public. This directly led to appearing as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago in London. She became the face of Marks and Spencers[5] and an Ambassador for Fashion World.[6] She was a Celebrity Ambassador for SlimFast.[7]

In 2002, Sweeney released an album, Claire, on Telstar Records. This consisted of a mix of original material and cover versions of well-known songs, and peaked at No. 15 in the UK Albums Chart in July 2002.[8] Also in 2001, she appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[9] In 2003, Sweeney returned to the stage to lead in the world tour of Fosse. Claire has also featured on the album Give Me A Smile, a compilation of songs with the legendary composer and conductor Carl Davis.[10] In 2010, Claire performed in a series of concerts with Carl entitled Battle Of Britain - 70th Anniversary with three of the country's finest orchestras.[11]

Sweeney then took a regular place on the panel of ITV's relaunched Loose Women from 2003 to 2005, and then left to pursue her stage career.

In 2005 and 2006, Sweeney appeared in pantomime productions of Snow White and Aladdin at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. On 10 July 2006, Sweeney took over from Sally Ann Triplett in the role of Miss Adelaide in the British production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End for an eight-week run. Sweeney also played opposite Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze before touring the UK extensively in the same production.

She has presented a number of shows, such as Challenge of a Lifetime on ITV in 2001,[12] BBC One's A Song for Europe in 2002 with Christopher Price, the fourth series of I'm Famous and Frightened! in 2005, BBC One's Here Comes the Sun[13] and was the original presenter of the popular ITV daytime show 60 Minute Makeover (2004–2006).[14] She has appeared in television programmes such as Merseybeat (playing the character Roz[15]) and Clocking Off (playing the character Katrina[16]). In addition to this Claire hosted Chef Vs Britain for ITV1 alongside Gino D'Acampo.[17]

In 2004, Sweeney appeared as a contestant on series one of the BBC One pro-celebrity ballroom dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing.[18]

In 2005, the fitness DVD Claire Sweeney: The Perfect Fit with Weight Watchers was released. For a period, Sweeney was the holder of the Forces Sweetheart title and was the first entertainer into Afghanistan.[19] In 2001, she won Rear of the Year alongside John Altman.

She starred in the pantomime Snow White at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent in December 2008. In 2008, she was the main figure in the documentary Claire Sweeney's Big Fat Diet[20] on ITV in which she gained 2 stones (13 kilograms) in 6 weeks to prove that lack of eating and training habits can damage your health. She then starred in the touring production of the musical Shout! alongside Su Pollard. In March 2009, Sweeney appeared in adverts for Dulux paint, and became the face of Park Christmas Savings. In December 2009, she starred as 'Carrion the Wicked Fairy' in Sleeping Beauty alongside comedian Kev Orkian at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley.[21]

Sweeney made several guest panellist appearances on ITV's relaunched Loose Women and was a commentator on The David Dickinson Show for ITV both in early 2010. In July 2010, she was the presenter of Chefs at Sea on GMTV. In October 2010, Sweeney launched her own range of jewellery on the shopping channel Bid TV.

Claire had the honour of performing at A Party To Remember broadcast live on BBC1 from Trafalgar Square in celebration of VE Day.[22] She also mesmerised audiences at The Festival of Commemoration in Horse Guards Parade, performing live to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in the presence of HM the Queen.[23]

Sweeney returned to musical theatre in 2011, both playing 'The Girl' in a national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Tell Me on a Sunday, and replacing fellow Liverpudlian Liz McClarnon as Paulette in the first UK tour of Legally Blonde: The Musical.[citation needed] During April 2011, she also starred as Amanda in the BBC television series Candy Cabs. Sweeney additionally starred as Lindsey Kendal[24] in the popular BBC series Holby City.

In 2012, Sweeney appeared in the UK tour of Educating Rita[25] and made guest panellist appearances on Loose Women on 5 April and 15 November 2012. Prior to this, Sweeney played Paulette in the UK tour of the award-winning Legally Blonde.[26]

Sweeney starred in the White Christmas musical at the Lowry in Salford Quays with Dallas star Ken Kercheval and Corrie star Wendi Peters from November 2012 through January 2013.

Twelve years after starring in Celebrity Big Brother, Sweeney appeared again in a Comic Relief fundraising show, this time alongside Natalie Cassidy, Dean Gaffney and Ricky Groves on Let's Dance for Comic Relief in February 2013. They performed to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray. In their heat, the group placed second after beating Ricky Hatton in the judges' vote by a score of 2 to 1. The group then took part in the Grand Final 9 March 2013, losing to winning finalist Antony Cotton.

She co-wrote the comedy musical Sex and the Suburbs with Mandy Muden. The show was staged from 9 May to 7 June 2014.[27]

Sweeney headlined a Friday night is music night[28] for radio two with the BBC concert orchestra and presented a documentary about Cilla blacks life for radio two[29] on Christmas Day.

Sweeney presented her own radio series, Magic of the Musicals[30], for Magic Radio which led to her presenting live from the Laurence Olivier Theatre awards.

Sweeney took the role of Velma Von-Tussle in the Hairspray UK Tour 2015–2016.

Sweeney appeared in the final episode of the comedy TV series Benidorm as an abrupt, rude and sarcastic airline check in operator in May 2018 and starred in Derren Litten's latest comedy, Scarborough for BBC One alongside Jason Manford, Stephanie Cole, and Catherine Tyldesley.[31]

On 3rd July 2021, Sweeney performed at G-A-Y alongside drag queen Veronica Green as part of the regular cabaret night “Defying Musicals”. Among others, she performed a mashup of songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber, a medley of numbers from the musical Chicago, and the hit song I Know Him So Well from the Tony-award winning musical Chess.[32]

Personal life[]

Sweeney had a relationship with businessman Tony Hibbard for six years, until late 2007.[33] Sweeney was engaged to Daniel Reilly from January 2013 until July 2015.[citation needed] Sweeney gave birth to her first child, a boy named Jaxon,[34] in September 2014.[citation needed] In October 2014, Sweeney announced she was back with Reilly. Claire and Daniel split up again in July 2015.

She supports the charities Claire House Children's Hospice, Queenie's Christmas Charity[3] and is a patron of Children's Liver Disease Foundation.[35]

Discography[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Our Claire to face Roxie music". Evening Standard. 15 October 2001. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ Lee, Veronica (30 July 2006). "Why we're still crazy for Swayze". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d McBride, Lorraine (12 April 2015). "Claire Sweeney: 'I've bought lots of property, Turkey was a disaster'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  4. ^ King, Mark (13 April 2012). "Claire Sweeney: my Saturday job". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. ^ "M&S to use Big Brother and Brookside star to promote bras". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  6. ^ Fashion World (3 February 2012), Claire Sweeney at Fashion World HQ - A Labour Of Love!, retrieved 7 May 2019
  7. ^ "Introducing The Latest SlimFast Ambassador - Claire Sweeney". www.slimfast.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 543. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ^ "Lily Savage's Blankety Blank". 27 May 2001. ITV. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  10. ^ "Give Me a Smile: Songs and Music of World War II - BBC Concert Orchestra, Carl Davis | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Lichfield Festival - highlights". 20 April 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Sweeney offered ITV challenge". BBC News. 29 April 2001. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Here Comes the Sun (2003)". BFI. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  14. ^ Episode #1.1, retrieved 1 May 2019
  15. ^ Merseybeat (TV Series 2001–2004) - IMDb, retrieved 1 May 2019
  16. ^ Clocking Off (TV Series 2000–2003) - IMDb, retrieved 30 April 2019
  17. ^ Chef v Britain, retrieved 21 May 2019
  18. ^ Strictly Come Dancing (TV Series 2004– ) - IMDb, retrieved 1 May 2019
  19. ^ Bertodano, Helena de (17 July 2002). "A tonic for the troops". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  20. ^ "Claire Sweeney's Big Fat Diet". ITV. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010.
  21. ^ "The Churchill Bromley – What's On". Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.
  22. ^ "BBC - Press Office - Claire Sweeney -VE Day concert". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  23. ^ "BBC - Press Office - V45". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Claire Sweeney". IMDb. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Theatre unveils a star line-up". Bath Chronicle. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  26. ^ "Legally Blonde the Musical Original UK Tour". Legally Blonde The Musical. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  27. ^ Morgan, Georgia (27 February 2014). "Sex and the Suburbs comedy Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  28. ^ "BBC - Friday Night Is Music Night - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  29. ^ "BBC Radio 2 - What's It All About - The Cilla Black Story". BBC. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  30. ^ Magic Radio (6 March 2015), Welcome to Magic of Musicals with Claire Sweeney, retrieved 2 May 2019
  31. ^ "BBC - BBC One's Scarborough marks first day of filming by revealing stars set to join the new series - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  32. ^ "Tonight G-A-Y at @HeavenLGBT Club". www.twitter.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  33. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (30 September 2007). "Claire Sweeney splits from partner". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  34. ^ Buchanan, Sarah (16 June 2015). "Claire Sweeney splits from partner Daniel Reilly nine months after birth of their son". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  35. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links[]

Retrieved from ""