Natalie Anderson

Natalie Jane Anderson (born 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and model. She is best known for her roles as Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 2010 to 2015 and Stella Davenport in the medical drama The Royal from 2005 to 2008. She also played the role of Nessarose in the London production Wicked from May 2009 to March 2010. As of 2015 she is a regular on ITV Lifestyle show This Morning.

Anderson appeared as Nurse Stella Davenport in the ITV drama series The Royal between 2005 and 2008, playing a lead role and having several storylines based around her character.

Previously, she has taken guest roles in Wire in the Blood, Holby City and Dalziel and Pascoe. She made the Top 50 in the original series of Pop Idol in 2001, but narrowly missed out on a place in the live finals after finishing third in her group. Before this, she made her television debut in 1996 as Francesca in The Biz.

She recently played the role of Ewa in British film Freight, released in December 2009. Anderson is a former cheerleader for the Bradford Bulls rugby league team. She released her debut album 'Return to Me' on 24 November 2008. Her most recent stage role was performing as Nessarose in the London production of Wicked. She replaced Caroline Keiff on 11 May 2009, and left at the end of her contract on 27 March 2010. She was replaced by Cassandra Compton.

Anderson joined the cast of Emmerdale in 2010, playing the role of Alicia Gallagher, Leyla Harding's (Roxy Shahidi) sister. Anderson has been nominated for "Sexiest Female" many times at The British Soap Awards for her portrayal of Alicia. In May 2012, Anderson took a break from Emmerdale to go on maternity leave, and Alicia's exit storyline involved her getting arrested for assault. Alicia returned later that year. In December 2008, Natalie released her debut album entitled Return to Me.

On 24 May 2015, Anderson announced she would be not be renewing her contract for Emmerdale and would leave the show having portrayed Alicia Gallagher for five years.

Guest TV appearances

In 2013, Anderson took part in the ITV entertainment show, Your Face Sounds Familiar. She sang as Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kate Bush, Justin Bieber, Jessie J and Mariah Carey while she was on the show. She won the series on 3 August 2013.

On 9 February 2014, Anderson appeared on the ITV entertainment show, All Star Family Fortunes with her family, who were up against Steve Redgrave and his family.

In 2014, Anderson appeared in an episode of Fake Reaction on ITV2 and Keith Lemon's Through the Keyhole.

On 27 September 2014, Anderson appeared in a celebrity episode of The Chase.

Anderson was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. She married fiancé James Shepherd at a ceremony in Harrogate on 6 June 2008. On 1 August 2012, Anderson and her husband had their first son, Freddie George James Shepherd.