Jennifer Metcalfe

Metcalfe was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire and grew up on the Holme Wood housing estate. She attended the Scala Kids drama school in her hometown. In between acting jobs, Metcalfe worked as a fitness instructor in Bradford.In her early roles, Metcalfe appeared in several television programmes, including the children's television series My Parents Are Aliens and the ITV dramas Where The Heart Is, At Home with the Braithwaites and soap opera Emmerdale. Metcalfe's breakthrough role occurred in 2006, when she was cast as Mercedes McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. 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 Hollyoaks Later, first appearing in the first series in 2008. It was announced in April 2010 that she would return to the series for its third series later that year, and she continued in the role for series 4 and series 5. 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 Dancing on Ice. She was partnered with Sylvain Longchambon 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, 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.