Donnaleigh Bailey (born 17 January 1983) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Michelle Corrigan in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''. For her role as Michelle, she received two nominations for the

British Soap Award for Best Actress The British Soap Award for Best Actress was an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards from its inception in 1999 until 2019. Alongside British Soap Award for Best Actor, Best Actor, the award was voted for by the public. ''EastEnde ...

. Since 2015, she has played the part of Jess Heywood in the ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''.

Life and career

Bailey was born in

Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History The name is first found as Bordeshale in 1275, which is derived from the ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, on 17 January 1983. She attended

Bishop Challoner School Bishop Challoner School is an English independent coeducational Roman Catholic day school in Shortlands, Greater London, for children aged three to eighteen years. In June 2025 its closure on 4 July 2025 was announced. History The school st ...

and the

Central Junior Television Workshop The Television Workshop, formerly known as the Central Junior Television Workshop, is a British organisation that offers training for young people in performance skills for television, film, radio and theatre. Open to anybody between the ages of 7 ...

. The minimum entry age for the latter was eleven, but wanting to join sooner, she lied about her age when she was nine. Bailey's professional acting debut came in 1996 when she appeared in an episode of '' Dangerfield''. She also made appearances in ''

Crossroads Crossroads is a junction where four roads meet. Crossroads, crossroad, cross road(s) or similar may also refer to: Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a ...

'' and ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

''. Shortly after leaving drama school, she was cast as Michelle Corrigan in the

soap opera ''

''. Bailey revealed on her

profile for ''Doctors'' that when she was shopping with co-star

Martha Howe-Douglas Martha Howe-Douglas (born 19 September 1980) is an English actress and writer. She is known as a member of the Them There collective with which she wrote and starred in productions including '' Horrible Histories'', '' Yonderland'', and '' Ghos ...

who played Donna Parmar, the two were stopped by a man who showed them a cut on his arm. Bailey said that the man "wouldn't believe that they didn't work in a surgery". This happened in another instance, this time with co-star

Diane Keen Diane Keen (born 29 July 1946) is an English actress. With a career spanning numerous decades, she has appeared in various television series, films and stage productions. Keen's notable roles include Fliss Hawthorne in the Granada sitcom '' The ...

: "one day Diane and I were going for lunch and saw a cyclist knocked off his bike. We ran towards him to see if we could help, but when we got to him I said, 'What can we do?'. I thought, 'This is serious, we can't pretend'. So I just rang for an ambulance. In 2010, Bailey announced her decision to leave ''Doctors''. She felt that since she had been cast on the series straight after leaving drama school, she wanted to explore other career opportunities. On the decision to leave, she said: "It was so sad, and filming the last episode was awful. I sobbed from the first scene of the day to the very end!" In 2011, Bailey set up a kids drama workshops in

Kings Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435 road, A435 Alces ...

. In 2015, she became a semi-regular in the ITV soap opera ''

'', playing the role of Jess Heywood. Bailey's stage credits include the role of Leah in ''Beautiful Thing'', Nikki in ''Redundant'' and Colleen in ''Martha Loves Michael''. In 2019, Bailey appeared in ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', as well as an episode of ''

The Reluctant Landlord ''The Reluctant Landlord'' is a British sitcom created by Romesh Ranganathan. The series stars Romesh Ranganathan, Sian Gibson and Nick Helm. It premiered in the UK on 30 October 2018. A second and final series premiered on 4 September 2019. ...

''. Bailey is a mother of three boys and resides in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. She is also an Open Door tutor, supporting disadvantaged students with preparation for drama school.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Donnaleigh 1983 births 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English educators Actresses from Birmingham, West Midlands Black British actresses English child actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English women educators Living people