Raymond Arthur Quinn (born 25 August 1988) is an English actor, singer, dancer and carpet layer. He is best known for his role as Anthony Murray in ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'' from 2000 to 2003. He achieved more public recognition when he auditioned for the third series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for '' Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2006, finishing in second place behind

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved natio ...

. Quinn won the fourth series of ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their prof ...

'' in 2009 and the 'All Stars' series in 2014. On 22 February 2015, he was the winner of the first series of ''

Get Your Act Together ''Get Your Act Together'' was a British talent show that began airing on ITV on 18 January 2015, hosted by Stephen Mulhern. The show features celebrities learning various different acts, such as juggling, singing, impressions and escapology, and ...

''.

Early life

Raymond Arthur Quinn was born on 25 August 1988 in

Childwall Childwall () is a suburb and ward of Liverpool, England, located to the southeast of the city. It is bordered by Belle Vale, Bowring Park, Broadgreen, Gateacre, Mossley Hill, and Wavertree. In 2019, the population was 13,640. Overview The earl ...

, Merseyside, the youngest of three boys born to mother Val. At the age of six, he started dancing lessons at the Chiltern School of Dance and Drama, under the guidance and teaching of Colette Byatt. Following his national recognition as a child actor, he transferred over to the Merseyside Dance and Drama College, where he was taught singing lessons from the age of nine. He cites his vocal coach, Suzanne Taylor, as a major influence in his career.

Career

2000–2005: Early Career

From 2000 to 2003, Quinn portrayed the victimised and tormented child Anthony Murray in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

soap opera ''

''. He performed and was credited as Raymond Quinn. Murray's featured storylines on the programme included

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

. After his appearance on ''Brookside'' ended he guest starred in an episode of ''

Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

'' in which he played criminal Leon Marsh. He also appeared in the episode "The Singing Cactus" for the BBC series, '' The Afternoon Play'' as John Reilly, who grieves after his mother's death and flees into his own world with his "singing

cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

2006: ''The X Factor''

Quinn rose to further prominence when he auditioned for the third series of ''

'', singing a medley of "

Ain't That a Kick in the Head? "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" is a pop song written in 1960 with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. It was first recorded that year on May 10 by Dean Martin in a swinging big band jazz arrangement conducted by Nelson Riddle. ...

" and " Devil in Disguise". Prior to appearing on the show, he was a performing arts student at the Merseyside Dance and Drama College, where he previously received some vocal training. He received three yeses from the judges, and progressed through to bootcamp. Quinn was placed in the 16-24s category, with

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

as his mentor. However, whilst singing in front of Cowell and

Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...

, he partially stumbled and forgot the lyrics to " Easy" by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recor ...

. Initially, he was told he wasn't progressing through to judges' houses, but a change within the series format allowed him to successfully continue with the competition. He later sang "

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

" for his judges' houses performance, and afterwards was granted a place as one of the four acts through to the live shows. During the live shows, many of Quinn's song choices and performances were old-fashioned and

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing ri ...

-based.

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later be ...

and

Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...

, in the earlier stages of the competition, queried him over his ability as a pure singer rather than a 'song-and-dance' man. However, in the later stages, he widened the range of his performances more into singing

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

, and to which the judges were satisfied with Quinn's ability to do so. In week five, he was placed in the bottom two against Nikitta Angus, but survived elimination. He managed to progress through the competition up to week 10, where he was the series runner-up, losing to eventual winner

2007: ''Doing It My Way'', breakthrough and label drop

In December 2006, two days after finishing on ''The X Factor'', Quinn signed a record deal with Cowell's label

SYCO Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

to release a debut

album. Recording process for the album began through January 2007 at the

Capitol Records Tower The Capitol Records Building, also known as the Capitol Records Tower, is a 13-story tower building in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Designed by Louis Naidorf of Welton Becket Associates, it is one of the city's landmarks. Construction began soon after ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where he was accompanied by a 48-piece orchestra. His debut album, '' Doing It My Way'' was released on 12 March 2007. Coincidentally, another ''X Factor'' finalist

Ben Mills Benjamin Collett Mills is a British singer who finished in third place on the third series of ''The X Factor'' in 2006. After the show, Mills signed a five-album record deal with SonyBMG. His debut album, '' Picture of You'', was released on ...

released his album on the same day. The album became a critical and commercial success. It entered the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

at number one, and sold 127,000 copies in its first week of release, before being certified platinum. The album also featured covers of old swing and

vocal jazz Vocal jazz or jazz singing is an approach to jazz using the voice. Vocal jazz emerged in the early twentieth century, with its roots in Blues. Popular blues singers such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey had a great deal of influence of jazz vocalis ...

classics, some of which were recorded by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

himself. Quinn made British music history as he was the youngest male solo artist and the first person ever, to have a number one album without releasing a single. During the summer of that year, he was a judge on the ITV dance competition show ''Baby Ballroom'', alongside

Bonnie Langford Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series ''Just William''. In the 1980s, she played c ...

and Pierre Dulaine. The programme centered on finding the best junior

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic ...

dancers. Quinn embarked on his own solo tour from September to November 2007, where he performed within 30 cities across the UK. However, on 6 November 2007, it was announced that he had been subsequently dropped by Sony BMG.

2009–2015: Television and Stage

Quinn participated as a contestant on the fourth series of ''

''. He paired with professional skater

Maria Filippov Maria Filippov (born 20 June 1973 as Maria Hadjiiska) is a Bulgarian professional ice skater and former competitor. Career As Maria Hadjiiska, she was a member of the Bulgarian national ice dancing team from 1988 to 1992 and her country's nati ...

. Throughout the series, the couple earned high scores and praise from the ice panel each week. On 22 March 2009, he and Filippov won the competition over

Donal MacIntyre Donal MacIntyre (born 25 January 1966) is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. He has also worked as a presenter of both television news and documentaries on various U ...

and

Jessica Taylor Jessica Pietersen (; born 23 June 1980) is a British singer, television personality and dancer who was a member of the pop group Liberty X. Personal life As a teenager she was a member of the Preston Musical Comedy Society and played the title ...

. From 11 May to 28 November that year, he played Danny Zuko in the West End production of '' Grease'' at Picadilly Theatre. He starred alongside his future wife Emma Stephens, who played Sandy. Quinn previously played the role of Doody during the first production of the musical in 2008. In 2011, he reprised the role of Danny for two weeks at the

Liverpool Empire The Liverpool Empire Theatre is a theatre on the corner of Lime Street in Liverpool, England. The playhouse, which opened in 1925, is the second one to be built on the site. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in the United Kingdom and can ...

. Other stage acting credits that Quinn has mainly featured in include: Jack Trott in ''Jack in the Beanstalk'', the Prince in ''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''Cinderella'', Warner Huntington III in ''

Legally Blonde ''Legally Blonde'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic in his feature-length directorial debut, and scripted by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith from Amanda Brown's 2001 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Wit ...

'', and Billy Kosteki in '' Dirty Dancing''. In December 2012, Quinn was cast as the title character in the ''Aladdin'' musical, alongside comedian and presenter

Don Maclean Don Maclean (born 1942/1943) MBE KSS is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series '' Crackerjack'' with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze and Jan Hunt in the 1970s. Born in Birmingham, he attended Clifton Road S ...

and actor Tim Flavin. He played the role at the Poole Lighthouse Theatre until 6 January 2013. He also portrayed

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

in ''

'' at the Liverpool Empire from December 2013 to January 2014, which also starred Stephens as

Wendy Darling Wendy Moira Angela Darling is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the 1904 play and 1911 novel ''Peter and Wendy'' by J. M. Barrie, as well as in most adaptations in other media. Her exact age is not specified in the origin ...

. Quinn later returned to participate on ''Dancing on Ice'', for the final and All-Star series of the show. He was paired with

again. On 9 March 2014, he and Filippov were crowned the champions of the series, and ultimate winners of the programme. He beat out

Hayley Tamaddon Hayley Soraya Tamaddon (born 24 January 1977) is a British actress. She is known for her roles in the ITV soap operas as Del Dingle in ''Emmerdale'' and Andrea Beckett in ''Coronation Street''. Tamaddon won the fifth series of '' Dancing o ...

and

Beth Tweddle Elizabeth Kimberly Tweddle (born 1 April 1985) is a retired British artistic gymnast. Renowned for her uneven bar and floor routines, she was the first female gymnast from Great Britain to win a medal at the European Championships, World Cham ...

for the title. He reprised his role as Aladdin again at the Liverpool Empire, from 13 December 2014 to 4 January 2015, alongside Claire Sweeney as the Genie and Pete Price as the Emperor. In January 2015, he was a contestant on the celebrity talent show, ''

''. His mentor was actress and impressionist Debra Stephenson, whom he learned and mastered the craft of impressions from. Quinn was announced as the winner of the series, with James Bolam and

Claire Richards Claire Anne Richards (born 17 August 1977) is an English singer who is best known for being in the pop group Steps. Richards was a contestant on the second series of '' Popstar to Operastar'' before being voted off in the semi finals. She po ...

in second and third place respectively.

2015–2018: ''Dare to Dream'' and ''Judy: The Judy Garland Songbook''

In September 2014, Quinn announced that he was planning to return to music, and had already started working on material for a second studio album. He released his first single in eight years, "They Say Love" on 23 February 2015. Later that month, it was revealed that the title for the upcoming studio album would be called ''Dare to Dream'', which was scheduled for an April 2015 release and promoted on a tour of the same name but was ultimately not released. In May 2015, Quinn was part of the cast of ''Judy: The Judy Garland Songbook'', alongside

Lorna Luft Lorna Luft (born November 21, 1952) is an American actress, author, and singer. She is the daughter of Judy Garland and Sidney Luft and the half-sister of Liza Minnelli. Early life Luft was born on November 21, 1952, at Saint John's Health Cent ...

and Louise Dearman. The show featured never before seen clips and interviews of Garland herself, as well as live performances of her original songs.

2018–2019: ''Hollyoaks''

On 26 November 2018, Quinn joined

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' as character Jonny Baxter. His character is an employee at The Bean and part of a

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

extremist group. He left the show in November 2019 when the story arc surrounding the far right came to an end.

2020-2021: ''Undeniable'' and Coronavirus pandemic

Quinn's second album, Undeniable, was released on 28 August 2020. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Quinn revealed that he had been working as a delivery driver for courier company

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orat ...

. In April 2021, Quinn announced he had begun a new career laying carpets at his family firm, alongside brothers Robin and Darren.

Personal life

Quinn married actress Emma Stephens in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

on 31 March 2012. The couple also announced at the time that Stephens was expecting their first child. Their son was born in August 2012. In February 2015, the couple announced their separation. In September 2022, he and his partner, Emily Ashleigh, announced the birth of their daughter; Ashleigh has a son from a previous relationship. In March 2021, Quinn spoke publicly about losing his father, also called Ray, to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in November 2020. Quinn has two brothers, Robin and Darren.

Filmography

Film and television

Theatre

Ray Quinn played the title role of ‘Aladdin’ at Albert Halls, Bolton for Polka Dot Pantomimes in 2019.

Radio

*''The Lost Boys'' – Narrator of book for Big Toe Radio, September 2004 *''Millions'' – Narrator of the film for Big Toe Radio, November 2004 *''The Believers'' – Actor playing part of James, April 2010

Discography

Bibliography

Tours

*''X Factor 2006'' Tour 2007 *Ray Quinn Solo Tour 2007 *''Dancing on Ice'' Tour 2009 *''Dancing on Ice'' Tour 2010 *''Dancing on Ice'' Tour 2014 *''Dare to Dream'' Tour 2015 *''No Mans Land'' Tour 2016 *''Dancing On Ice'' Tour 2018

Awards

* 2002 – Best Dramatic Performance,

The British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies gi ...

* 2002 – Best Storyline, The British Soap Awards * 2002 – Best Young Actor, ''Inside Soap'' Awards * 2002 – Best Performance in a Network Soap, Royal TV Society * 2005 – Manchester Talent Competition, Search for a Star – £5000 prize * 2007 – Scouseology Award, Best Personality * 2007 – Liverpool Local Hero Awards, Contribution to Music

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Ray 1988 births Living people English male television actors English male child actors English male stage actors English male dancers English male musical theatre actors English male singers English crooners English people of Irish descent The X Factor (British TV series) contestants Sony BMG artists Reality show winners Male actors from Liverpool Musicians from Liverpool People from Knowsley, Merseyside