Emily Symons (born 10 August 1969) is an Australian actress, active on both Australian and British television. She is known for playing Anne Costello in the short-lived soap opera '' Richmond Hill'' in 1988 and when that series ended in 1989, she started playing

Marilyn Chambers Marilyn Ann Taylor (née Briggs; April 22, 1952 – April 12, 2009), known professionally as Marilyn Chambers, was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress, singer and vice-presidential candidate. She was known f ...

in ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

''. After almost ten years in that role, Symons moved to the UK and was immediately cast as Louise Appleton in the British soap ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. She also took part in the British show ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...

'' in 2007. She then returned to Australia in 2010 to reprise her role as Marilyn in ''Home and Away''.

Life and career

Emily Symons's mother remarried when she was just four years old and Symons did not see her biological, English father again until ten years later. She left school before finishing her exams and launched herself into the acting world. For nearly a year, she worked in shops before getting a break in a post office training video. Her first high-profile role was in Australian soap opera '' Richmond Hill''. After ''Richmond Hill'', Symons auditioned for another Australian drama, ''

'', for which she won the role of

whom she played from 1989 until 1992, reprising the role in 1995 until 1999—with a brief appearance in 2001. She also hosted the Channel 7 music programme '' Video Smash Hits''. After starring in a string of pantomimes in England, Symons decided to move there. She played the role of barmaid Louise Appleton in the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

soap opera ''

'' from 2001 to 2008. She was also a contestant in the 2007 series of ''

'', but was voted out in the semi-final following a skate-off against

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

's Duncan James. Symons has now returned to Australia permanently, and again resumed playing ''Home and Away''s Marilyn Chambers from episode 5035 which aired 19 March 2010 in Australia and has remained ever since.

Personal life

Symons was married to Lorenzo Smith, a son of

Viscount Hambleden Viscount Hambleden, of Hambleden in the Buckinghamshire, County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1891 (as Viscountess Hambleden) for Emily Danvers Smith, 1st Viscountess Hambleden, Emily Danvers ...

and descendant of English stationery tycoon W. H. Smith, for two years, from 2003 to 2005. Symons said in an interview that her need for children and the resultant cycles of IVF eventually 'killed' the marriage. She was engaged to footballer

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton F.C., Southampton, before turning to non- ...

. She dated her ''Emmerdale'' co-star Matt Healy, who played Matthew King. They broke up just before she took part in ''Dancing on Ice''. On 3 August 2015, Symons gave birth to her first child with her then-partner Paul Jackson.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Symons, Emily 1969 births Australian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom Australian television actresses Australian people of English descent Actresses from Sydney Living people