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Alex grew up in Harrogate in North Yorkshire where she discovered
a love for acting.
At 18 when all her friends went to University, she moved down to
London to follow her dreams and go to Drama school.
Three years later she graduated from Rose Bruford College of
Speech and Drama and entered the world as a waitress
(err...sorry...) actress! |
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Things went well with roles such as Linda in Blood Brothers
and a stint at the Birmingham Rep. Then an opportunity came along
for Alex to join the UK tour of Playdays as the bossy Whybird!
This meant learning new skills such as puppetteering but also marked
the first step into the world of Presenting. Alex had been cast in Playdays
by Director Iain Lauchlan who was setting up TellTale Productions
(Also known for ∞The Tweeniesφ). Iain was launching the
already popular childrenφs video ∞Fun Song Factoryφ
onto televisionφs GMTV. Alex called Iain and asked if she could
audition and a week later, and after much sitting by the phone and
checking it hadnφt rung, Alex was told she was chosen as one of
the presenters and this marked her first foray into the world of TV
Presentation. |
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What happened next─ Disney were looking for a female Presenter
for their new show ∞Playhouse Disneyφ. Dave Benson
Philips was to be the male host. Director Andrew Beecham and
Producer Jo White asked Dave if he knew of anyone appropriate to be
his co-host. Dave recommended Alex and one audition, an endless
weekend and more sitting by the phone later and Alex officially owed
Dave one! |
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Playhouse Disney is a house into which children are
invited, from dawn to dusk, to join Big Dave and Little Alex and all
their favourite characters. These include Jim Hensonφs ∞Bear in
the Big Blue Houseφ, ∞Spotφ and ∞Winnie the Poohφ. The
programme has been running since summer 1999 and became so popular
with the pre-school and junior audience that their own channel was
launched. This channel also won ∞Favourite pre-school Channelφ
at the 2001 Cable TV Awards. |
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In between filming Playhouse Disney, Alex was recommended
for the role of Miss Thing in CITVφs ∞Timmy Towersφ.
The show was the brainchild of popular childrenφs TV presenter
Timmy Mallett. The theme of each week involved overcoming the evil
of the Abominable No-man (played by Mark Speight) with the help of a
celebrity and Aunty Knobbly Boney Knees! It was also a great excuse
for Timmy to ask Miss Thing, with her fetching bright pink bob, for
a snog! And yes, in the tradition of happy endings, of course he got
one! |
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The
next move was slightly different and saw Alex join the team of bid-up.tv
and accompany Paul Ross in the channel's incredibly successful
launch.
At the same time, Alex
could also be seen on Skyφs channel, ∞Challenge?φ,
hosting a strand called ∞Game Centralφ which invited the viewer
to call up and win prizes throughout the day. |
