Rachel Leskovac (born 5 June 1976) is an English actress and singer. She is known for portraying the roles of

Kelly Yorke '' Holby City'' is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 12 January 1999 on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty''. It is set in the ...

in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the chara ...

series ''

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 ...

'' (2003–2004),

Natasha Blakeman Natasha Blakeman is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Rachel Leskovac. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 12 May 2008. On 29 April 2010, it was announced that Leskovac ...

in the

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 ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'' (2008–2010, 2020–2021), and

Joanne Cardsley Joanne Cardsley is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Rachel Leskovac. The character made her first on-screen appearance on 17 September 2015. Joanne's arrival on-screen was not announced prior to ...

in the

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 ...

soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' (2015–2016). In 2022, she joined the revival of the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' as English teacher Coral Walker. She has been nominated for a

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

Early life

Leskovac was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, England. Her mother is English and her father is of Croatian descent. Leskovac has a younger sister, Sophie, and an older sister, Kate. Leskovac attended

St Joseph's Catholic College St. Joseph's Catholic College (formerly St Joseph's Comprehensive School) is a secondary school in Swindon, England. The school opened in 1958 and was the town's first Catholic school, offering education to students aged 11 to 16. Today it re ...

in Bradford and during her youth was a member of local theatre group ''Scala Kids''. She later trained at the

Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...

, graduating in 1998.

Acting career

Leskovac received critical acclaim for her performance as the young

Viv VIV or Viv may refer to: People * Viv (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Viv., the standard author abbreviation of Domenico Viviani (1772–1840), Italian botanist and naturalist Places * 2558 Viv, a main belt asteroid * ...

in the musical ''

Spend Spend Spend ''Spend Spend Spend'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Steve Brown and Justin Greene and music by Brown. The musical is inspired by the life of Viv Nicholson. Productions ''Spend Spend Spend'' premiered in 1998 at the West Yorkshire Pla ...

'' and was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical Olivier. She played serial killer nurse

on ''

''. In 2003, she played Ciara Pickering in the fourth series of ''

At Home with the Braithwaites ''At Home with the Braithwaites'' is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright (except for the final four episodes). The storyline follows a suburban family in Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when ...

''. In 2006, she also starred in a TV movie called ''

Losing Gemma ''Losing Gemma'' is a two-part British television thriller, based on the debut novel by Writer Katy Gardner. The screen adaptation was written by Robert Murphy, directed by Maurice Phillips and starred Jonas Armstrong, Alice Eve, Jason Flemyng ...

'' for Granada TV. In April 2008, Leskovac was signed up to play

, a hairdresser on the ITV soap ''

''. She left the soap in 2010. In July 2020, it was announced that Leskovac would be reprising her role as Natasha, In 2021, Leskovac left ''Coronation Street'' as Natasha died from accidentally getting shot. Leskovac played Margaret, sister of Betty in the 1950s drama ''

A Passionate Woman ''A Passionate Woman'' is a British two-part drama mini-series that aired on BBC One from 11 to 18 April 2010. Plot In 1950s Yorkshire, Betty Stevenson, a married mother of one, falls in love with her Polish neighbour, Alex Crazenovski aka "Cra ...

'' alongside Billie Piper in 2010. In 2011, Leskovac starred in an episode of the Sky 1 sitcom ''

Trollied ''Trollied'' is a British sitcom about employees in a fictional supermarket named "Valco", which debuted on Sky One on 4 August 2011 and ended on 23 December 2018. The series was filmed in a purpose-built replica supermarket in the Bottle Yard ...

'' as Leanne the deputy manager who was on maternity leave. In 2012, Leskovac played teacher Lara Heaton in the Channel 4 TV comedy drama series '' Shameless'', and she played Karen, a beauty therapist, in an episode of the

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

drama series ''

Accused Accused or The Accused may refer to: * A person suspected with committing a crime or offence; see Criminal charge ** Suspect, a known person suspected of committing a crime * The Accüsed, a 1980s Seattle crossover thrash band *''The Accused'', a ...

''. In 2013, she appeared in ''

Last Tango in Halifax ''Last Tango in Halifax'' is a British comedy-drama series that began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 November 2012 until its final episode which was broadcast on 15 March 2020. Screenwriter Sally Wainwright loosely adapted the story of her mothe ...

'' before returning to the role in 2020. In 2014, she played Susie Nightingale in the second series of ''

WPC 56 ''WPC 56'' is a British television police procedural series, created and partly written by Dominique Moloney and broadcast on BBC One. The stories feature the first woman police constables (WPC) to join the fictional Midlands Constabulary at Br ...

''. She also appeared in the 2014 crime drama '' Happy Valley'' as Julie, the wife of drug dealer-turned-kidnapper Ashley Cowgill. In 2015, she returned to the role of Susie in the third series of ''WPC 56''. In September 2015, she joined the cast of teenage soap opera ''

'' as regular

. Leskovac received critical acclaim for her role in ''Hollyoaks''. She left the role in December 2016 concluding a dramatic storyline with her.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leskovac, Rachel 1976 births Living people English television actresses English soap opera actresses English stage actresses English musical theatre actresses English Shakespearean actresses English people of Croatian descent English Roman Catholics Alumni of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts Actresses from Bradford Actresses from Yorkshire People educated at St. Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses