It was at the age of 18 that Alex left home to train at a London drama school.

"When I was growing up I knew I wanted to be an actress but for some reason I got the idea that only famous or special people would be allowed to do such an amazing job. I decided I would be a speech therapist!"

"One day, I discovered that just up the road in Harrogate there was an acting teacher - Mrs Methven! She took me on and for the next few years I visited her every Wednesday evening! Soon I was entering festivals and doing quite well! She gave me the confidence and the skills to try for drama school"

Alex studied at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama for three years. It was also a degree course and Alex specialised in 'Classic and Modern' theatre.

"It was a very intensive course and at no point did I stand in a field pretending to be a tree! We were taught to be instinctive and raw."

"For the first year you would be cast in roles a million miles away from who you really are.... I played Olga, an old russian woman, in Gorky's Summerfolk and Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night! This would enable you to use your Stanislavski method acting - full on, eh?!"

When Alex left she was taken on by a wonderful agent and began to tread the boards.

Her roles have included: Sleeping Beauty, Linda in Blood Brothers, a stint at Birmingham Rep, Cinderella, Whybird, Miss Thing in CITV's Timmy Towers, Robin Hood, Sasha in BBC 1's My Dad's The Prime Minister.