Eurovision Song Contest and early career The actress first came to prominence in March 1991 aged 18, when she won the annual
A Song for Europe competition to represent the United Kingdom in the
Eurovision Song Contest. She finished joint tenth and the song, "
A Message to Your Heart", peaked at number 30 on the
UK singles chart. Despite her achievements, her
Eurovision entry is frequently remarked upon. She has said regarding the experience that her failure in the contest "devastated" her at the time and thought it would spell the end of her career. She has also called her appearance "ridiculous", in that she was dressed in a pink mini dress while singing about starving children and said the lyrics of the song are "burned into her memory" forever. Womack developed her first love of acting, appearing in episodes of
The Bill and
Press Gang; in 1993 she appeared in
Demob with
Griff Rhys Jones and
Martin Clunes; and took to the West End stage, replacing
Debbie Gibson as Sandy in
Grease. In 1994 Womack appeared in the comedy-drama crime series
Minder. She played Marian Prince, a jazz club
chanteuse and friend of Ray Daley in the episode "
All Quiet on the West End Front". From 1994 to 1998 Womack played Mandy in the
BBC Two sitcom
Game On. She remained on the show until its end in 1998. In between series of
Game On, she had a part in the
BBC One drama
Pie in the Sky from 1995 to 1996 as Nicola Dooley, a waitress. Womack then appeared in
the pilot for
The Grimleys with
Jack Dee, and the film ''
Up 'n' Under with Neil Morrissey. In 1998 she starred in the ITV1 series Liverpool 1 with her future husband Mark Womack. She then returned to comedy in the sitcom Babes in the Wood'' co-starring another Sylvia Young Theatre School student,
Denise van Outen, it was critically panned despite respectable ratings, and Womack left after the first series. In 1999, Womack played Cinderella in the
ITV Christmas pantomime alongside
Harry Hill,
Alexander Armstrong,
Frank Skinner,
Paul Merton,
Ronnie Corbett and many more. A popular choice for photo shoots in men's magazines such as
FHM, she came 21st in the
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll in 1998 and 41st in 1999.
Smaller roles In 1990, she appeared as a guest in two episodes of the
CITV comedy sitcom
Spatz; Series 1 Episode 2 and 3. It is rumoured that a possible falling out may have occurred leading to her swift exit from the show after such a brief stint. This is fuelled by her reluctance to admit for many years that she was part of the show. In 2002 she returned to TV in
BBC One drama
Strange and she appeared in films
The Baby Juice Express,
Lighthouse Hill and ''Dead Man's Cards''. In January 2005 she narrated
Jordan & Peter: Laid Bare for
ITV2. She later directed an anti-bullying music video for
Liverpool band Just 3, entitled
Stand Tall. The video starred her and
Liverpool F.C. footballer
Jamie Carragher. The video was heavily backed by
Childline ambassador
Esther Rantzen. In 2006, Womack starred in the
BBC One comedy
Home Again as Ingrid, and as Miss Adelaide in the West End production of the musical
Guys and Dolls at London's
Piccadilly Theatre, initially with
Patrick Swayze and then
Miami Vice star
Don Johnson. She reprised the role at the
Sunderland Empire opposite
Alex Ferns in 2007.
EastEnders On 11 May 2007 it was announced that she would be joining
EastEnders as
Ronnie Mitchell, a cousin of the well known Mitchell brothers. She had previously appeared in the soap in a minor role as a girlfriend of
Simon Wicks, played by
Nick Berry. During her first stint, Womack's character Ronnie was central to many storylines including the controversial baby-swap story which was aired during 2011. On 6 January 2011, it was announced that she had quit the soap due to her unhappiness with the baby swap storyline. Womack made her final appearance as Ronnie on 7 July 2011 when the character was sent to prison. Since appearing on
EastEnders she has made regular television appearances on
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, ''
The Paul O'Grady Show, Richard & Judy and Loose Women. In November 2007, she sang with EastEnders
co-stars in the 2007 Children in Need'' charity appeal. In May 2013, it was confirmed that Womack would return to
EastEnders as Ronnie Mitchell. Ronnie was later
killed-off during the episode broadcast on 1 January 2017, when she was trying to save her sister
Roxy Mitchell (
Rita Simons) from drowning in a hotel swimming pool, and drowned herself. Her last "appearance" was in the episode broadcast 19 January 2017 when Ronnie was shown as a corpse lying in her coffin. Since Ronnie and Roxy were "killed off",
EastEnders fans have continued to campaign for the characters to be resurrected, including sending potential scripts and return plots to the show's bosses.
Theatre and continued success In 2011 Womack played the lead role, Ensign Nellie Forbush, a
US Navy nurse from
Little Rock, Arkansas, in the
Lincoln Center production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical
South Pacific at the
Barbican Theatre in London. In March 2013, Womack starred opposite her husband on stage in the world premiere of
Hope at the
Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. From September 2013, Womack played the regular role of Tanya in series three of Sky Living's
Mount Pleasant. She continued in this role until the final episode in 2017. Altogether, Womack appeared in 25 episodes as Tanya Dawson (later Porter when the character married). In 2015, she appeared in the film
Kingsman: The Secret Service as lead actor
Taron Egerton's character's mother. This was Womack's first main role in such a high-profile film. In 2017 Womack reprised the role in a smaller appearance in
Kingsman: The Golden Circle. In 2017, Womack toured as
Morticia Adams in the musical-comedy
Addams Family as Morticia around the UK and Ireland. She was announced to reprise the role in 2021 for a tour around
UK and
Ireland, however she did not reprise the role on tour for unknown reasons. The role of Morticia Addams was instead played by Strictly Come Dancing champion Joanne Clifton In September 2018, it was announced that she would be playing Fairy Bow Bells in the pantomime
Dick Whittington. Womack appeared in
Silent Witness in early 2019. On an episode of
Loose Women in February 2019, Womack confirmed that offers had been made to her about a project with co-star and best friend
Rita Simons. In response to this, they both said that they would wait for the right one to come along. From 2021 to 2023, she portrayed the
White Witch in the UK touring and West End productions of
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Other ventures In January 2011 she appeared as one of the celebrity contestants on the BBC show
The Magicians, working with magician Chris Korn. For her "celebrity's choice" trick, she chose being
sawn in half by Korn in an illusion called
Clearly Impossible. In March 2011 she appeared with
Lenny Henry,
Angela Rippon and
Reggie Yates in the BBC fundraising documentary for
Comic Relief called
Famous, Rich and in the Slums, where the four celebrities were sent to
Kibera in Kenya, Africa's largest
slum. In November 2011, it was reported that Womack was in the running, alongside
Dannii Minogue to become a judge on the 2012 series of ''
Britain's Got Talent''. However, it was later confirmed that the judging panel for series six would be
Simon Cowell,
Alesha Dixon,
Amanda Holden and
David Walliams. Womack has since confirmed that she was offered a place on the judging panel and that she had a meeting with Cowell in
Los Angeles. She has said that although she was grateful, she rejected the offer as "it's just not me". In 2012 Womack appeared in series nine of the BBC's
Who Do You Think You Are? The episode revealed her descent on her father's side from two musicians, her great grandfather Alexander Cunningham Ryan, his partner's father Pierre François Odilon Garraud, & Pierre's partner, an actress, Jessie Ryder. In February 2013, she took part in
All Star Family Fortunes, donating money to
Comic Relief and
ActionAid. Womack was interviewed on
John Bishop: In Conversation With... in November 2017. This episode titled
John Bishop: In Conversation With...Samantha Womack included an in depth conversation about her life and career. In February 2020, it was announced that Womack would be taking part in the challenge for
Sport Relief. In 2021, she acted alongside
Harry Potter actress
Jessie Cave in the British
sitcom Buffering. ==Personal life==