Early Life
Born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, she was brought up in a show business family. Her mother was Elaine Smith, a former showgirl, actress and writer of erotic novels, who used the stage names Helene Thornton and Heller Torren. Until late in her life, Yates believed her father to be Jess Yates, who was known as "the Bishop" and presented the ITV religious programme Stars On Sunday. Yates and Smith were married from 1958 to 1975; Yates was 16 years older than his wife and their marriage was unconventional. Jess Yates was fired from his job in 1974 because of scandalous newspaper stories about his private life.
In an unsettled childhood, Yates attended school at Rowen primary, Penrhos College, Ysgol Aberconwy. The Yates family ran the Deganwy Castle Hotel for a time, before moving to a large house in Rowen, Conwy. After the break-up of her parents' marriage in 1975, Yates lived mostly with her mother, including periods in Malta and Mallorca where she was a pupil at Bellver International College, before returning to Britain.
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