Michelle Heaton's Biography
Michelle Heaton was born in Newcastle on 19 July 1980.
In her early days, Michelle Heaton won talent contests doing cover versions. She then became a dancer at Newcastle's The Baja Beach Club.
After performing gigs as a solo singer, Heaton reached the final stage in auditions for Girl Thing and got a place in the girl-band Sirens.
She then left and auditioned for Popstars, where she was a runner-up; and became a singer with Liberty X, whose other members included Jessica Taylor.
She stuck up for her partner, Andy Scott Lee when Pop Idol judge, Simon Cowell told Andy that Pop Idol was all about the winner. "What about Gareth Gates?" Michelle shouted.
Michelle and Andy Scott-Lee got engaged in September 2005 and married in October 2006. The marriage lasted a year and a half.
Michelle Heaton received criticism from some quarters after her remarks that gay kissing scenes in Coronation Street should have gone out after the 9pm watershed. However she clarified later:
"I am really upset by the reaction. I have loads of gay friends and am in no way homophobic...What I meant to say was that homosexuality shouldn't be exploited or sensationalised."
From April 2005, Michelle Heaton, along with the likes of Annabel Croft, Victoria Silvstedt, Leilani Dowding and Kate Lawler appeared in short-lived Celebrity Wrestling.
Michelle had a gym built in her flat and tries to exercise as much as possible but sometimes her busy schedule got in the way.
In November 2007, ITV announced that Michelle Heaton would feature in The Truth About Binge-Drinking, for which she spent a month living the life of a binge drinker.
In June 2008, the Press Association reported that Matt Di Angelo had been seen about town with Michelle Heaton, who had recently separated from her husband Andy Scott-Lee.
When she entered Celebrity Big Brother in January 2009, Michelle Heaton mentioned that she was living in Ireland with her boyfriend, Hugh Hanley, who is from Dublin.
Michelle Heaton was the third person to be evicted from Celebrity Big Brother in 2009.
In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph not long after Celebrity Big Brother, Michelle Heaton revealed that she and her boyfriend Hugh Hanley were 'absolutely loved up'.
