Gaynor Faye
{{Short description|English actress (born 1971)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gaynor Faye
| image = Matt Evers & Gaynor Faye.jpg
| caption = Faye and Matt Evers on the Dancing on Ice tour in 2010
| imagesize = 210px
| birth_name = Gaynor Kay Mellor
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1971|8|26}}
| birth_place = Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1991–present
| partner = Mark Pickering
| children = 2
| mother = Kay Mellor
}}
Gaynor Kay Mellor (born 26 August 1971), known professionally as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer. She played Judy Mallett in television soap opera Coronation Street from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in Emmerdale from 2012 until 2019.{{CN|date=April 2024}}
Early life
Gaynor Faye was born in Leeds, England, to TV scriptwriter Kay Mellor{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61478428|title=Kay Mellor: Actress and Fat Friends creator dies, aged 71|publisher=BBC News|date=17 May 2022|access-date=9 September 2023}}{{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/what-s-on/arts-entertainment/tv-previews/celebrity-interview-gaynor-faye-1-6286432|title=Celebrity Interview: Gaynor Faye|date=1 December 2013|work=Yorkshire Evening Post|access-date=21 July 2014}} and Anthony Mellor.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/aug/03/kay-mellor-steven-spielberg-in-the-club-bbc |title=Kay Mellor: 'Steven Spielberg rang me up in Topshop'|first=Maggie|last=Brown|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=3 August 2014 }} Her maternal grandmother was Jewish.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,254806,00.html|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|title=Time of her life|access-date=7 May 2010}} She has one sister, Yvonne.
Career
Faye has played the roles of Holly Quinn in BBC television drama series Playing the Field, Lauren Harris in Fat Friends, Georgia Lovett in Between the Sheets and Julie in Stan the Man. She has also written two episodes of Fat Friends.
Faye played the role of Judy Mallett in ITV's Coronation Street from 2 October 1995 to 26 September 1999. The Malletts moved into 9 Coronation Street in 1995. Judy was an arcade assistant, and later a barmaid at the Rovers Return. Brash and strong-willed, Judy had a sensitive side, too, and longed to have children. Before the arrival of twins in 1998, Judy had believed she was unable to conceive, leading the Malletts to buy pregnant teen Zoe Tattersall's baby, naming the child Katie. They were left heartbroken when Zoe broke the agreement and took back her daughter. Less than a year after becoming a mother, Judy was involved in a minor car accident, causing an undetected blood clot in her leg. A few days later, she died suddenly when hanging out washing at No.9; Gary was attending Ashley and Maxine Peacock's wedding.
In 2006, Faye appeared in ITV's Dancing on Ice. Her skating partner was Daniel Whiston. On 4 March 2006, she was crowned the inaugural Dancing on Ice champion. From 2006 to 2007, Faye starred as Anna Williams Bedford in The Chase, a television series co-written with her mother for BBC One. Faye released a video based on the exercise routine she followed during Dancing on Ice.
Faye appeared in the stage adaptation of Calendar Girls alongside Lynda Bellingham at London's Noël Coward Theatre in 2009.{{cite news|author=Jardine, Cassandra|title=Calendar Girls: the stage show|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/5005649/Calendar-Girls-the-stage-show.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=17 March 2009|access-date=27 August 2011}} This was written by Juliette Towhidi and Tim Firth.
In September 2010, she was a guest panellist on ITV's Loose Women. In 2011, Faye played Zarina Wix in children's programme Dani's House. In October 2011, it was announced that Faye would join the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, playing Declan Macey's ambitious half-sister Megan Macey. Megan first appeared on-screen on 21 February 2012. Faye left the role in 2019. On 11 November and 16 December 2011, she guest presented the ITV Breakfast programme Lorraine.
In March 2021, Faye appeared in the BBC One drama The Syndicate as Cheryl Armitage. Since 2021, Faye has narrated Hornby: A Model World following the works of Hornby, Scalextrics, and Airfix on the Yesterday channel. In September 2023, Faye starred in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance, appearing alongside Samantha Bond, Jemima Rooper, Rob James-Collier and Adil Ray.{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/the-inheritance-cast-channel-5/|title=The Inheritance cast: Meet the characters in Channel 5 drama|website=Radio Times|last=Robinson|first=Abby|date=4 September 2023|access-date=8 September 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/inheritance-channel5-review-2591288|title=The Inheritance, Channel 5, review: What would you do if your dad left everything to a stranger?|website=iNews|last=Power|first=Ed|date=4 September 2023|access-date=9 September 2023}}
Personal life
Faye lives with long-term partner Mark Pickering in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The couple have two children.{{cite web|url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/dancing-ice-previous-winners-now-26443563|title=Dancing On Ice previous winners and where they are now from 'fat-shaming' to co-star marriage and working as a delivery driver|website=Yorkshire Live|first=Monde|last=Mwitumwa|date=13 March 2023|access-date=30 March 2024}}
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Faye took online courses in semantics, Spanish and counselling. She said, "I know people who really struggle with their mental health and it’s important for me to know what to do for my family, my kids, my loved ones – to help people when they’re struggling. To help other people is what I want to do." Faye practises Buddhism.{{cite web|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/gaynor-faye-counsellor/|title=Corrie actress Gaynor Faye – "I want to be able to help the people I love when they are struggling"|website=Sunday Post|last=English|first=Paul|date=4 October 2021|access-date=9 September 2023}} She told OK! magazine: "I've been a Buddhist since I asked a friend 25 years ago what skin cream she used because she was so glowing and she said: "It’s not cream, it’s because I chant" [...] It's just part of my life now, it's like brushing my teeth. In the morning, I do it to set up my life and so I can live in a higher life state."{{cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/showbiz-news/itv-emmerdale-real-life-gaynor-24016810|title=ITV Emmerdale: Real life of Gaynor Faye – Buddhism, quitting soap for famous mum and heartbreaking loss|website=Manchester Evening News|last=Sansome|first=Jessica|date=21 May 2022|access-date=9 September 2023}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1991
| Crystal | 8 episodes |
| 1992
| The Life and Times of Harry Pratt | Mabel Billington | Series 1 episode 4 |
| rowspan="2"| 1994
| Fair Game | Boggle Hole Girl | Television film |
| Downwardly Mobile
| Mandy | Series 1 episode 3: Underarm Combat |
| 1994–1995
| WPC Benson | 3 episodes |
| rowspan="3"| 1995
| Probation Officer | 1 episode |
| Men of the World
| Judy | Series 2 episode 5: Stolen Kiss |
| Coogan's Run
| The Prostitute | Series 1 episode 2: Death of a Salesman |
| 1995–1999
| 353 episodes |
| 1996
| Some Kind of Life | Lorraine | Television film |
| 1999
| Fanny and Elvis | Samantha | |
| 2000–2002
| Holly Quinn | 13 episodes |
| 2000–2005
| Lauren Harris | 22 episodes |
| 2002
| Stan the Man | Julie | 1 episode |
| rowspan="2"| 2003
| Alyson Holt | Series 3 episode 2: Favours |
| Between the Sheets
| Georgia Lovett | 6 episodes |
| 2006
| Mayo | Kitty McNally | 1 episode |
| 2006–2007
| Anna Williams/Anna Williams Bedford | 20 episodes |
| 2006–2010
| Herself/Presenter | 13 episodes |
| 2007–2020
| Herself/Presenter | 11 episodes |
| 2007, 2011
| Casualty | Diane Adlington/Jane Reardon | 2 episodes |
| 2009
| Economy Gastronomy | Narrator | 6 episodes; voice only |
| 2011–2012
| Zarina/Zanna Wix | 13 episodes |
| 2012–2019
| 805 episodes |
| 2019
| Worthless | Marge | Short film |
| 2021
| Cheryl |
| 2023
| Sian | 4 episodes |
| TBA
| Dark Mountain | Epona | Short film; currently in post-production |
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|269664}}
{{Dancing on Ice}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faye, Gaynor}}
Category:English people of Jewish descent
Category:English soap opera actresses
Category:English television actresses