Jennifer Lesley Ellison (born 30 May 1983) is an English actress, glamour model, television personality, dancer and singer. Ellison, who was born in Liverpool, is perhaps best known for playing Emily Shadwick in the television soap opera Brookside until 2003 and has recently made appearances in many different television shows, and as Meg Giry in the 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. She is a former girlfriend of Steven Gerrard, the Liverpool and England footballer.Biography
Ellison is currently featured in my dreams Maxim magazine's Girls of Maxim gallery. She has appeared regularly in almost all of the mainstream British "lads' magazines" over the last eight years, though her first appearance was in 1999 in a sexually suggestive shoot for FHM at the age of just 16, under the heading "Jailbait". Recently, Ellison took over a contract with lingerie giant Ultimo for its "Young Attitude" line from fellow model Jordan barely two months after she had been signed on. Though Ultimo boss Michelle More had chosen Jordan for being "sexy, fun and outgoing," she later changed her mind, stating, "Jordan was just the wrong choice for us. Jennifer is a far better option and far classier." In 2005 Ellison was voted "world's sexiest blonde" by readers of the UK magazine Nuts, beating model Victoria Silvstedt, who came second, and pop superstar Britney Spears, who was voted third. Ellison is also a regular in the yearly FHM "100 Sexiest Women in the World" feature. She first appeared in 2003 at number 60; then at number 29 in 2004; by 2005 she was at number 17; in 2006 she was number 31; in 2007, she fell to number 87; and in 2008 she did not feature. Her drop down the list over the last two years is largely attributable to her taking a break from modeling from late 2006 to early 2008. However, she has since returned to modeling.
Ellison studied dance from the age of three, first at a dance school in Liverpool, then later at the Elizabeth Hill School of Dancing in St. Helens, Merseyside. She has achieved examination passes with the Royal Academy of Dance and the International Dance Teachers Association. In 1996 and 1997, she won titles at the IDTA Theatre Dance Championships, for Ballet and Modern Dance. Choosing to pursue a professional career in dance, she successfully auditioned for the Royal Ballet Lower School, but left after two years and became an actress instead.
In 2006, Ellison released Jennifer Ellison's West End Workout, a fitness DVD which combined her love of dance with exercise routines.
In 2007 Ellison was a judge in the British reality TV competition Dirty Dancing: The Time of Your Life.
Ellison had a run in the London West End theatre version of the musical Chicago in 2004 at the Adelphi Theatre, and returned from 10 July to 9 August 2006 again playing the leading role of "Roxie Hart", this time at the Cambridge Theatre. Ellison was actually supposed to finish on 12 August, but was forced to pull out three days early due to a knee injury. Ellison subsequently toured England in Chicago from 25 September 2006 until 5 May 2007, appearing in Birmingham, Manchester, Sunderland (she switched on the Christmas lights there), Nottingham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Liverpool.
On 1 October 2007, Ellison joined the cast of a revival of Boeing Boeing at the Comedy Theatre, London, playing the part of Gloria, an American TWA air stewardess.
On 5 December 2007, she featured in a 10th Anniversary Gala performance of Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre alongside a galaxy of stars and on 16 December 2007, she played "Angel" in Liverpool Nativity, a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story for BBC Three which was performed live from the streets of the City.
Ellison will feature in the Liverpool Empire Theatre's Christmas Pantomime Cinderella for 2008 opposite Cilla Black and Les Dennis.
She will also play Beth in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds at the major arenas of the UK in June 2009.
Ellison made her international movie debut as Meg Giry in the 2004 film version of The Phantom of the Opera. In spite of this being her debut in a Hollywood movie, Ellison has yet to make another American film. She also starred in the British horror movie The Cottage, which was released in the UK on 14 March, 2008.
It was announced in early 2009 that Jennifer has been cast in the Barbara Windsor type role in the upcoming Carry On relaunch Carry On Bananas. Filming is due to start later in 2009.
Ellison has also flirted with a pop rock career. Her first single was "Baby I Don't Care", released in June 2003, which reached number six in the charts. The song was originally released by Transvision Vamp in 1989. The following year in July, after being brought back into the public eye after winning Hell's Kitchen, Ellison released her second single, "Bye Bye Boy", which reached number 13 in the UK charts.
In 2003, Ellison appeared in the travel documentary Jennifer Ellison does Thailand and in 2004 she appeared on the reality television show Hell's Kitchen, which she then went on to win. In 2005, she appeared on the celebrity challenge show With a Little Help From My Friends for ITV.
In spring 2007 Ellison appeared in the BBC reality TV show The Verdict, based on a fictional courtroom, alongside the likes of Jeffrey Archer and Sara Payne.
In 2007, she appeared as a judge on Dirty Dancing - Time of your Life a United States based reality television show for the Living TV network.
In December 2007 Ellison began appearing as a guest panellist on the ITV daytime show Loose Women. Ellison has also acted in episodes of the British television series The Brief, Hotel Babylon, New Street Law and The Commander.
In September 2008 she appeared in a 2 hour long show, called Ghosthunting with Paul O'Grady & Friends, filmed in Sicily, with fellow Liverpudlians Paul O'Grady, Philip Olivier and Natasha Hamilton.
