Kym Marsh

Kimberley Gail Marsh (formerly Ryder and Lomas; born 13 June 1976) is an English actress, presenter and former singer-songwriter, who rose to fame in 2001 after winning a place in the band Hear'Say, as a result of appearing on the reality television series Popstars. Hear'Say enjoyed brief success, achieving two UK number one singles and a UK number one album, but Marsh left the band in 2002 to pursue a solo career. She released an album titled Standing Tall in 2003, which peaked at number nine in the UK and spawned two UK top ten singles. Since 2006, she has portrayed Michelle Connor on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She was named Best Newcomer at the 2007 British Soap Awards and the 2007 National Television Awards, and received the award for Best Female Dramatic Performance at the 2017 British Soap Awards. In 2010, she finished fourth when she competed on Popstar to Operastar, a reality show featuring well-known pop stars being trained to sing opera.