Siobhan Teresa Hayes (born 21 July 1974) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Abi Harper 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 ...

sitcom ''

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'' and Sandy in the BBC radio series '' Absolute Power''.

Career

Hayes portrayed Abi Harper, a clumsy and dim-witted

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

in the

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

'', a role she held between 2002 and 2008, when the character became a nun. She has also made guest appearances in ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (TV series), a British radio and then television series ** '' Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second ...

'', '' Paul Merton: The Series'', ''

Agatha Christie's Marple ''Agatha Christie's Marple'' (or simply ''Marple'') is a British ITV television programme loosely based on books and short stories by British crime novelist Agatha Christie. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first t ...

'', ''

Birds of a Feather Birds of a feather flock together is an English proverb. Birds of a Feather may also refer to: Film * ''Birds of a Feather'' (1917 film), a film starring Harold Lloyd * ''Birds of a Feather'' (1931 film), Walt Disney ''Silly Symphony'' animate ...

'', and ''

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''. Her early appearances included portraying a pupil of Class 5C onwards from 1991, in the series '' Up the Garden Path''. In 2005, she was a contestant on the

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 ...

of the

competition ''

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 ...

'', paired with professional

Matthew Cutler Matthew David Cutler (born 30 October 1973) is an English dancer and former World Amateur Latin-American champion. He was a professional dancer on the BBC dancing show ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Cutler was born in Chelmsford, Essex. ...

. The couple were the first to be eliminated. On 1 February 2008, it was announced that Hayes would be joining ''

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 ...

'', in the role of

Melinda Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melina meaning "sweet like honey ...

, the partner of the show's returning

Ricky Butcher Ricky Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running male protagonists to feature in ''EastEnders''. Owen originally left the ...

portrayed by

Sid Owen Sid Owen (born David John Sutton; 12 January 1972) is a British actor, television presenter and former singer from London, who played Ricky Butcher in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1988–2000, 2002–2004, 2008–2012, 2022–2023). He a ...

. This was Hayes' second role in ''EastEnders'', as she portrayed Jane on 4 July 1991. Hayes starred in the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

live action 3D family comedy film '' Horrid Henry: The Movie'', portraying the role of the titular character's mother. In 2022, Hayes appeared in an advert for

Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Limited is a Guernsey-based multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for ey ...

and also featured in the Christmas advert for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Filmography

References

External links

* 1974 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses English film actresses British radio actresses English television actresses Actresses from London Actors from the London Borough of Camden People from St Pancras, London {{UK-tv-actor-1970s-stub