Kellie Bright

Kellie Denise Bright (born 1 July 1976)^[2] is an English actress. Her roles include Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for which she won the 2015 British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance, Julie in Ali G Indahouse, Joanna Burrows in The Upper Hand (1990–1996), Cassie Tyler in Bad Girls (2002) and Joan Trotter in Rock & Chips (2010–2011). In 2015, she was the runner-up in the 13th series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing.

Kellie Bright
Bright in 2016
Born	Kellie Denise Bright[1] (1976-07-01) 1 July 1976 (age 48) Brentwood, Essex, England
Education	Sylvia Young Theatre School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Notable work	EastEnders Ali G Indahouse The Upper Hand Bad Girls Rock & Chips Strictly Come Dancing T-Bag
Spouse	Paul Stocker ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	3

Career

Early career

Bright has been acting since she was 11, appearing on stage in shows such as Annie and Les Misérables, before landing a place at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she became friends with Emma Bunton and Keeley Hawes.^[3] As a child actress, she appeared in several different series' on British television in the late 1980s and the 1990s, including T-Bag and Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. In 1990, at the age of 13, Bright was cast as Joanna Burrows in TV series The Upper Hand alongside William Puttock, Joe McGann, Diana Weston and Honor Blackman which ran for six years.

After The Upper Hand had finished, Bright has said that she struggled to make ends meet. She says, "I didn't have any acting work, so I got a job waiting on tables to pay the mortgage, but it was while The Upper Hand was still on air. Next thing I know, a customer had called a newspaper saying I was there and some photographers appeared out of the blue snapping away."^[4] She also worked as a receptionist at a nightclub in London. She continued, "I was getting rejected from one job after another and no matter how much I tried not to take it personally, a part of me couldn't help but think: 'I was too ugly to get that part'."^[4] Bright played Kate Madikane (née Aldridge) in Radio 4's The Archers, and was with the series from 1995 until 2004.^[5]

Mainstream success

Bright has also had main roles in Bad Girls^[6] and has also guest starred in Da Ali G Show and made an appearance in the film Ali G Indahouse. Bright has made several guest appearances on British television programmes, her credits include Holby City, Casualty, The Catherine Tate Show and Vera.^[7]

Bright appeared as Joan Trotter in the Only Fools and Horses prequel, Rock and Chips, from 2010 until 2011.^[8]

EastEnders

Main article: EastEnders

In October 2013, Bright was cast as Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.^[9] Linda made her first on screen appearance on 19 December 2013, but officially arrived on Albert Square with her husband, Mick (played by Danny Dyer) and her children on 26 December 2013. The Carter family were created by the show's executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins who planned to completely revamp the show. Since her arrival, Bright's character Linda has been a part of some of the show's biggest storylines such as struggling to accept that her son Johnny (Sam Strike) is gay. In October 2014, Linda was involved in a controversial storyline where she was raped by Dean Wicks (Matt Di Angelo). On filming this particular storyline, Bright stated that "It is a challenging storyline, but it is an important storyline and I feel honoured to have been given it".^[10] Bright was praised for her performance during this storyline. Bright won the 2014 Digital Spy's Readers Award for Best Female Soap Actress.^[11] Along with Dyer, Bright was nominated for "Best On-screen Partnership" at The British Soap Awards 2014 for the relationship between Mick and Linda. In 2015, she was nominated for the "Serial Drama Performance" award at the National Television Awards,^[12] however the award was won by Dyer.^[13] She has been nominated for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance at The British Soap Awards 2015; Bright won both. On 12 March 2015, Bright revealed that she had received "personal letters" from rape victims who had been affected by Linda's story, leaving her feeling "humbled" by the audience's response.^[14]

Other ventures

In 1992, Bright voiced the character of Beauty in the Bevanfield Films production of Beauty and the Beast. She has also voiced several video game characters, including the Hero of Brightwall in the game Fable III in 2010. In 2011, Bright did voicework for Nintendo and Monolith Soft's Xenoblade Chronicles as the medic Sharla.^[15]

Bright took part in the BBC's Children in Need appeal in 2014 along with Danny Dyer and the rest of the EastEnders cast who performed a Grease medley titled "Grease Enders". Bright appears as Linda though dressed up as Sandy Olsen. She performed in "You're the One That I Want" and "We Go Together".^[16]

In September 2015, Bright joined the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.^[17] Bright chose to continue playing Linda Carter on EastEnders while competing on Strictly Come Dancing, working all day at EastEnders and rehearsing for Strictly in the evening. Paired with professional dancer Kevin Clifton, she was described by head judge Len Goodman as a "great all round dancer". On 19 December the pair reached the final three and topped the leaderboard with a score of 119. Their score including two maximum scores of 40 for their tango to "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks and their showdance to "The Ding-Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line" by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Their final dance, a Charleston to "Cantina Band" from Star Wars, scored 39, but the public voted Jay McGuiness and Aliona Vilani as the competition winners.

Week #	Dance / Song	Judges' scores				Total	Result
		Craig Revel Horwood	Darcey Bussell	Len Goodman	Bruno Tonioli
1	Tango / "You Really Got Me"	6	7	7	7	27	None
2	Cha-Cha-Cha / "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"	6	7	7	7	27	Safe
3	Charleston / "Cantina Band"	8	8	8	8	32	Safe
4	Foxtrot / "Dream a little dream of me"	8	8	8	8	32	Safe
5	Jive / "One Way or Another"	8	9	9	9	35	Safe
6	Paso Doble / "School's Out"	7	7	7	7	28	Safe
7	Waltz / "Love Ain't Here Anymore"	8	8	8	8	32	Bottom two
8	Samba / "Boom! Shake the Room"	9	8	7	9	33	Safe
9	Quickstep / "9 to 5"	9	9	9	10	37	Safe
10	Salsa / "I Want You Back"	8	8	9	9	34	Bottom two
	Quickstep-a-thon / Sing, Sing, Sing	Judges Awarded 2 Points				36
11	Viennese Waltz / "Oom-Pah-Pah"	9	9	9	9	36	Safe
12	Rumba / "Songbird"	9	8	9	8	34	Safe
	American Smooth / "Let's Face the Music and Dance"	9	10	10	10	39
Final	Tango / "You Really Got Me"	10	10	10	10	40	Runner-up
	Showdance / "The Ding-Dong Daddy of the D-Car Line"	10	10	10	10	40
	Charleston / "Cantina Band"	9	10	10	10	39

Personal life

In December 2011, Bright gave birth to her first son.^[18] Bright married her long-term partner and father of her children, Paul Stocker, in Trelill, Cornwall on 5 July 2014.^[19] She gave birth to her second son on 21 November 2016.^[20] Her second son was conceived through IVF, and following his birth, the couple froze three embryos. After two failed attempts at conceiving in 2020, Bright announced in March 2021 that she was pregnant with the couple's third son, who was born on 22 July.^[21][22][23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Ali G Indahouse	"Me Julie"	Main role
2003	How (Not) to Make a Short Film	Stefania	Short film
2005	Imagine Me and You	Terri
	Kinky Boots	Jeannie
2012	Ashes	Lisa

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	EastEnders	Bridesmaid	1 episode; uncredited
1989	T-Bag and the Revenge of the T-Set	Sally Simpkins/Anastasia	10 episodes
	The Bill	Mr. Carmody's daughter	Uncredited
	Maid Marian and Her Merry Men	Little girl	Main cast
	T-Bag's Christmas Carol	Sally Simpkins	Television film
1990	T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom	Sally Simpkins	10 episodes
	Brush Strokes	Child
1990–1996	The Upper Hand	Joanna Burrows	Series 1–7 (main cast, all 94 episodes)
1991	The Grove Family	Daphne Grove	One-off re-make to celebrate closure of Lime Grove Studios
	Family Fortunes	Herself	Participant[24]
1992	Beauty and the Beast	Beauty
1996	Scenes	Clare	Episode: Alison
1997	Blackrock	Leesha
1998	The Bill	Lianne Clark	1 episode
2000	Nature Boy	Katy	1 episode
	Cor, Blimey!	Viola	Television film
	The Thing About Vince	Sally
2001	Outriders	Julia's Mother	2 episodes
2002	Bad Girls	Cassie Tyler	Series 4 (main cast, 12 episodes)
	The House That Jack Built	Lisa Squire	6 episodes
	Silent Witness	DC Mona Westlake
2005	Jericho	WPC Penny Collins
	The Alice	Lynette	1 episode
2006	Vital Signs	Yvonne	1 episode
	Two Women	Woman	1 episode
2007	The Catherine Tate Show	Kelly	Christmas Special
2008	New Tricks	Sarah Madeley	1 episode
	Horne & Corden	Various roles	5 episodes
2009	Hotel Babylon	Meredith Sutton	1 episode
	Holby City	Joy Miller	2 episodes
2010	Come Rain, Come Shine	Joanne Mitchell	Television film
2010–2011	Rock & Chips	Joan Trotter	Main cast
2012	One Night	Dawn	2 episodes
2013	Great Night Out	Shona	1 episode
	Casualty	Tina Caffola	1 episode
	Pointless Celebrities	Herself	Participant
2013–present	EastEnders	Linda Carter	Series regular
2014	Vera	Vanessa Barnes	1 episode
	Children in Need 2014	Linda Carter	Grease Enders – EastEnders cast do Grease
2015	Strictly Come Dancing	Herself	Participant
	Strictly – It Takes Two	Herself	Weekly guest
2016	All Star Mr & Mrs	Herself	Participant
	EastEnders: Back to Ours	Herself	1 episode
2020	The Queen Vic Quiz Night	Linda Carter	Spinoff appearance
	EastEnders: Secrets from the Square	Herself	2 episodes
2023	EastEnders: The Six	Herself	2 episodes
2024	Tracey: A Day in the Life	Linda Carter	1 episode

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995–2004	The Archers	Kate Madikane	Main role

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2010	Fable III	Hero of Brightwall – Female / Elise
2011	Dragon Age II	Grace/Idunna/Guardsman Brennan/Ella/Ginnis
	Xenoblade Chronicles	Sharla
2020	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Sharla

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	On Set With...Kellie Bright[25]	Herself	EastEnders web series
2015	Ramsay Square[26]	Linda Carter	Neighbours 30th Birthday Tribute
2016	EastEnders: Back To Ours	Herself	Web series

Theatre credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993–1994	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs	Snow White	Central Theatre, Chatham
1994–1995	Beauty and the Beast	The Princess	Hayes Beck Theatre
1995–1996	Beauty and the Beast	The Princess	The Civic, Barnsley
1996	The Taming of the Shrew	Bianca	Eye Theatre, Suffolk
1998–1999	Peter Pan	Wendy	New Victoria Theatre, Woking
2000	Snake in Fridge	Caddie	Royal Exchange, Manchester
2003	The Seagull	Masha	Royal Exchange, Manchester
2003	Cold Meat Party	Amanda	Royal Exchange, Manchester
2006	Mary Barton	Mary Barton	Royal Exchange, Manchester
2007	Whipping it Up	Maggie	UK Tour

Awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
British Soap Awards	2014	Best On-Screen Partnership (with Danny Dyer)	EastEnders	Nominated	[27]
	2015	Best Actress		Won	[28]
		Best Dramatic Performance		Won	[28]
	2016	Best On-Screen Partnership (with Danny Dyer)		Nominated	[29]
Inside Soap Awards	2015	Best Actress		Nominated	[30]
	2018	Best Partnership (with Danny Dyer)		Won	[31]
	2019			Nominated	[32]
	2020			Won	[33]
National Television Awards	2015	Serial Drama Performance		Nominated	[34]
TRIC Awards	2019	Soap Actor		Nominated	[35]
	2020			Won	[36]
TV Choice Awards	2015	Best Soap Actress		Nominated	[37]
	2020			Nominated	[38]
	2021			Nominated	[39]
	2022			Nominated	[40]
TVTimes Awards	2014	Favourite Soap Star		Nominated	[41]
	2015			Nominated	[42]
	2020			3rd place	[43]
	2024	Favourite Soap Actor		Nominated	[44]