Career
Riley trained at the Oldham Theatre Workshop from the age of nine, and was signed by an agent three years later. After some early roles including extra work on Coronation Street and an appearance in Butterfly kiss which was directed by Michael Winterbottom, her first breakthrough role in UK television was playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale over a period of six and a half years.
In 1996, Riley won the National Television Awards for Most popular newcomer for her work in Emmerdale.
Riley was noted for playing the role of Princess Jean in the CITV Awards 1997. Riley went on then to present You've Been Framed from 1998 to 2002, taking over from the former presenter, Jeremy Beadle and raising viewers figures to more than 13 million at its peak in the process. In 1999, Riley appeared opposite a young Jack P Shepherd in Put Out More Fags and had a cameo role in the music video for "When the Going Gets Tough" by Boyzone. In 2000, Riley appeared in ITV's Christmas Pantomime Aladdin opposite stars such as Ed Byrne, Patsy Kensit, Julian Clary and Paul Merton and in 2001, Riley appeared in a commercial for Heineken.
In 2011 she played a small role in the UK produced children's show 'Young Dracula'. In episode 2 "The Enemy" she played the role of Goody McEldrich.
In 2012 she appeared in Scott and Bailey alongside Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp as Nadia Hicks in Series 2, episodes 1 and 2. She then became one of the celebrities on series 10 of Strictly Come Dancing.; partnering Robin Windsor
Riley's other TV credits include roles in Fat Friends, The Bill, Waterloo Road, Holby City, Doctors, the BBC's Afternoon Play series, Having It off. She also played the role of Beth Trailor the little-seen film Secret Society.
On stage, she has appeared in fourteen pantomimes (she starred in Aladdin at the Kings Theatre in Portsmouth in the 2009/2010 pantomime season) and in UK tours of The Play What I Wrote, The Vagina Monologues (opposite Sharon Osbourne), The Naked Truth, Waiting for Gateaux and Calendar Girls.
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Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Whether lawyer, politician or executive, the American who knows what’s good for his career seeks an institutional rather than an individual identity. He becomes the man from NBC or IBM. The institutional imprint furnishes him with pension, meaning, proofs of existence. A man without a company name is a man without a country.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“I seemed intent on making it as difficult for myself as possible to pursue my “male” career goal. I not only procrastinated endlessly, submitting my medical school application at the very last minute, but continued to crave a conventional female role even as I moved ahead with my “male” pursuits.”
—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)