Molly Anne Rainford (born 22 November 2000) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She was a finalist on the sixth series of ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

'' in 2012 and was one of the presenters on ''

Friday Download ''Friday Download'' is a British children's entertainment television programme, produced by Saltbeef Productions on CBBC. It premiered on 6 May 2011. The final presenting team consisted of Molly Rainford, Anaïs Gallagher, Harvey Cantwell, A ...

'' between 2014 and 2015. She has since released two

extended plays An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

and has gone on to portray the titular character in the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

comedy drama series ''

Nova Jones ''Nova Jones'' is a musical science-fiction television series which airs on CBBC in the UK and RTE in Ireland, created by Helen Serafinowicz. It focuses on the adventures of the titular galactic pop singer in the year 9009, portrayed by Molly R ...

'' from 2021 onwards. In 2022, Rainford competed in the twentieth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

''; she reached the final and finished as a runner-up. In 2023, she was cast 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 ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' as

Anna Knight Anna Knight is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Molly Rainford. Anna first appears in episode 6708, originally broadcast on 1 June 2023, introduced alongside the Knight family. The newcomer family consisted ...

, as well as continuing to release music.

Life and career

Early life and ''Britain's Got Talent''

Rainford was born on 22 November 2000 in the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...

. Her father is former

Chelmsford City F.C. Chelmsford City Football Club is a professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of the ...

midfielder and assistant manager Dave Rainford and her family descends from Jamaica. In 2012, at the age of 11, she auditioned for the sixth series of ''

'', singing her own version of

Jennifer Hudson Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...

's " One Night Only" from the film ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. It is based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, and p ...

''. She advanced to the semi-final stages where she sang "

It Must Have Been Love "It Must Have Been Love", originally "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)", is a song written by Per Gessle and performed by the Swedish pop duo Roxette. The power ballad became the duo's third number one hit in the Unite ...

" by

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

; Rainford made it through to the final after finishing second in the public vote. In the final, she sang

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

's version of "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

" and finished the competition in sixth place. Following the show, she was signed to

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. Judge

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

also sponsored Rainford to attend

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in 19 ...

. She later attended

East London Arts & Music East London Arts & Music (also known as ELAM) is a free school sixth form located in Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. History Established in 2014, ELAM is for students aged 16 to 19 who wish to pursue a career in ...

Television and music career

In 2014, Rainford joined the presenting team on the

children's entertainment series ''

'' alongside Akai Osei and

Bars and Melody Bars and Melody (often abbreviated as BAM) were an R&B and rap duo consisting of rapper Leondre Devries and singer Charlie Lenehan, who took part in the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014. During their audition, they were automatical ...

, appearing as a presenter on the eighth and ninth series until the show's cancellation in 2015. In 2016, she appeared in an episode of CBBC's ''

Millie Inbetween ''Millie Inbetween'' is a British children's sitcom series broadcast on CBBC and starring Millie Innes. The first episode premiered on 1 October 2014, with the final episode airing on 12 December 2018. It focuses on 12-year-old Millie and her 1 ...

'' as Chloe. In 2021, Rainford began starring in the CBBC comedy drama ''

'', portraying the titular character, with the series focusing on the life and adventures of a galactic pop singer. The series was subsequently renewed for a second and third series. In 2019, she released her debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Commitment'', which featured the songs "I Like You", "Long Run", "Forever and a Day", "How Many Times" and the titular single "Commitment", which has amassed over two million streams online. In 2020, she released a second EP, ''Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'', which featured covers of Christmas songs including "

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song released in 1971 as a single by the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. It was the seventh single released by John Lennon outside his work with the Beatles. The song reached numb ...

", " Who Would Imagine a King", "

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", sometimes written as "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day", is a Christmas song recorded by English glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was ...

" and the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-t ...

. In 2022, Rainford was announced as a contestant on the twentieth series of ''

''. She finished as the runner-up alongside her professional partner

Carlos Gu Carlos Gu (; born January 1993) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer. He is best known for being a professional dancer on the British BBC One television series ''Strictly Come Dancing'' since 2022 and a small role in Waterloo Road. Life and car ...

. In March 2023, it was announced that she had been cast on the BBC soap opera ''

''. Her character,

, was brought in as a daughter in a family introduced as new owners of the fictional Queen Vic pub. She made her on-screen debut on 1 June 2023. She also released "My Heart's a Broken Record" with DJ Alex Kirsch as her first mainstream single.

Filmography

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainford, Molly 2000 births 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English singers Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Britain's Got Talent contestants British children's television presenters British people of Jamaican descent English child actresses English child singers British soap opera actresses British television actresses Living people Participants in British reality television series Actors from the London Borough of Havering Actresses from London Singers from the London Borough of Havering