She was born in
Oldham,
Lancashire and attended
North Chadderton School for her secondary education.
Career She is known mainly for her roles in television, which include
Margaret Clemence in
Channel 4's
Brookside; Stephenson's on-air kiss with
Anna Friel (
Beth Jordache) was the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss to be broadcast on British television. In 2012 the kiss was broadcast to over 5 billion people when it was included as part of the
London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony directed by
Danny Boyle. The opening ceremony was broadcast uncensored in 76 countries where homosexuality is illegal and therefore became the first homosexual kiss to be broadcast in these countries. Other roles have included Julie Fitzjohn/Bradford in
Holby City, Suzie Davidson in
Clocking Off, Jackie Armstrong in ITV's
Christmas Lights/
Northern Lights/
City Lights, Sarah Williams in BBC's
The Chase and Helen Enright in
All at Sea. In 2012, Nicola played Louise, a series lead in the ITV drama
Homefront. In 2014 she joined the regular cast of
Waterloo Road as art teacher Allie Westbrook for 11 episodes. Her theatre roles include
A Patriot for Me at the
Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by
Peter Gill,
His Girl Friday and
Edmund at the
National Theatre, directed by
Ed Hall, and
War Horse at the
New London Theatre in London's
West End, directed by
Marianne Elliot. In 2025 she played
Dorothy Pizer in the play
Liberation written by
Zodwa Nyoni at
Royal Exchange Theatre as part of
Manchester International Festival. In 2007, she had a lead role in the BBC TV 3 part series
Superstorm directed by Julian Simpson. In 2014 she worked with Simpson again when he directed her as a guest lead in the BBC TV series
New Tricks. She appeared in the
ITV drama
Safe House in early 2015. From 2015 to 2016, she played the part of
Tess Harris in the soap-opera
Emmerdale. Her five-month stint on the serial came to a sudden end when her character was killed off in a hit-and-run incident. Stephenson's role in the soap also reunited her with her co-star from
The Chase,
Gaynor Faye, who had played the character of
Megan Macey since 2012. ==Filmography==