From Eurovision to Game On
Blonde siren, Samantha first dabbled in showbiz when she represented the UK in the Eurovision song contest in 1991. Instead of winning, thanks to her good looks and slither of white skirt, she fell foul of the juries who weren't actually watching but only listening. She finished tenth! All singing, all dancing and all acting Samantha was on her way and the Sylvia Young Theatre School training came into its own. By 1993 she appeared in Demob alongside Griff Rhys Jones and Martin Clunes and just two short years later broke through onto our screens as Mandy the flatshare's tart with a heart in Game On.

Babe to Buffy
Game On was followed by TV appearances in 'Pie in the Sky' with Richard Griffiths, The Grimleys with Jack Dee and movie Up 'n' Under' with Neil Morrissey. Comedy gave way to drama and Samantha starred as the beautiful but tortured Imogen, an unfaithful wife who has just given birth to twins in 'Imogen's Face'. The same year she graduated to Detective Constable in 'Liverpool 1' but then switched back to comedy with the ill fated 'Babes in the Wood' series about an all girl flatshare in St John's Wood, co starring Denise Van Outen. Her next major part came with the BBC series 'Strange': casualty meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which Samantha turned nurse and demon hunter.

Wild Child
It wasn't always a bed of roses though. Samantha left home at 15 to live the life of the rebel child. She looks back on it now and admits to having had attitude problems that led her to taste life in sordid squats, mixing with drug addicts and lost souls. "Being fifteen, I was very vulnerable and I tried to fit in with the wrong people, people who tried to drag me down with them. I hit rock bottom, I didn't eat, I lived in terrible conditions, I was possibly drinking too much and taking too many drugs and whatever else."

Acting Up
As well as TV commercial, series and movies, Samantha has done theatre work too. She took over from Debbie Gibson in Grease and even played Joan of Arc. But Imogen's face is her biggest challenge to date. "Every job is challenging in different respects, some are very physical, some are very emotional. Imogen's Face was challenging in a different way. The hardest thing was to try and get under Imogen's skin and understand why she was doing all these things - in that respect it was more challenging than anything I'd ever done before."

Samantha's loves
Samantha married airplane pilot Mauro Mantovani in 1997 but separated in 1998. A year later she set up home with Liverpool 1 co-star Mark Womack and by 2001 the couple welcomed their son, Benjamin. Looking back it seems like the pair hit it off from the start. "We hadn't met before the first read through, although we have a lot of mutual friends like Neil Stuke, Neil Morrisey and Clive Owen. I believe Mark was at the 'Up 'n' Under' preview with his wife Therese, although we didn't meet. But we got to know each other pretty well, pretty quickly; when you're spending almost every single day together over a three month period it's just as well really!"

Mixing business and pleasure
After co-starring on Liverpool 1, Mark and Samantha were reunited on Judge John Deed. Mark is obviously more than happy to work with his partner. "I think she's the best actress around. I'm very proud of Sam, and very supportive. We did Judge John Deed together last year and I thought she was absolutely fantastic in it. Samantha's a brilliant actress and it would be a privilege to work with her more often and, what's more, we could help each other with our lines when we're at home!"

Yummy Mummy
After having her son in 2001, Samantha took a two-year break to enjoy motherhood. "Enjoying family life has been wonderful. It was a long time to take off, especially in this business, but it was my choice, because after 15 years in the spotlight and working pretty constantly I was just tired of it. I wanted to be with my new baby. Mark and I have a great, close relationship, and motherhood is brilliant. Motherhood is absolutely what I do best. Ben is a lovely little boy - strong-willed and boisterous one minute but sensitive and very kind the next. We are very blessed." Awwww.

Good looks run in the family
Even though they didn't help for the Eurovision song contest there's no denying Samantha's quite the looker! The blonde bombshell attributes her good fortune to her family. "At times I look very similar to my mother, especially around my eyes. And my father's sister was Angie Best...and apparently I look a bit like her."