Holly Matthews
Born
Holly Wilkinson

(1984-10-13) 13 October 1984
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Occupations
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Ross Blair
​
​
(m. 2012; died 2017)​
Children2

Holly Matthews (née Wilkinson; born 13 October 1984) is an English actress and vlogger. From 1995 to 2003, she portrayed the role of Emma Miller in the BBC series Byker Grove.

Career

Matthews started her career in the BBC children's drama Byker Grove, portraying the role of Emma Miller from 1995 to 2003. In 2003, she left the series to pursue a singing career after signing to Sony UK, and released a single, "Little Miss Perfect". The song's instrumentation consists of a guitar and synthesiser.[1] An editor from Cambridge News noted that "Little Miss Perfect" is reminiscent of songs released by Canadian recording artist, Avril Lavigne.[2] However, they felt that it was "not the worst single ever made", although "not one you're likely to remember either."[2] Matt Gray of The Digital Fix wrote that the song "doesn't quite scan", and joked that it has "all the ferocity and attitude of a cute ickle Care Bear. He also felt that "Amy Studt and Avril Lavigne do it a lot better" and went on to describe it as a "bland, uninspired pop tune".[1] "Little Miss Perfect" peaked at number 32 on the UK Singles Chart in the week dated 28 February 2004.[3]

Matthews attended the British drama school East 15 in 2005, and left after winning a high-profile role in the BBC drama Waterloo Road, playing the bully Leigh-Ann Galloway.[4] Since that role, Matthews has continued to act in BBC's Doctors, playing Connie Whitfield; in ITV's The Bill playing drug addict Josie Clarke; and she was back in Doctors in 2009, playing Tansy Flack.

Away from her acting career, Matthews works as a self-development coach.[5] In November 2016, she launched her flagship online, self-development course The Bossing it! Academy.[6]

After the death of her husband following a three-year battle with a brain tumour, Matthews launched The Happy Me Project online, her straight-talking brand of self-development.

Matthews is a Huffington Post blogger,[7] and was personally asked by Arianna Huffington to write for Thrive Global. Matthews is also a paid vlogger, creating content for Channel Mum.[8]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1995–2003 Byker Grove Emma Miller 100 episodes
2005 Teen Diary Claire Robinson Short
2007 Give It to Me Paula Short
2007 Waterloo Road Leigh-Ann Galloway 3 episodes
2007 The Bill Josie Clarke Episode: "Day of Reckoning"
2007, 2009 Doctors Connie Whitfield, Tansy Flack Episode: "Teenage Kicks"
Episode: "No Going Back"
2008 Beautiful People Adult Imelda Episode: "How I Got My Nose "; credited as Hollie Summer
2009 Not Dead Yet Sara
2010 Almost, But Not Quite Ashley Andrews Mini series
2010 The Dinner Party Beth
2010 Small Hours Teri Short
2011, 2012, 2014 Casualty Candy Carter, Taylor Jones, Gina Timpson Episode: "Till Death Us Do Part"
Episode: "Cuckoo's Nest"
Episode: "Keeping Schtum"
Episode: "Blood Is Thicker Than Water"
2012 That Day Gemma Short film
2013 Stew & Punch Chloe Short film
2014 The Friday Fund Sam Short film
2018 Tommie Tommie's Mother (voice) Short film
TBA Tin Holiday Portman Post-production

Personal life

Matthews gave birth five weeks early to a daughter, Brooke, early in 2011.[9] At five months old, Brooke was diagnosed with meningitis, which Matthews herself had at seven years old. In October 2016, a video showing Brooke telling off the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, went viral.[10] Matthews also has a daughter called Texas born in 2013.

On 29 July 2017, Matthews' husband Ross Blair, son of Andy Blair and brother of Matty Blair, died from a brain tumour.[11] Matthews has raised more than £11,000 for the Warwickshire hospice where her husband spent his final days.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Summer Matthews - Little Miss Perfect". The Digital Fix. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Summer Matthews - Little Miss Perfect (Sony)". Cambridge News. 11 February 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Official Charts Company - Little Miss Perfect by Summer Matthews Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Holly Matthews - Waterloo Road interview". Waterloo Road. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Coaching". I AM HOLLY MATTHEWS. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "bossing it! academy". I AM HOLLY MATTHEWS. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. ↑ "Holly Matthews | HuffPost UK". www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ↑ "Holly Matthews Online | Channel Mum". Channel Mum – The Honest Face of Parenting. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Coventry actress Holly Matthews tells of premature baby's meningitis battle". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Five-year-old girl brilliantly takes down Theresa May over homelessness". The Independent. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  11. ↑ "Husband of TV actress dies after wife shared heartbreaking Facebook post as he lay dying in hospice". The Mirror. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Actress raises £11k for hospice after husband dies". BBC News. 19 May 2017.
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