Zöe Lucker
Encyclopedia
Zöe Elizabeth Lucker is an English
actress best known for playing the roles of Tanya Turner
on ITV
's Footballers' Wives
and Vanessa Gold
in EastEnders
.
. In 1996 she made her television debut in Brazen Hussies playing Busty Babs. Later that year she appeared in three episodes of the long running soap opera
, "Coronation Street
". In the next four years, she appeared on Doctors, Where the Heart Is
, Barbara
and Killer Net
.
Lucker got her big acting break when she got the part of the nations favourite WAG
and super-bitch Tanya Turner on ITV's trashy drama Footballers' Wives
, which made her a household name on British television. In 2004, she was nominated and won a TV Quick and TV Choice Award for 'Best Actress' for her role of Tanya Turner; she was also nominated for a National Television Award
in the category of 'Most Popular Actress' for her work on Footballers' Wives
and made an appearance in sister show, ITV
's Bad Girls
as her Footballers' Wives
character. The viewers halved when she left the show in series 4, cementing her status as being the most popular character and star of the show. She later came back in series 5 to star in the dramatic storylines alongside Joan Collins
.
From 2002 through to 2005, she made many appearances presenting GMTV
in various locations all over the world including Africa and Cuba. In 2004, she co-hosted the British Academy Television Awards 2004
, and guest presented on CD:UK
in 2005. Her first main presenting work was on the Living home makeover show Love the Place You're In.
In 2005, Lucker toured New Zealand
extensively in the play Then Comes Love as the female lead Jane opposite Shane Cortese
and played the lead role in Bombshell
for ITV1
, which is yet to be screened on British Television
but has been broadcast in New Zealand
and sold to a number of other countries. She appeared in HolbyBlue
for the BBC
playing the character Kate Keenan. However, due to low ratings during the second series the BBC decided to axe the program in August 2008.
In 2009, Lucker appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire alongside John Suchet
, winning £75,000 for the Caron Keating Foundation and took part in the BBC
reality show Strictly Come Dancing
along with her Footballers' Wives co-star Laila Rouass
. She was eliminated seventh on 31 October, after being in a dance-off with Ali Bastian
, even though she had one of the top scores. In November 2009 it was confirmed that she would take part in the Strictly Come Dancing 2010 live tour at arenas across the UK.
In March 2010, Lucker joined the cast of EastEnders to play a character called Vanessa Gold
, who was in a relationship with Max Branning
, played by Jake Wood
. She left in October 2011.
to long term boyfriend James Herbert in February 2008, Lucker announced she was pregnant in March 2008 with her first baby, which was due on 28 August 2008. She had a baby girl five days after her due date named Lilly Alabama Herbert on 2 September 2008, weighing 8 pounds (3.62873896 kg).
Was previously married to Estate Agent Richard Forshaw.
Lucker said meeting Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama
, was one of the most influential moments in her life. She said he was "an extremely charismatic man, and his great presence could be felt the moment he walked into the room". Following the stress of filming Footballer's Wives, Lucker looked for ways to relax and bought a book written by the Dalai Lama The Art of Happiness. She made a pilgrimage to Dharamsala
, in northern India to film the documentary A Date with the Dalai Lama for ITV2
with her Footballers' Wives co-star Sarah Barrand
, and describes her meeting him as a life changing event: "When I first saw him my whole body just went into this weird state. We'd just trekked the Himalayas
and there was this huge sea of people waiting to see him. Yet it was incredibly serene. Then he walked past us, about 3ft away, and waved. It's the first time I've ever been starstruck."
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actress best known for playing the roles of Tanya Turner
Tanya Turner
Tanya Louise Turner Federico is a fictional television character. She is the lead character on the ITV drama Footballers' Wives, and also briefly appeared on the drama Bad Girls. Tanya is portrayed by English actress Zöe Lucker and is the only character credited for the entire series from the...
on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
and Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is portrayed by Zöe Lucker, and has appeared in EastEnders since 4 June 2010. A "dynamic and assured" businesswoman, Vanessa was created by series consultant Simon Ashdown to be "a Zöe Lucker-type"...
in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
.
Career
Lucker studied acting at Oscars Academy of Performing arts in Huddersfield, and later at the Manchester Arden School of TheatreArden School of Theatre
The Arden School of Theatre, also known as The Arden,was an independent drama school located in Manchester, England; it is now affiliated as part of the Creative Performance Department of The Manchester College....
. In 1996 she made her television debut in Brazen Hussies playing Busty Babs. Later that year she appeared in three episodes of the long running soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, "Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
". In the next four years, she appeared on Doctors, Where the Heart Is
Where the Heart Is (1997 TV series)
Where the Heart Is is a British television drama series set in the fictional town Skelthwaite.First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone...
, Barbara
Barbara (TV series)
Barbara is a British sitcom starring Gwen Taylor in the title role. A pilot aired in 1995, and three series then aired from 1999 to 2003. It was made by Central Television, and filmed at their Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham in front of a live studio audience...
and Killer Net
Killer Net
Killer Net was a television mini series broadcast on Channel 4 in May 1998. The series is set around the lives of three students living in Brighton and an internet based computer game....
.
Lucker got her big acting break when she got the part of the nations favourite WAG
WAGs
WAGs is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that...
and super-bitch Tanya Turner on ITV's trashy drama Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
, which made her a household name on British television. In 2004, she was nominated and won a TV Quick and TV Choice Award for 'Best Actress' for her role of Tanya Turner; she was also nominated for a National Television Award
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
in the category of 'Most Popular Actress' for her work on Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
and made an appearance in sister show, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's Bad Girls
Bad Girls (TV series)
Bad Girls is an award-winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It is produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road...
as her Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives
Footballers' Wives is a British television drama surrounding the fictional Premier League Association football club Earls Park F.C., its players, and their wives. It was broadcast on the ITV network from 8 January 2002 to 14 April 2006...
character. The viewers halved when she left the show in series 4, cementing her status as being the most popular character and star of the show. She later came back in series 5 to star in the dramatic storylines alongside Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
.
From 2002 through to 2005, she made many appearances presenting GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...
in various locations all over the world including Africa and Cuba. In 2004, she co-hosted the British Academy Television Awards 2004
British Academy Television Awards 2004
The 2004 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 18 April at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London. The ceremony was broadcast on the ITV Network, and hosted by television presenter Davina McCall.-Winners:*Best Actor...
, and guest presented on CD:UK
CD:UK
CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme was first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years.In...
in 2005. Her first main presenting work was on the Living home makeover show Love the Place You're In.
In 2005, Lucker toured New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
extensively in the play Then Comes Love as the female lead Jane opposite Shane Cortese
Shane Cortese
Shane Cortese is a New Zealand actor and singer, known for his role as the evil Dominic Thompson on New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and Hayden Peters on hit show Outrageous Fortune. He was also a runner-up on Season 1 of NZ Dancing With The Stars in 2005.-Career:Cortese trained at...
and played the lead role in Bombshell
Bombshell (TV series)
Bombshell is a British television drama series produced by Shed Productions, the company behind Footballers' Wives, Bad Girls and Waterloo Road...
for ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, which is yet to be screened on British Television
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
but has been broadcast in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and sold to a number of other countries. She appeared in HolbyBlue
HolbyBlue
HolbyBlue was a British police drama series that aired on BBC One from 2007 to 2008. Produced by the BBC, Red Planet Pictures and Kudos for BBC One, it is a spin-off of the successful BBC One medical drama Holby City, itself a spin-off of the long-running series Casualty.The first series was...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
playing the character Kate Keenan. However, due to low ratings during the second series the BBC decided to axe the program in August 2008.
In 2009, Lucker appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire alongside John Suchet
John Suchet
John Suchet is a British news reader and television presenter.Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is David Suchet, a British actor. His father was Jack Suchet, who emigrated to England from South Africa in 1932, and trained to be a doctor at St Mary's Hospital, London...
, winning £75,000 for the Caron Keating Foundation and took part in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
reality show Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
along with her Footballers' Wives co-star Laila Rouass
Laila Rouass
Laila Abdesselam Rouass is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Amber Gates in the British television drama Footballers' Wives and as Sarah Page in the third season of Primeval .-Career:...
. She was eliminated seventh on 31 October, after being in a dance-off with Ali Bastian
Ali Bastian
Alexandra Louise "Ali" Bastian is an English television actress, best known for playing Becca Dean in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2001 to 2007, and PC Sally Armstrong in long-running ITV drama series The Bill from 2007 to 2009.-Biography:Born in Windsor, Berkshire, to Paula C. Marriott...
, even though she had one of the top scores. In November 2009 it was confirmed that she would take part in the Strictly Come Dancing 2010 live tour at arenas across the UK.
In March 2010, Lucker joined the cast of EastEnders to play a character called Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold
Vanessa Gold is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is portrayed by Zöe Lucker, and has appeared in EastEnders since 4 June 2010. A "dynamic and assured" businesswoman, Vanessa was created by series consultant Simon Ashdown to be "a Zöe Lucker-type"...
, who was in a relationship with Max Branning
Max Branning
Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Backstory:Max is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning...
, played by Jake Wood
Jake Wood
Jake Dylan Wood is an English actor, best known in his homeland for playing Max Branning on "EastEnders" and in the United States as the current voice of the GEICO gecko.-Biography:...
. She left in October 2011.
Personal life
After announcing her engagementEngagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
to long term boyfriend James Herbert in February 2008, Lucker announced she was pregnant in March 2008 with her first baby, which was due on 28 August 2008. She had a baby girl five days after her due date named Lilly Alabama Herbert on 2 September 2008, weighing 8 pounds (3.62873896 kg).
Was previously married to Estate Agent Richard Forshaw.
Lucker said meeting Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
, was one of the most influential moments in her life. She said he was "an extremely charismatic man, and his great presence could be felt the moment he walked into the room". Following the stress of filming Footballer's Wives, Lucker looked for ways to relax and bought a book written by the Dalai Lama The Art of Happiness. She made a pilgrimage to Dharamsala
Dharamsala
Dharamshala or Dharamsala is a city in northern India. It was formerly known as Bhagsu; it is the winter seat of government of the state of Himachal Pradesh and the district headquarters of the Kangra district....
, in northern India to film the documentary A Date with the Dalai Lama for ITV2
ITV2
ITV2 is a 24 hour, free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998, and is available on digital television via satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. The channel has the...
with her Footballers' Wives co-star Sarah Barrand
Sarah Barrand
Sarah Barrand is an English actress known for her role as Shannon Donnelly-Lawson in Footballers Wives and its ITV2 spin-off Footballers' Wives: Extra Time...
, and describes her meeting him as a life changing event: "When I first saw him my whole body just went into this weird state. We'd just trekked the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
and there was this huge sea of people waiting to see him. Yet it was incredibly serene. Then he walked past us, about 3ft away, and waved. It's the first time I've ever been starstruck."
Awards
- Nominated for Most Popular Actress, 2004 – National Television AwardsNational Television AwardsThe National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
- Most Popular Actress, 2004 TV Quick Awards
Strictly Come Dancing results
| Week # | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Result | |||
| Revel Horwood | Goodman | Dixon | Tonioli | Total | ||
| 1 | Group Mambo | Group Performance – Not Judged | ||||
| 2 | Waltz/ Someday My Prince Will Come – Barbra Streisand | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 30 |
| 2 | Rumba/ Outta Reach – Gabrielle | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| 3 | Paso Doble/ You've Got The Love – Candi Staton | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
| 4 | Foxtrot/ This Will Be Everlasting Love – Natalie Cole | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 33 |
| 5 | Jive/ Tainted Love – Gloria Jones | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 30 |
| 6 | American Smooth/ My Girl – The Temptations | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 33 |
| 7 | Samba/ Boogie Nights – Heatwave | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 32 |