HEAR’SAY star Suzanne Shaw has revealed her new job – which is rooted in health and wellbeing.Suzanne, 42, who has enjoyed success as an actor appearing on Emmerdale, and a singer of noughties pop group Hear’Say, has now chosen to focus her attention on another career.
Suzanne has chosen a different career path away from pop stardom.Credit: Getty
Suzanne sold millions of records as a member of pop group: Hear’Say.Credit: Rex
After years of battling with alcohol dependence, the Hear’Say singer has decided to trade in pop superstardom, for a job as an alcohol free coach.
Suzanne revealed in this week’s New magazine: “I help people get through sobriety and help them on their wellness journey, so that’s what I do now as a job.”
Suzanne told the magazine that it has been four years since she last drank alcohol. The Manchester actress and singer stated: “It wasn’t healthy, and it wasn’t something that was going to benefit my life. I didn’t have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, it just wasn’t for me.”
In May 2023, Suzanne bravely opened up to ITV’s Lorraine Kelly about the battle she had faced with depression, during the early stages of her career as a 19-year-old.
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She also told Lorraine the series of events, which led to her decision to remove alcohol from her life. She told Lorraine: “I knew removing alcohol was going to be the making of my well-being.”
Suzanne added: “I don’t ever remember suffering from anxiety until after the band. I think it was such a big thing to go through. That overwhelm and anxiety really manifested in depression for me. It was tough.”
This led the television personality to make a decision to go sober in 2020. She told The Sun: “I don’t know why, but I would often get my boobs out in the middle of a party – and then I’d wake up with ‘beer fear’ in the morning. It was those kinds of moments that made me think: ‘Why would I do that?’ ”
The Pure and Simple singer would often face black-outs due to drinking. She continued: “I just didn’t know how to drink in moderation, and in 2019, I really hit rock bottom. At weekends I was taking it that little bit too far, then it started creeping into my week and I was drinking a lot at home.”
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ITV show Popstars launched Suzanne’s career back in 2000, putting her on almost every household’s television screen. The show showed a pop band being put together from a group of hopeful contestants.
The star, who had recently turned 18, powered through auditions and numerous rounds within the competition, and would eventually become one of Hear’Say’s members with today’s notable television faces Kym Marsh and Mylene Klass, as well as singers Noel Sullivan and Danny Foster.
Noughties pop star and former soap actress reveals she was ‘too scared to leave the house’ as she battled crippling depression
Suzanne had trained in tap and ballet classes since the age of two, performing in annual shows and dance festivals across the North West and learned the violin, recorder and saxophone as a child.
After leaving school, she earned her BTec National Diploma in Performing Arts. The determined artist even joined an ABBA tribute band, called: The Right Stuff.
The extensive training paid off, as Hear’Say’s debut single, Pure and Simple, was released on March 2001. The single sold 1.3 million copies, becoming the fastest selling non-charitable record of all time in the UK. The group’s debut album sold 1.2 million copies in the UK.
Later on that year, the pop stars released their television show: Hear’say It’s Saturday, which featured comedy sketches and performances with legendary acts such as Lionel Richie, Bradley Walsh, Atomic Kitten and more.
During their pop reign, the group appeared on various television and stages including The Royal Variety Performance in 2001. Hear’Say had four top ten singles, including two number one singles, before splitting up in 2002, right after Suzanne’s 21st birthday.
Suzanne’s focus turned to her roots within musical theatre and acting. She also created a new path for herself as a notable television personality.
Since the group split, Suzanne landed roles in many West End musicals, including Chicago, and Summer Holiday, She also attained the role of narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The musical theatre star won Dancing On Ice in 2009, with her dance partner, American figure skater, Matt Evers. Suzanne went on to play Eve Jenson in April of the following year, on hit ITV soap: Emmerdale.
Suzanne graced our screens for a year, as Eve – the feisty and coquettish granddaughter of strong-willed Edna Birch, played by Shirley Stelfox. Suzanne also returned to Dancing On Ice as a participant in the show’s All Stars series, back in 2014.
But a career change is not the only aspect of Suzanne’s life that is different now – she has also become a vegan. She posted earlier in the year, to her over 100,000 Instagram followers, that after trying a plant based diet for two weeks: “I had more energy, my lower back pain at night seemed to have disappeared and all in I just feel so much better.”
Suzanne now lives a tranquil life in Berkshire with partner Sam, and her two boys Rafferty and Corey – the family moved there just before lockdown in 2020.
When asked in Suzanne’s recent New magazine interview what advice she would give to people trying to remain sober, the recently appointed alcohol-free coach said: “Just take it one day at a time, or one weekend at a time.
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“We go by the three Cs in our company which are commitment, consistency and community. So commit to it, that’s your first step; own that decision, know your why.”
If you or anyone you know are experiencing anything similar to the nature of this story, you can contact Samaritans by calling 116 123 or email: jo@samaritans.org
Suzanne won ITV’s Dancing On Ice back in 2008.Credit: Rex
Suzanne, as Emmerdale character Eve Jenson, pictured alongside actor Tom Lister.Credit: Rex
Suzanne is inspiring others now as an alcohol-free coach.Credit: Getty More
