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Abi Titmuss
Abi Titmuss at the 2008 World Series of Poker
Born	(1976-02-08) 8 February 1976 (age 48) Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England

Abigail Evelyn "Abi" Titmuss born 8 February 1976 in Newark, Nottinghamshire, is an English actress, television personality, former glamour model and nurse.

Early life

Abi Titmuss grew up in Heckington, Lincolnshire where her parents were teachers and she took her A levels at Kesteven and Sleaford High School where she played the clarinet. Her parents divorced when she was 17 and her father moved to Argyll, Scotland, where he remarried. Her mother was secretary of Sleaford Museum Trust.

Career

Nursing

Titmuss graduated from City University in St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1998. She did a nursing diploma "because I was interested in becoming a doctor, but hadn't taken A level Chemistry" and became a staff nurse at London's University College Hospital.

Television and radio

Titmuss was hired as a roving reporter on the Channel 4 programme Richard & Judy, but was sacked in January 2004 when it emerged that she had been privately filmed in 2000 performing oral sex on her then boyfriend, John Leslie and on a female model, Aisha Abubakar and the stolen footage, which had been downloaded without permission from a private computer by a convicted criminal, Lanre Onabowale, (currently serving 18-years in jail for four counts of rape) became public.

Titmuss appeared on ITV1's Celebrity Love Island. Other television work includes training as a chef on the 2004 series of Hell's Kitchen and in 2005, she appeared on Channel 4's The Friday Night Project as a regular guest feature and also in Abi Titmuss: A Modern Day Morality Tale, a fly-on-the-wall documentary for Channel 4. She has also starred on a celebrity edition of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me with Paul Ross, Lesley Joseph, Linda Lusardi and Rodney Marsh.

Titmuss also appeared on the reality series Deadline with Janet Street Porter on ITV2. The show followed a number of celebrities as they attempted to produce a celebrity-based magazine each week, published as a supplement to Closer. Titmuss was the fourth celebrity to be sacked from the show.

She has guest-presented shows on Virgin Radio, MTV and LBC radio.

Glamour

I'm not like those glamour girls who say: 'I'm really dirty, I'm really bad', then just pose around. I really am dirty and bad - I love sex.

She took up presenting on a pornographic channel Television X, released a fitness video, put her name to an erotic novel published by Black Lace and made personal appearances in nightclubs in the UK and Ireland. An initial offer of a photo shoot over two pages of FHM morphed into a three-page spread and a cover. In December 2004, Titmuss appeared on the front cover of FHM with Swedish model Victoria Silvstedt. In 2004 and 2005, she made 38 front-page appearances on British men's magazines, such as FHM, Nuts, Zoo Weekly, loaded, GQ and Maxim magazines. She also appeared in the Sunday Times Style and in glamour pictures in several tabloid newspapers including The Sun, News of the World, Daily Mirror, The People and Daily Star. In 2005, Titmuss was voted number 7 by readers in FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World and wrote a regular sex advice column for the magazine. At the height of her fame in 2004/05, Titmuss could command a modelling fee of up to £30,000 a day for appearing on the front page of Nuts or Zoo. In 2005, Titmuss appeared in a high fashion shoot in Pop magazine, which commented on her status as the "face of 21st century celebrity".In her book, Titmuss states how she quickly realised that she wanted more control after seeing magazines pay her for one shoot and then sell the pictures many times. So she started paying for and directing her own shoots thus owning the copyright and selling them herself, with her manager.

In December 2004, Titmuss appeared on the front cover of FHM again (with Swedish model Victoria Silvstedt), making history as the first girl ever to be put on FHM's cover twice in one year (as written about in her book).

After taking a break from modelling work, Titmuss relaunched her glamour career in 2007, this time as a brunette, with an appearance on the cover of Zoo Weekly and the sale of the official Abi Titmuss Calendar. On 25 April that year, it was announced that Titmuss had made an appearance for a third time in FHM's annual 100 Sexiest Women in the World readers' poll, at number 80 (she had been number 95 in 2004 and number 7 in 2005).

After announcing in late 2007 that she would take a break from her glamour modelling career to concentrate on acting, Titmuss returned with a new Nuts shoot in April 2009 to promote her final calendar.

Acting

Titmuss first acted during her university studies and then took part-time acting courses at the Central School of Speech and Drama, paid for from her nursing work. After reducing her glamour model work, Titmuss took a further short course at the same establishment.

According to her book The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss, the first theatre producer to audition her for a role was Marc Sinden:

25th February 2004: Today I had my audition for Marc Sinden. Marc was really lovely and put me at my ease. Marc directed me and got me to do it a couple of times. He told me at the end that he hadn't known what to expect from me, but that I had really surprised him. I was recalled for a second audition.
5th March 2004: Second audition - When I finished he sat me down and looked me in the eye and said "In my opinion Abi, you can do it. You can act. You've got that special something. I think you need someone to tell you that, don't you?" I was embarrassed to find I was crying. It was the sound of someone validating my shaky belief in my ability. I didn't get the job and he was right. I was far too raw. But I did walk out of there with my head held higher. Marc's kind words had encouraged me to follow my dream. He said that he would remember me. I wonder if he will?

In March 2006, Titmuss made her London theatre acting début, playing a prostitute with a multiple personality disorder in Two Way Mirror by Arthur Miller, at the Courtyard Theatre in King's Cross, for which she won a Fringe Report Award for Best West End Début.

In 2006, Titmuss had a small role in the film Goal! 2 and in 2007 appeared in the second series première of Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, which aired on BBC Three and as a character called Gezebelle in an episode of Katy Brand's Big Ass Show, a sketch comedy series for ITV2.

Between 26 February and 23 March 2008, Titmuss appeared in the black comedy Fat Christ at the King's Head Theatre in Islington, London.

She has been cast in small roles in British independent films Do Elephants Pray? and Mixed Up. In 2008 she played the role of the 'Mysterious Girl' in Beat 24 Films UK independent feature film Frontman.

In 2009 she was cast in the 25th anniversary production of John Godber's play Up 'n' Under at the newly refurbished Hull Truck Theatre, Hull. Titmuss played the role of Hazel the fitness instructor, starring alongside James Crossley (formerly the Gladiator "Hunter") and soap actor Lewis Linford ("Lee Naylor" in Emmerdale). She also had a part in the BBC TV series Hotel Babylon, playing a nun.

From November until December 2009, Titmuss appeared in Shakespeare's Macbeth, playing the character of Lady Macbeth with the Seagull Rep. This production opened at the Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft before transferring to other East Anglian venues.

On 18 February 2012, she played the role of Tara Edmonds in an episode of BBC TV's Casualty. She said that landing the part gave her a sense of self-esteem that she had lost doing the glamour work.

Publications

Titmuss produced a book, co-written with Jayne Lockwood and published by Virgin Books, on 7 July 2005 called Ten Fantasies (ISBN 978-0-7535-1037-7), in which she reveals her ten most secret sexual fantasies. She said that she did not want her mother to read it.

Her memoir, The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss (ISBN 978-0-7553-1790-5), was released by Headline Review on 24 July 2008 on which she collaborated with Heat journalist Lucie Cave.

Personal life

Titmuss first came to public attention as the girlfriend of TV presenter John Leslie whom she met in a Fulham bar on 10 April 1999. She also claimed in her book that she has had relationships with footballer Lee Sharpe, whom she met on ITV1 show Celebrity Love Island and David Walliams.

References

1. "Abi Titmuss". AskMen.com. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
2. ^ "England & Wales births". brightsolid online publishing limited, trading as findmypast.co.uk. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
3. "Sleaford Museum Trust - Contact Us". Sleafordmuseum.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
4. The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss {p9}
5. My hell over shabby Abi orgy - Mirror Online
6. Robin Perrie (3 August 2007). "Abi sex vid man is a rapist | The Sun |News". London: The Sun. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
7. The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss
8. "'I was labelled a monster and thought about killing myself': John Leslie opens up about how false rape claims ruined his life". London: Dailymail.co.uk. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
9. "Come Dine With Me, episode 14". Channel4. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
10. "Abi Titmuss is gagging for a man". Play-2-Win Ltd. January 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
11. "Abi Titmuss". Maxim. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
12. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article6921535.ece?print=yes
13. The Secret Diaries Of Abigail Titmuss
14. "The full list of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2007". London: Daily Mail. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
15. "Abu Titmuss". Nuts. April 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
16. The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss Headline Review. ISBN 978-0-7553-1790-5 pages 92, 96-97
17. Fringe Report Awards 2007
18. Frontman IMDB Page
19. Official Site of the film showing photos of Abi on set.
20. Kendall, Paul (8 November 2009). "Abi Titmuss: Glamour girl to Lady Macbeth". London: Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
21. Glennie, Alasdair (16:32 EST, 24 May 2013). "Ten years after that sex storm, John Leslie and Abi Titmuss are singletons at opposite ends of the country". Daily Mail UK. Daily Mail UK. Retrieved 1 June 2014. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Text "Updated: 02:51 EST, 25 May 2013" ignored (help)
22. Dunbar, Polly (18 February 2012). "Abi Titmuss on her battle for self-respect: I was making £30,000 a day but I could feel my lack of talent as though I was wearing it". Daily Mail. London.
23. "Abi Titmuss' life spiralled out of control after Lee Sharp love split". Sunday Mirror. 13 July 2008. Archived from the original on 14 July 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
24. The Secret Diaries of Abigail Titmuss {p8}

External links

• The Official Abi Titmuss Website and Blog
• Abi Titmuss feature at Maxim magazine
• Article about her in The Independent newspaper
• Abi Titmuss at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Use dmy dates from August 2010
• 1976 births
• Living people
• Actresses from Lincolnshire
• Actresses from Nottinghamshire
• Alumni of City University London
• Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
• English film actresses
• English nurses
• English stage actresses
• English musical theatre actresses
• English television actresses
• English television presenters
• Footballers' wives and girlfriends
• Glamour models
• Participants in British reality television series
• People educated at Kesteven and Sleaford High School
• People from Ruskington