Denise Van Outen

Denise Kathleen Outen was born in Essex in 1974, where she showed a flair for performing from a young age. She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School and at the age of 11, she had her West End debut, playing Young Eponine in Les Miserables.

After a break from acting, she returned to London theatre in 2001 after landing the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago for a 20-week run. Receiving high praise from audiences and critics, she then reprised the role on Broadway in 2002 before returning to the West End. In 2003, Outen performed in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman musical, Tell Me on a Sunday which Lloyd-Webber personally reworked for her. A great success, the show ran for nearly a year.

After a short period away from the West End, she starred in Rent Remixed, an adaptation of Rent sent in the present day. Working alongside Luke Evans and Oliver Thornton, the show ran for 4 months. Her next West End appearance came in 2010, taking over the role of Paulette Bonafonté in Legally Blonde from Jill Halfpenny.

2013 saw Outen co-writing and touring Some Girl I Used to Know alongside Terry Ronald. A one-woman show, it featured a collection of songs from the 1980’s and 1990’s. In 2015, she led a star-studded cast including Kimberly Walsh and Kerry Ellis in a one-off concert performance of Sweet Charity, playing Charity Valentine. 

Other notable theatre roles for Outen include a 2002 performance of The Play What I Wrote. Working with David Pugh and Kenneth Branagh, the charity performance took place at the Wyndham's Theatre. She has also performed at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Blondes, a musical memoir co-written by herself and friend Jackie Clune.

Outside of her theatrical work, Outen is known for hosting The Big Breakfast alongside Johnny Vaughan. In 2012, she was a runner-up in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing where she was partnered with James Jordan. 

In September 2018, she was set to join the cast of the 2018 London revival of Chicago at the Phoenix Theatre, alongside Alexandra Burke and Duncan James. However, injury on her first day of rehearsals forced Denise to delay her return to the musical.