Nicole Faraday (born 28 July 1976), is a

TMA Award The UK Theatre Awards, established in 1991 and known before 2011 as the TMA Awards, are presented annually by UK Theatre (formerly the Theatrical Management Association) in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in regional thea ...

-winning actress, best known for her leading roles on British television series '' Bad Girls'', ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' and ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''.

Early life

Nicole Faraday was born as Nicola Morris in Wegberg, West Germany, on Wednesday, 28 July 1976, to British parents. Her father, a consultant doctor, was a medical officer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

working at the

RAF Hospital Wegberg The former Royal Air Force Hospital Wegberg, commonly abbreviated to RAF(H) Wegberg, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) military hospital located in Wegberg, near the city of Mönchengladbach, in the then West Germany. It was opened in 1953 to serve th ...

, a British base in Germany at the time of her birth. The family later moved back to her mother's home town of

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. Nicole attended

Talbot Heath School Talbot Heath School is a selective, private day and boarding School for girls aged 3–18 located in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The school was established in 1886 and was previously known as Bournemouth High School for Girls. ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Clayesmore School Clayesmore School is an independent school for boys and girls, aged 2 – 18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (H ...

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

, and went on to train in musical theatre at the

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

Acting roles

In 2001, she played a prostitute in the last episode of '' 'Orrible'', alongside

Johnny Vaughan Jonathan Randal Vaughan (born 16 July 1966) is an English television and radio presenter and a film critic. He was the main presenter of ''Capital Breakfast'' alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011. Vaughan currently pr ...

and

Ricky Grover Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

. From 2002–2003, Faraday was a principal cast member of both

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's '' Bad Girls'' and the BBC's ''

''. Faraday's television credits include recurring character Veronica in ''

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ITV's ''

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

'' and ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' for the BBC. She also stars opposite

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer. Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelse ...

, as his wife, Kim Brookes, in the 2016 vigilante thriller ''Kill Kane''. More recently, she filmed the leading role Ms Bushnell in black comedy ''Ask The Cheat'' opposite

Martin Trenaman Martin Trenaman (born 1962) is an English comedy writer and actor, who has contributed to many modern comedy series. He played Simon's father, Alan Cooper, in the sitcom ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008-10). He reprised the role of Mr. Cooper for the ...

and

Nick Moran Nick Moran (born 23 December 1968 or 1969, sources differ) is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his role as Eddie the card sharp in ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels''. He appeared as Scabior in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly H ...

, released in cinemas in 2019.

Bad Girls

In '' Bad Girls'', she played prison inmate

Snowball Merriman The following is a full list of characters appearing in all eight series of '' Bad Girls''. They are listed by first appearance. Series 1 Helen Stewart *Portrayed by Simone Lahbib *Appears in: Series 1–3 Helen Stewart is Wing Governor of G ...

in series 4 and 5 of the TV series; and she played a different character,

Shell Dockley Michelle "Shell" Dockley is a fictional character from the award-winning prison drama series '' Bad Girls''. She is portrayed by British actress Debra Stephenson. Shell was one of the lead characters in the series. Shell appeared from the first ep ...

, in the West End stage musical version at London's

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

. She won a Theatre Managers Association award and was a WOS nominee for the role. Shell Dockley was played (as a non-musical part) in series 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the TV series by

Debra Stephenson Debra Stephenson (born 4 June 1972) is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in ''Playing the Field'', Shell Dockley in '' Bad Girls'' and as Frankie Baldwin in ''Coronation Street''. ...

. Faraday and Stephenson bear a strong physical resemblance, and their characters in ''Bad Girls'' were similarly styled. The script for ''Bad Girls'' acknowledged this; when the character of Shell returned to the TV series for several episodes in series 5 (after being recaptured having escaped from prison and spending some time on the run in Europe), Shell offers up a comment on Snowball: "Cheeky slag! Swanning about, nicking my look. Who does she think she is? Me?!"

Theatre

In October 2006, Faraday won a prestigious

for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for her portrayal of Shell Dockley in the Bad Girls musical's original run at the

West Yorkshire Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire. Having originally opened in 1970 in a different location in Leeds, it reopened as West Yorkshire Playhouse, on Quarry Hill, in March 1990. After a refurbishment in 2018-20 ...

. She was subsequently nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical at the West End Whatsonstage.com Awards 2007/8. Other notable theatre credits include An Audience with the Mafia at the Apollo Theatre, and the role of Eva Cassidy in three UK national tours of Over the Rainbow. Nicole appeared as the Wicked Queen in the pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Eastbourne's Devonshire Park Theatre, from 12 December 2008 to 11 January 2009, alongside

Stefan Booth Stefan Booth (born 4 October 1979) is an English actor and singer, best known for playing Greg Jessop in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1 October 2010 to 21 October 2011. Background Booth went to school at Monkton Combe School in Bath ...

and

Niamh Perry Niamh Perry (born 10 June 1990) is a Northern Irish singer and actress who is best known for playing Fleck in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical '' Love Never Dies''. She came to prominence when she competed as one of the finalists in the BBC tal ...

from BBC's '' I'd Do Anything''. She repeated this role at The Place theatre, Oakengates in Telford, in the pantomime Snow White, from 8 December 2015 to 3 January 2016, alongside

Jeremy Edwards Jeremy Edwards (born 17 February 1971) is an English actor, known for his roles as Kurt Benson in ''Hollyoaks'', Danny Shaughnessy in ''Holby City'' and Mike Taylor in ''Millie Inbetween'', as well as being a regular panellist and guest host on ...

and Amy Reader. She sang solo with

Frank Renton Frank Renton is a British musician, conductor and broadcaster, and former host of ''Listen to the Band'' on BBC Radio 2. An accomplished trumpet player, Renton won a competition for young conductors at the 1967 Edinburgh Festival, whilst em ...

's Concert Brass on 10 December 2009 and again in December 2012 at the Royal Albert Hall at a charity Concert with the Stars for TV Times in aid of Leukaemia Research. She regularly performs her own cabaret at venues, such as Pizza on the Park, now known as

The Pheasantry The Pheasantry, 152 King's Road, Chelsea, London, is a Grade II listed building that was home to a number of important figures in 1960s London and a small music venue in the 1970s where a number of bands were able to play their first gigs. Early ...

. She has twice appeared as a guest star in best friend

Dianne Pilkington Dianne Lesley Pilkington (born 7 June 1975) is an English theatre actress and singer. Personal life Pilkington was born in Wigan. She trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 1997 with the Principal's Award. Pilkington marrie ...

's cabarets at Lauderdale House in 2005 and 20 February 2011, singing 'Who Will Love Me As I Am' and 'It's Never That Easy/I've Been Here Before' respectively. She sings this duet on Dianne's debut album ''Little Stories''. She can also be heard on the West End cast album of '' Bad Girls: The Musical''. In 2017, she also featured in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Pantomime at the Palace Theatre.

Credits

Film & TV

Theatre Credits

Personal life

Nicole Faraday is openly bisexual. Prior to joining '' Bad Girls'' in 2002 when she was 25, she had only been in romantic relationships with men, although she had long known that she was also attracted to women.

References

External links

* *
Nicole Faraday profile
at ''

'' & ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' fan site
holby.tv

Bad Girls: The Musical
official website
www.badgirls.co.uk – archive characters and eps series 4 and 5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faraday, Nicole Living people 1976 births Bisexual actresses British television actresses People from Swanage People educated at Talbot Heath School People educated at Clayesmore School Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting British LGBT actors