Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden was born in Portsmouth in 1971. At 16, she attended Mountview Theatre School, graduating in 1992. In her early career, she played Liesl Von Trapp in a production of The Sound of Music at Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre.

2004 also saw Holden appear in several stage musicals, including her title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, being nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also played Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2011. She played the role for four months.

Outside of the theatre, Holden is best known as a judge on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. She has also appeared in many TV roles throughout the years, starting her TV career as Carmen in EastEnders and later appearing in Kiss Me Kate. 

In 2016, she starred in a UK tour of Stepping Out, reprising the role in the West End transfer at the Vaudeville Theatre. She also played the Fairy Godmother in the 2016 London Palladium pantomime, *Cinderella*. She starred alongside Paul O’Grady, Julian Clary, Lee Mead and Nigel Havers.