Bradley Walsh's wife starred in iconic music video and has own showbiz career
Bradley Walsh has been lighting up TV screens for nearly 30 years on iconic shows such as The Chase and the Saturday night reboot of Blankety Blank.
He has also landed acting roles as former factory boss Danny Baldwin in Coronation Street and Pop Larkin in the revamped series of The Darling Buds of May, as well as appearing alongside son Barney in ITV travel series Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad.
Both Bradley and Barney were recently announced as the new hosts of BBC ’s Gladiators which will return to screens later this year. But stardom clearly runs in the family as Bradley’s wife Donna Derby is also famous, though fans might not know it.
Donna is a choreographer and former professional dancer who shot to fame in the late Eighties when she was picked to star in Robert Palmer’s video for his 1988 hit Simply Irresistible.
She has also appeared as an actress and dancer in several TV shows, including The Kenny Everett Show and The Russ Abbot Show, and for two decades has worked as both a choreographer and judge for the Miss World beauty pageant.
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This means she was already famous in her own right before meeting now husband Bradley in 1992. The pair went on to tie the knot in 1997 and are parents to one child together, son Barney, who is now 25. Here’s what else we know about the famous couple...
Famous pal introduced them
Back when he appeared on The One Show earlier this year, 63-year-old Bradley confessed one of his famous pals had introduced him to his future wife Donna, who is thought to be around the same age – and it was none other than actor and comedian Brian Conley.
It turns out Brian, who is currently starring as Terry Cant in EastEnders, used to live in the same street as Bradley in Watford in houses with opposite doors. As well as being neighbours, they both embarked on careers in showbiz.
Recalling the role Brian played in his subsequent union with Donna, Bradley shared: “He introduced me to my wife. She was a commercial TV dancer and worked on one of Brian’s shows.
“We were walking through old London weekend television studios and he was having a cup of tea in the green room and I said I was going to Somerset.” When Donna walked past, Brian ended up introducing them. “He said this is Donna, and that was it!”
Sizzling music video role
Donna shot to fame as one of Robert Palmer's dancers in the Eighties (YouTube)Stunning Donna was one of the models hand-picked to star in the steamy video for Simply Irresistible where she performed some seriously raunchy choreography.
Dressed in a skintight bodycon dress and sporting a slick of deep red lipstick, Donna shimmied behind singer Robert Palmer in the 1988 classic which caused a huge stir on its release.
Donna's dance past also included appearances in The Russ Abbot Show in 1987, where she played a dancer. She featured in several instalments of The Kenny Everett Television Show between 1987 and 1988. More recently, she has worked as a choreographer for the Miss World pageant.
She helped boost his career
Bradley met Donna in 1992 and they married five years later (Getty Images)
The couple recently celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary (Dave Benett/Getty Images)Bradley is one of TV’s highest paid stars now, with an estimated fortune of £12.5 million, but back in the early Noughties his career was waning – and it was wife Donna who encouraged him to join the cast of Coronation Street.
Gushing about his beloved, he previously told the Mirror: “I wouldn’t swap my missus for the world. Donna isn’t just beautiful, she’s the most fantastic wife and mother. It’s because of her I signed with Coronation Street.
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“She’s the one who recognised what it could do for me, even though it would mean being apart.” Bradley went on to star in Corrie from 2004 to 2006 when he was written out at his own request to pursue other projects.
Since then Bradley has become a familiar face on our screens as host of The Chase, which he has presented since 2009 and is thought to rake in a whopping £375,000 a week!
Quiet, but flash life in Essex
Bradley with wife Donna and their only son Barney (Karwai Tang/WireImage)Behind the glitz and glamour of his game shows, Watford-born Bradley lives a quiet life, tucked away in a corner of Essex with wife Donna and their son Barney. Bradley also has a 40-year-old daughter, Hayley, from a previous relationship and recently became a granddad when she welcomed her first child.
But his life now is worlds away from his humble beginnings. These days the star lives in a £2.5million barn conversion in Epping and is believed to have recently forked out nearly half a million on some land which has a golf club on one side and the M25 motorway on the other near his mansion.
He previously told : "I was born in Watford, and grew up in a council house. My mother was a single parent, who had to struggle hard to make ends meet. At one point she was holding down three different jobs. It was a happy childhood, but we certainly didn’t have a great deal of money."
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