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BIOGRAPHY

Denise Van Outen
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Denise Van Outen, born Denise Outen on May 27, 1974, is an English 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.

Van Outen was born Denise Outen in Basildon, Essex. (The "van" was added later reputedly to give her name an interesting twist, and also to acknowledge her Dutch roots.) She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School and as a youngster appeared in the chorus of Les Misérables. Her initial stage name was Denise Douglas.

As a teenager Van Outen had brief roles on a number of television dramas including Kappatoo. She joined The Big Breakfast on Channel4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996, and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough. Her cheeky 'Essex Girl' personality and sexy clothing played off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan and together they recovered audience figures to record levels. Van Outen gathered many fans, hoping to see more.

Van Outen took a break from presenting the show towards the end of 1998 but returned in 2000 for a further year-long stint in an attempt to boost the ratings, which had tailed off following her departure.

In 1998 and 1999, Van Outen acted in episodes of The Bill and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rockstar and 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. In 1999, she won the Rear of the Year award, given to those with a notable bum.

Van Outen has also appeared in film; as Maureen in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey and also a cameo tease in the low-key Tube Tales- in one of 4 separate short plays, bassed on the London Underground.

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 entirety 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, to rave reviews. She returned to the London version of the show in late April 2002.

In 2003, Van Outen 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 but stayed for just one series. 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? in 2006, a programme searching for a girl to play the role of Maria in The Sound of Music, but pulled out of that in favour of seeking fame in America [1]. She is currently on the panel for the new spin-off show, Any Dream Will Do, which is casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. She also presented an American spin-off version of this show, Grease: You're the One that I Want!.

Van Outen guested on The Charlotte Church Show, on Channel 4, as a sidekick to Charlotte Church.

Van Outen was one of the judges at the Miss World pageant in Warsaw, Poland.

In November 2006, Van Outen hosted Sky One's "The Race" - set at Silverstone Circuit - in which a celebrity Girls Team headed by David Coulthard raced against a celebrity Boys Team headed by Eddie Irvine.

In December 2006, Van Outen hosted the National Lottery Christmas draw. In 2007 Van Outen was a judge in the BBC1 television series Any Dream Will Do.