Quick Facts
Biography
Nicola Thorp, also known as Nicola Sian, is an English actress. She is known for her portrayal of Nicola Rubinstein in ITV soap opera Coronation Street.
Early life
Thorp was born in Blackpool and attended Arnold School where she was head girl before studying acting at the Arts Educational Schools of Acting in London between 2007 and 2010.
Career
In 2018, Thorp competed for ITV in Sport Relief's "Clash of the Channels" boat race, and started writing a regular column for Metro.co.uk, her first focusing on period poverty for women.
Coronation Street
Thorp began appearing in Coronation Street as Nicola Rubinstein on 12 June 2017, as street villain Pat Phelan's (Connor McIntyre) daughter. Thorp's last appearance as Nicola Rubinstein was on 13 June 2018 at the conclusion of her storyline. On 11 November 2018, it was announced that Thorp would be reprising her role as Nicola Rubinstein in early 2019.
Heels controversy
Thorp made headlines in 2016 after going public about an experience she had at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a temp worker: she was sacked as a temp receptionist in London after refusing to wear high heels, something mandated by her agency's "female grooming" policies at the time. An online petition that she started to highlight the situation was subsequently signed by nearly 110,000 people in less than 48 hours. The petition gained support from the media and members of parliament including Margot James, Caroline Dinenage and Tulip Siddiq. Thorp appeared on Good Morning Britain to talk about her petition and clashed with Piers Morgan.
Thorp later appeared in front of a Parliamentary Select Committee to discuss the issue and wrote pieces in newspapers laying out her stance that she is not anti-high heels, just that it should not be necessary for certain jobs. As a result, the temp agency Portico changed its rules.
Personal life
Thorp was born in Blackpool and her family still live in the North Shore area where they make Blackpool rock.
In 2018, during an interview with Emma Barnett on Radio 5 Live, Thorp admitted to having been so depressed that it had led to a nervous breakdown some six years before. She has also revealed that she has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Thorp lives on a canal boat which she regularly moves to different moorings.