Chelsea Halfpenny is most famous for playing the role of runaway teenager Amy Wyatt in ITV soap Emmerdale.
The multi-talented star, now 30, has forged a diverse career in the performing arts having started her professional acting career in 2004, when she appeared as an 11-year-old girl in an episode of BBC One’s medical drama series Casualty.
Fans may also remember from her appearance in classic comedy hit Byker Grove.
With a slew of famous faces in her family and a blossoming career as a West End leading lady, Chelsea’s career is showing no signs of slowing down.
The actress played Amy from 2010 until 2013 and the character was reintroduced in 2017 with Natalie Ann Jamieson portraying the character,
Daily Star has taken a look at what Chelsea has been up to since leaving the Yorkshire Dales.
Famous family
Chelsea may be best known for causing drama in the Dales but she’s linked to a number of TV shows including EastEnders and Only Fools and Horses.
The talented star is the daughter of Newcastle DJ Paula Halfpenny and the niece of actress Jill Halfpenny.
Jill is known for a string of television appearances including playing Rebecca Hopkins in Coronation Street, Kate Mitchell in EastEnders, Izzie Redpath in Waterloo Road and Diane Manning in In The Club.
In June 2021, Chelsea announced her engagement to actor James Baxter, who acted alongside the east end legend Del Boy Trotter in Only Fools and Horses.
James also appeared in Still Open All Hours on the BBC show as Leroy from 2013 to 2019 for some Christmas special episodes.
In a funny coincidence, the pair both also appeared on Emmerdale at separate times.
James played the role of Jake Donald in Emmerdale between 2007 and 2009, while Chelsea played Amy between 2010 and 2013 – just missing each other by one year.
She posted on Instagram to announce their engagement, saying: “He liked it so he went and put a friggin ring on it!!!!!!!!
“Obv changed his name to ‘FIANCÈ immediately on my phone. Also congrats to my 14-year-old self on managing to get the boy with the spikey hair that she fancied so much.”
West End Success and Pop Star Dreams
Multi-talented Chelsea proved she’s a star of stage and screen from a young age when she found great success as a singer and theatre performer.
She started out her theatre career playing different roles in the 2014 West Yorkshire Playhouse production of Maxine Peake’s Beryl.
The actress also appeared in the West End theatre production of 9 to 5: The Musical, where she is played the role of Judy.
Chelsea recently announced she will take over from Lucie Jones as Jenna on the UK and Ireland tour of West End hit Waitress in January of 2022.
Aside from the acting pursuits, Chelsea also had a brief stint as a pop star with her girl-band Vivo in 2009.
The rising star reached the national finals of Open Mic UK with the band and in 2011 she appeared on an MWM Records DVD named “Big River Big Songs” alongside fellow Emmerdale cast member Charlie Hardwick.
Both her songs The Shoe Makker and I Still Love Him became available for paid downloads on iTunes
TV Career
Before her soap days, fans may remember Chelsea playing the role Lucy Summerbee in popular children’s Television series Byker Grove in 2004.
She also appeared as a lead character in Andy McVicar’s short film Compulsion in 2010. The film received a nomination for the Best New Short Film award at the London Film Festival.
In the same year, she appeared in Emmerdale as runaway teenager Amy Wyatt, who became a regular character and made Chelsea a household name.
Despite leaving the show in 2013, Chelsea went on to portray Sarah in a short film called Lilium and joined the cast of BBC medical drama Casualty in 2015 as Alicia Munroe, a role she played until leaving the series in 2019.
Chelsea has several award nominations to her name, including Best Newcomer at the National Television Awards 2012, and the Best Actress award at the British Soap Awards 2012.
Emmerdale airs weekdays on ITV at 7pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
