Zoe Birkett

Zoe Birkett
Born	(1985-06-16)16 June 1985 Consett,County Durham,England
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress, presenter
Instrument	Vocals

Zoe Birkett(born 16 June 1985) is an English singer andmusical theatreperformer.

Birkett was the highest placing female contestant onPop Idolin 2001 and later appeared onBig Brother.Her first single,Treat Me Like A Lady,was released in 2003 and charted in theUK Top 40.

Since 2009, Birkett has performed inWest End theatre.She has performed inThriller Live,Moulin Rouge! The Musical,The Bodyguard,Priscilla Queen of the Desertand other notable productions.

Career

Early career andPop Idol

Birkett was born inConsett,a town inCounty Durham,and began attending stage school from the age of three.She had had hopes of being a performer,and trained at the Amanda McGlynn Academy inMiddlesbroughand the Lorraine Murray Dance School.

In 2002, Birkett finished fourth on thefirst seriesofPop Idol,behindWill Young,Gareth GatesandDarius Danesh.She was the highest placed female in the contest. During the competition, she performed such songs asWhitney Houston's "One Moment in Time","I Will Always Love You"and"I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)";Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer";ABBA's "Thank You For the Music" andJudy Garland's "Get Happy".She later performed as the warm-up act onPop Idolwinners Will Young's and Gareth Gates' tour where she performed to over 250,000 people. She also recorded three songs for the triple platinumPop Idol: The Big Band Album,which charted at number 1 in theUK Albums Chart.

Recording artist

In 2003, Birkett signed arecording contractwith 19 Recordingsand released one single, "Treat Me Like a Lady", in January 2003. The track was co-written by fellowPop IdolcontestantSarah Whatmoreand peaked at number 12 in theUK Singles Chart.Birkett later departed from herrecord labeland pursued an alternative career in musical theatre.

Big Brother

On 14 July 2014, Birkett entered theBig Brotherhouse as one of three new housemates.Upon their arrival, the new housemates were unaware that the public would be voting to decide who would be allowed to stay in the competition. On 18 July, Birkett was saved from eviction and received the highest number of votes from the public. However she later left the competition on Day 58 after being unsuccessful in another public vote.

Theatre career

Birkett's first roles were inpantomimeand touring productions such asIn Town Tonight,What A Feeling,West End RocksandCover Girls.

Since 2009, Birkett has performed inWest End theatreand was initially cast inPriscilla Queen of the Desertuntil 2011. She then performed as a lead singer inGarrick Theatre's 2011 production ofRespect La Diva,.

In 2012, Birkett became theleading ladyofThriller Live.She was also later cast as anunderstudyforThe Bodyguard's leading ladyAlexandra Burke.In this role, she was responsible for matinée performances..

In 2021, Birkett performed as Arabia inMoulin Rouge! The MusicalatPiccadilly Theatre.She later performed in the main female lead role of Satine and made her debut on May 10, 2022. She was featured in theDave MalloymusicalThe Witchesin 2023..