Jennifer Joanne Metcalfe (born 4 September 1983) is a British actress from

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. She is known for her role as Mercedes McQueen in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'', which she has appeared in since 2006. Her portrayal of the character has led to her reprising the role in the programme's spin-off series ''

Hollyoaks Later ''Hollyoaks Later'' (originally ''Late Night Hollyoaks'') is a British television spin-off of the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. The series allows for more sexual content, edgier storylines and stronger language than ''Hollyoaks''. The sho ...

'' between 2008 and 2020. She appeared as a contestant in the sixth series of ''

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 2011, where she finished in tenth place.

Early life

Metcalfe was born in

and grew up on the

Holme Wood Holme Wood or Holmewood is a housing estate in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Geography and administration Holme Wood is situated off Wakefield Road in the south-east of the City of Bradford and borders Tyersal. It is part of Tong ward. ...

housing estate. She attended the Scala Kids drama school in her hometown. In between acting jobs, Metcalfe worked as a fitness instructor in Bradford.

Career

In her early roles, Metcalfe appeared in several television programmes, including the children's television series ''

My Parents Are Aliens ''My Parents Are Aliens'' is a British children's television sitcom that was produced for eight series by ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television and aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 8 November 1999 to 18 December 2006. Overview The show primar ...

'' and the ITV dramas '' Where The Heart Is'', '' At Home with the Braithwaites'' and soap opera ''

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 ...

''. Metcalfe's breakthrough role occurred in 2006, when she was cast as Mercedes McQueen in the

soap opera ''

''. She had previously been considered for the role of Claire Devine before her character was created. Metcalfe was the first actress to be cast in the soap by executive producer Bryan Kirkwood. Her role in ''Hollyoaks'' has led to her appearing in its late-night spin-off series ''

'', first appearing in the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in 2008. It was announced in April 2010 that she would return to the series for its

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

later that year, and she continued in the role for

series 4 Series 4 could refer to: * Aston Martin Lagonda Series 4, the automobile model * BMW 4 Series, the automobile model line * GeForce 4 series The GeForce 4 series (codenames below) refers to the fourth generation of Nvidia's GeForce line of graph ...

and

series 5 Series 5 may refer to: * Aston Martin V8 Series 5, an automobile model * BMW 5 Series, a line of automobiles * GeForce 5 Series, a line of video cards * Psion Series 5, a line of handheld computers * South African Class 6E1, Series 5, a series o ...

. Despite the show concluding in 2013, a one-off special was broadcast in 2020, with Metcalfe returning once again in a main role. On 19 December 2010, it was announced Metcalfe would take part in the sixth series of ITV winter sports

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

''. She was partnered with

Sylvain Longchambon Sylvain Longchambon (born 30 July 1980) is a French ice dancer. With Caroline Truong, he won two silver medals on the 1999–2000 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, bronze at the 2001 Ondrej Nepela Memorial, and bronze at the 2002 French Champions ...

and was the seventh celebrity eliminated from the competition when she finished in the bottom two of the leaderboard along with fellow contestant

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in Dallas, raised in Miami, he was the first solo white rapper to achieve commercial success foll ...

, who was saved by the judging panel. Metcalfe quit ''Hollyoaks'' in August 2014. Her character, Mercedes, appeared to have been killed off on 18 November, only to return unexpectedly in February 2015, alive after all, with Metcalfe back in the role on a permanent basis.

Personal life

At the age of 15, her father died from bowel cancer, and Metcalfe stated that she was able to draw on her personal experiences for the role in ''Hollyoaks''. Metcalfe was previously in a relationship with footballer

Jermaine Pennant Jermaine Lloyd Pennant (born 15 January 1983) is an English retired professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder#Winger, winger. Pennant made over 350 league appearances for 15 clubs, and scored 25 league goals. Born ...

. She confirmed her first pregnancy in February 2017 to former ''

Geordie Shore ''Geordie Shore'' is an English reality television series that has been broadcast on MTV UK from 24 May 2011. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it was the British offshoot of the American show ''Jersey Shore''. The programme follows the d ...

'' star

Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...

. She gave birth to a son on 20 June 2017. Metcalfe and Lake split in 2020. She co-owns the clothing rental boutique, The Closet, in Liverpool with ''Hollyoaks'' co-stars

Claire Cooper Claire Elizabeth Cooper (born 26 October 1980) is a British actress and former gymnast from Wakefield, England, best known for portraying Jacqui McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a character she played full time from 2006 to ...

and

Leah Hackett ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes have aired on sister ch ...

, which opened in April 2010.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalfe, Jennifer 1983 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Bradford English television actresses English child actresses English soap opera actresses