Kim Woodburn has had a rollercoaster of a life, fighting her way to the top and becoming a household name in the UK thanks to a career in showbiz spanning five decades
Kim Woodburn didn’t have the easiest life. The TV personality skyrocketed to fame for her cleaning prowess in How Clean Is Your House, which aired from 2003 to 2009, and quickly became a household name in the UK.
She has remained in the public eye through numerous stints on reality TV and daytime telly, however her career didn’t originally start on the telly.
Kim was initially a model based in Liverpool and since then, she was never one to shy away – her unique television career is testament to that.
Unfortunately Kim died on 17 June 2025 and to celebrate the British icon, Daily Star is taking a look back at her life, humble beginnings and early career to pay tribute to the star.
Kim, born Patricia Mary Woodburn, shot to fame with her show How Clean Is Your House, earning her the nickname the Queen of Clean. The telly personality was 61 when the show took off.
She was married to Peter Woodburn from 1979, following an earlier marriage to a police officer in the early 70s. She battled her way into the limelight, having started her career as a social worker before moving into retail and modelling.
In 2009, she popped up on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and bagged second place for the season. However, before she became the Kim we all knew and loved, the TV legend was shaped by a tumultuous childhood.
Kim has previously alleged that she was neglected and abused by her parents during her early years. She detailed horrific experiences in her 2006 autobiography Unbeaten: The Story of My Brutal Childhood.
The book even reportedly prompted a visit from the police to discuss the allegations within. In her autobiography, Kim also claimed that at 23 she went into premature labour three months early which resulted in a stillborn baby.
Unmarried at the time, she was filled with dread about how her parents would react to the news. This led her to bury the infant’s body in a park in 1966, a night she later referred to as “the worst of her life”.
In 2018, she discussed this on Loose Women, much to the surprise of the hosts. She confessed: “I had never felt more wretched. I still talk to my son now. The deep sadness doesn’t go away.”
“Being an unmarried mother years ago was terribly shameful,” Kim continued before adding: “You were a whore and a man would only marry a virgin.”
“It was a very sad part of my life. I would never go back to visit the spot where it happened. That would just be too much. I couldn’t do it.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
