Denise van Outen (born May 27, 1974, Basildon, Essex) is an English television hostess and stage actress. Her most notable roles to date were as a hostess on The Big Breakfast, and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway. Born as Denise Outen in Basildon, Essex, her father is a security guard and her mother a child carer. Denise is the youngest of three siblings; her sister is a doctor's (USA: physician's) assistant and her brother is a hairdresser. At the age of seven (7) she began modelling for knitting patterns, and showed an early flair for performing. This resulted in her attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School. As a student, she appeared in the chorus of Les Misérables with fellow Sylvia Young student Melanie Blatt, and then as Eponine - the role paid her school fees; the Anthony Newley directed production of Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1994, she had her first shot at the world of music when forming one half of an unsuccessful pop duo called Those 2 Girls. During her first stint on the Big Breakfast show, she appeared as "Jill" in a racy TV version of the children's pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk. However, she wanted to further develop her acting career, so she left The Big Breakfast at the end of 1998 - but not before, at the height of their popularity, she and co-presenter Johnny Vaughan would hit the charts as Denise and Johnny for a charity cover of Kylie and Jason's 'Especially For You'. In 1999 she appeared on several episodes of The Bill and The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rockstar, the BBC's Murder in Mind short series of crime dramas, and on Babes in the Wood with Karl Howman and Samantha Janus. She also appeared on the ITV show 'ABBAmania' where she would again show her musical ability with her cover of 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!'. Van Outen has also appeared in film, initially as "Maureen" in the crime comedy Love, Honour and Obey. She also had a cameo tease as red head Alex in the low-key Tube Tales in one of the four separate short plays, based on the London Underground. Other directors included Ewan McGregor, Jude Law and Jarvis Cocker; while her part in "Horny" was directed by "Lost In Space" director Stephen Hopkins. Most recently, Van Outen has played a small role in the Romantic Comedy Are You Ready For Love? She first played Roxie Hart on the stage in the hit musical Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre on the West End in April 2001. The show proved a hit with theatre-goers, selling out for the entire 20 week run. Unknown in the United States, she reprised her role on Broadway for five weeks in the spring of 2002, before returning to the show's London version in late April 2002. Late the same year, Van Outen appeared as one of many special guest stars in a performance of The Play What I Wrote once again in London's West End. In 2003, she returned to the London stage at the Gielgud Theatre in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show Tell Me On A Sunday, which he reworked 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. She then joined the cast of the established ITV sentimental drama Where the Heart Is as one of the lead characters, playing single mother Kim Blakeney, but stayed for only one series. Van Outen could be seen in the 2007 London revival of RENT in the role of "Maureen" until December 22, when the role was taken over by former EastEnders actress Jessie Wallace. Van Outen was forced to cancel some performances due to a throat infection. In 2008, she will appear in the major motion picture Goal! 3 and a comedy-drama called Empress's new clothes for BBC Northern Ireland. See also: Andy Williams & Denise Van Outen Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.