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Kimberley Gail Marsh (previously Ryder, Lomas and Ratcliff; born 13 June 1976) is an English actress, television presenter and singer. In 2001, she won a place in the band Hear'Say as a result of appearing on the reality television series Popstars. Hear'Say enjoyed brief success, achieving two UK number one singles and a UK number one album, but Marsh left the band in 2002 to pursue a solo career. She released an album titled Standing Tall in 2003, which peaked at number nine in the UK and spawned two UK top ten singles.
From 2006 to 2019, she portrayed Michelle Connor on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street. She won the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer at the 2007 British Soap Awards, as well as winning the Newcomer category at the 2007 National Television Awards and being nominated for Best Female Dramatic Performance at the 2017 British Soap Awards. In 2010, she finished in fourth place on Popstar to Operastar, a reality show featuring well-known pop stars being trained to sing opera. Since October 2020, Marsh has co-fronted the BBC One morning lifestyle programme Morning Live alongside Welsh presenter Gethin Jones. From 2023, Marsh appeared in the revival of the BBC school drama series Waterloo Road.
In late 2000, Marsh auditioned for the ITV talent show Popstars. She was one of the five singers chosen for the newly formed band Hear'Say, along with Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Suzanne Shaw and Noel Sullivan. In March 2001, Hear'Say released their first single "Pure and Simple", a cover of a track by Girl Thing. She was hailed by her girl bandmates as "the funniest out of the bunch". The song went straight to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in March 2001, selling just under 550,000 copies. The group then released their second single, "The Way to Your Love," in June 2001. The song became their second consecutive number 1 single. Shortly afterwards the group toured the UK. In January 2002, Marsh announced that she was leaving Hear'Say. Auditions were held to find a replacement for her, but the group split up in October 2002.
Marsh joined the cast of Coronation Street, playing Michelle Connor from April 2006 a role she held until 2019. For her role on the show she has subsequently received Newcomer awards at the 2007 British Soap Awards and the 2007 National Television Awards, among others. Becoming a regular character, her storylines have included a serious relationship with Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), discovering that her son had been swapped at birth, the death of her eldest brother Paul (Sean Gallagher) and the murder of her other brother Liam Connor (Rob James-Collier), her failed engagement to Ciaran McCarthy (Keith Duffy), surviving a minibus crash, becoming pregnant with Steve's baby, learning that Steve has also impregnated Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), delivering a Stillbirth son Ruairi and being stalked by her ex-boyfriend Will (Leon Ockenden). Other storylines have focused on the relationships with her sisters-in-law, Carla Connor (Alison King) and Maria Connor (Samia Ghadie), as well as her relationship with Robert Preston (Tristan Gemmill) after the collapse of her marriage to Steve. In 2008, as the character dominated more storylines, some fans began to tire of her as well as her behaviour. The baby-swap storyline, which Michelle was central to, was largely panned by both fans and critics, columnist Grace Dent said of the plot; "...It feels like something ripped from a copy of Pick Me Up magazine and read to me laboriously over 22 weeks". In contrast, the 2017 stillbirth storyline as well as Marsh's performance received rave reviews and were praised by the stillbirth charity Sands. Marsh, whose real-life son Archie was also stillborn, explained that it was important for her to take on the storyline in order to raise awareness of the issue. She also voiced for the change in law which would see stillborn children receive birth certificates. The actress also stated it was "the best way to honour" her son. She later won the 2017 British Soap Award for Best Female Dramatic Performance. On 24 February 2019, it was announced that Marsh would be leaving the soap after 13 years and Michelle's final scenes were broadcast on 27 December 2019.
Marsh began presenting the daily morning magazine show Morning Live on BBC One on 26 October 2020, alongside Gethin Jones. The series ended on 18 December 2020 and the BBC confirmed on 17 December it would return in 2021 for a second series. In March 2021, Marsh appeared in the fourth series of the BBC One drama The Syndicate as Donna.
In February 2022, she was announced as one of the starring cast members of BBC's revival of their school drama Waterloo Road, which began airing in January 2023.
On 4 August 2022, it was announced that Marsh would be competing on the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with Graziano Di Prima. The series launched on 24 September 2022. On 22 November 2022, it was announced that Marsh had tested positive for COVID and would, therefore, have to miss that Saturday's appearance on the show. She was the tenth celebrity to be eliminated, on 3 December 2022, after losing the dance off to Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu.
On 21 July 2025, it was announced that Marsh would appear in the UK/Australian co-commissioned series Imposter alongside Neighbours actress Jackie Woodburne.
In July 2008, Marsh began dating actor Jamie Lomas. They married in Cheshire in September 2012. She and Lomas announced that they were expecting a baby in 2009. Their son, Archie, was born 18 weeks early on 11 February and died moments after birth. On 23 March 2011, their daughter, Polly, was born. Inside Soap Magazine 9–15 April 2011 On 3 October 2012, Marsh announced that she would be taking Lomas' name professionally. They separated in 2013 and divorced in 2014. During the later stages of Marsh and Lomas’ marriage, Marsh had an affair with Coronation Street co-star Oliver Mellor.
In May 2017, a wax figure of Marsh's Coronation Street character was added to the gallery of Madame Tussauds Blackpool.
In May 2019, Marsh became a grandmother when her daughter Emilie had a son. On 14 June 2021, Marsh announced her engagement to army major Scott Ratcliff and they were married on 16 October 2021.
Marsh became a grandmother for the second time in August 2022, when her son David and his fiancée Courtney had a son named Clayton.
Marsh announced her separation from Ratcliff in May 2023 and they divorced later the same year.
| 2020 | The Loss Adjuster | Angie Dyer |
| 2001 | Popstars | Contestant | |
| 2005 | Loose Women | Panellist | |
| 2005 | Doctors | Ruth Parry | Episode: "Bad Chemistry" |
| 2006 | Holby City | Myrna Morrison | |
| Making Your Mind Up 2006 | Contestant | ||
| Kay Price | Recurring role; 3 episodes | ||
| 2006–2019 | Coronation Street | Michelle Connor | Regular role; 1,641 episodes |
| 2010 | East Street | Charity crossover between Coronation Street and EastEnders | |
| Popstar to Operastar | Contestant | ||
| 2016 | EastEnders: Last Orders | Self | Television short |
| 2018 | Coronation Street's DNA Secrets | Herself | Television film |
| 2019 | Narrator | ||
| 2019–present | For Love or Money | Co-presenter | 25 episodes |
| 2020 | The One Show | Guest co–presenter | 6 episodes |
| 2020–2021 | Murder at My Door with Kym Marsh | Presenter | 2 series |
| 2020 | Your Money and Your Life | Co-presenter | 15 episodes |
| 2020–present | Morning Live | Co–presenter | |
| 2021 | The Syndicate | Donna Sanderson | Recurring role; 3 episodes |
| 2022 | Strictly Come Dancing | Contestant | Series 20 |
| 2023–present | Waterloo Road | Nicky Walters | Series regular |
| 2025 | The Weekend Travel Show | Co-presenter | With Richard Arnold |
| 2025 | Imposter | Amanda | TV mini series |
| 2003 ! scope="row" | "Cry" | 22 | Standing Tall |
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