Michelle Gayle

Michelle Patricia Gayle (born 2 February 1971) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and writer.

Gayle was born in 1971 in the northwest part of London, in the Harlesden area.

She attended the Barbara Speake Stage School in Acton, west London, at a time when Naomi Campbell, Amma Asante and Kwame Kwei-Armah were also attending.

She first became publicly known when she appeared in the children's BBC television programme Grange Hill in 1988 and 1989 as Fiona Wilson, who was most notably part of a rap duo named Fresh 'n' Fly.

Gayle had success as a soul and R&B singer in the 1990s, having achieved seven top 40 singles in the UK Singles Chart.

These include "Sweetness" and "Do You Know".

As an actress, Gayle is known for her work on television, in particular playing Hattie Tavernier in BBC's EastEnders from 1990 to 1993.

Gayle later appeared as an extra in TV Drama London's Burning and in the Children's ITV television programme Press Gang in 1990 as a background member of the news team, and that same year she won the role of Hattie Tavernier in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders.

The introduction of the Tavernier family heralded the first time that an entire family had joined the programme all at once.

Their introduction was also a well-intentioned attempt to portray a wider range of black characters than had previously been achieved on the show.

Gayle's character remained in the show for three years as Ian Beale's PA and was featured in an array of storylines including being abandoned by her fiancé Steve Elliot (Mark Monero) and suffering a miscarriage as a result.

However, music was always Gayle's first passion, and in 1993 she left EastEnders to pursue a singing career.

In 1993, while she was still on the cast of EastEnders, Gayle signed with RCA Records and launched herself as a solo artist.

Her debut single "Looking Up" reached number 11 hit.

By 1994, she had her biggest-selling single to date, "Sweetness", which reached number 4, spent 16 weeks in the UK Singles Chart and was certified silver, selling more than 300,000 copies.

Gayle had further chart success in 1994 with the number-26 hit "I'll Find You"; in 1995 with the number-16 "Freedom"; and the number-11 "Happy Just to Be with You" which sampled The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" and Chic's "Good Times".

She released two top 40 albums through RCA Records but they parted company in 1997, and although Gayle has recorded other albums, they have not been released.

She has also had various roles in film and theatre and played Belle in the West End musical Beauty and the Beast in 1999.

In 1999, Gayle played Belle, the lead female, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and she returned to television acting in 2003, guest-starring in the BBC television dramas Doctors and Holby City.

In 2004, Gayle presented the UMA Awards with ex-EastEnder Gary Beadle, and in 2005, she appeared as a celebrity mentor on the Five documentary Pushy Parents.

She went on to play the role of Lara in the Five soap opera, Family Affairs (2005), and played the lead female character, Yvonne, in the film Joy Division, which was released in November 2006.

The film tells the story of a German boy who is orphaned in World War II and then groomed as a KGB sleeper.

On stage, she played the role of Brenda in Angie Le Mar's The Brothers at the Hackney Empire in April 2006, and she went on to play Jill in Pat Ashworth's ensemble stage production, Mum's the Word, which toured the UK from February to June 2007.

She appeared in the CBBC series Wolfblood as Imara.

In March 2006, she took part in the fourth series of the Channel 4 reality-television show The Games competing against various other celebrities in a series of sports events.

Gayle came third in the competition and raised more than £5,000 for her chosen charity, the Willow Foundation.

She has taken part in several celebrity-based reality television shows, and, in June 2007, she became a panellist for ITV's topical chatshow Loose Women.

She later became a guest panellist on ITV's topical chatshow Loose Women, in June 2007.

In June 2009, it was announced that Gayle would be one of several celebrities competing in Dancing on Wheels, BBC's spin-off show to the popular reality television competition Strictly Come Dancing.

Dancing on Wheels paired able-bodied celebrities with those in wheelchairs.

The winning pair represented the UK at the Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships in Israel in October 2009.

Gayle and partner Harry Maule reached the semi-finals, but were beaten in the dance-off by Diana Morgan-Hill and Olympic swimmer Mark Foster.

Before she gained commercial success, Gayle sang with a rap duo called R-MOR-FUS, performing gigs at various clubs and low-key venues.

Gayle branched into writing and the rights to her first novel were acquired by Walker Books in 2010.

The book, Pride and Premiership, was published on 5 May 2011.

Gayle starred in Jason Barrett's British feature film The Naked Poet as character Joanne, which was screened in London's Mayfair Hotel December 2011.

In March 2018, she began playing the role of as Alison in the musical Son of a Preacher Man, which is based on the life of Dusty Springfield.

She is currently playing the role of Hermione Granger in the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Gayle was a contestant on ITV's reality-television show Reborn in the USA, competing against artists such as Elkie Brooks, Sonia, Gina G, Leee John and Tony Hadley.

Gayle made it to the final and finished second behind Hadley.