Gail McKenna (born 30 December 1968) is an English former

glamour model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Though ...

, former theatre and television actress, and former television presenter. She worked as a ''

Page 3 Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishing ...

'' girl and glamour model from 1986 until 1990, before becoming a sports presenter for

L!VE TV L!VE TV was a British television station that was operated by Mirror Group Newspapers on cable television from 12 June 1995 until 5 November 1999. It was later revived for Sky from 2003. In 2006, L!VE TV's name was changed to Babeworld to r ...

and

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

and a presenter of children's programmes for

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

Glamour modelling

McKenna was born on 30 December 1968 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. As a teenager, she attended a Catholic convent school in Liverpool. After attaining eight

O-levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

, she took a year off, intending to return to pursue

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s in

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

. However, after achieving success as a glamour model, she decided not to return to school. On 21 May 1986, aged 17, McKenna made her

debut in the tabloid newspaper '' The Sun''. She went on to become one of the most popular glamour models of her era, with her photographs appearing regularly in tabloid newspapers and

men's magazines This is a list of magazines primarily marketed to men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the target audience of the magazines. This list includes mostly mainstream magazines as well as adult ones. Not included here are autom ...

. In 1988, she appeared in a ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine pictorial with a number of other Page 3 models, including

Maria Whittaker Maria Whittaker (born 7 October 1969), also known as Maria Tafari, is an English former glamour model, Page 3 girl, and pop singer. Modelling career Born on 7 October 1969 in Hounslow, Middlesex, Whittaker made her Page 3 debut in '' The Sun'' ...

and

Suzanne Mizzi Suzanne Mizzi (1 December 1967 – 22 May 2011) was a glamour model, singer, interior designer, and artist. She made regular appearances as a ''Page 3'' girl in the British newspaper '' The Sun'' during the 1980s and 1990s, before going on to ...

. McKenna ceased topless and nude modelling in 1990, at the age of 21, after she became a

born again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Theatre, film and television

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, McKenna regularly played parts in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

s and

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

productions. Her film and television credits include a minor uncredited role in the 1988 film ''

Consuming Passions ''Consuming Passions'' is a 1988 black comedy film which stars Vanessa Redgrave, Jonathan Pryce, and Sammi Davis and was directed by Giles Foster. Synopsis The film is based on '' Secrets'' by Michael Palin and Terry Jones a BBC television pl ...

,'' as well as a brief role in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's now-defunct soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'', where she played the girlfriend of character

Barry Grant Barry Grant is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'', played by Paul Usher. The character debuted on-screen during the first episode of ''Brookside'', broadcast on 2 November 1982. Barry is one of the show's ...

. In 1996, McKenna became a television

sports presenter In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live television, live broadcast, ...

for

's ''Sports Live''. She went on to present the sports shows ''Turnstile'' and ''Live and Dangerous'' on the TV channel

. In 1998, she became a

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...

presenter for

. She worked on ''

Brilliant Creatures ''Brilliant Creatures'' is a children's wildlife TV show that aired in the UK on ITV's children's slot CITV between 13 July 1998 and 10 March 2004. It was produced by The Foundation, and was distributed by Entertainment Rights overseas. The orig ...

'' from 1998–2004, where her co-hosts included

Terry Nutkins Terence Paul Nutkins (12 August 1946 – 6 September 2012) was an English naturalist, television presenter and author. He appeared in the UK children's programmes '' Animal Magic'', '' The Really Wild Show'', '' Brilliant Creatures'' and ...

and

Stephen Mulhern Stephen Daniel Mulhern is an English television presenter, magician, and comedian. He began his television career on CITV, presenting the children's shows ''Finger Tips'' (2001–2004) and ''Tricky TV'' (2005–2010). Mulhern has presented vario ...

, and ''

How 2 ''How 2'' is an informative educational programme produced by TVS between 1990 and 1991, and STV Studios (Scottish Television) from 1992 to 2006. The original show ('' How)'' was produced by Southern Television from 1966 up until 1981 when the ...

'' from 2000–06, which she co-presented with

Fred Dinenage Frederick Edgar Dinenage MBE (born 8 June 1942) is an English author and retired broadcaster and television presenter. His television career spanned nearly 60 years, including the long-running children's programme '' How'' and ITV's regional p ...

and Gareth Jones.

Personal life

In 1990, McKenna married

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

Tony Potter, whom she had met on the set of a pantomime production two years earlier. The couple had a son in 1992 but their marriage was short-lived. She married her second husband, restaurateur James Rhodes, on 25 January 1997 at

Dalhousie Castle Dalhousie Castle is a castle in Cockpen, Midlothian, Scotland. Dalhousie Castle is situated near the town of Bonnyrigg, 8 miles (13 km) south of Edinburgh. The castle was the seat of the Earls of Dalhousie, the chieftains of Clan Ramsay. ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In December 1997, she gave birth to a second son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Gail 1968 births English television presenters Page 3 girls Living people