Michelle Danielle Collins (born 28 May 1962) is an English actress and TV presenter, best known for her roles in the British soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Collins played Cindy Beale in the BBC soap EastEnders from 1988 to 1998, with a two-year break between 1990 and 1992. She played Stella Price in the ITV soap Coronation Street from 2011 to 2014. Her other notable TV roles include the BBC dramas Real Women (1998–1999), Sunburn (1999–2001) and Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001–2003).

Biographie

Collins has a daughter by ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini, Maia Rose (born 29 September 1996), who herself has appeared in various acting roles, such as the short film Play. Her pregnancy was written into her return to EastEnders the same year. She also has a goddaughter, Sancha Worthington, whose mother, Sharon, is godmother to Maia Rose.

In 2014, Collins revealed that in 1998 – distraught by the end of her relationship with Tassalini and feeling career pressure – she attempted suicide while filming Sunburn in Cyprus. She took an overdose of sleeping pills but later woke up and asked her costar to take her to the hospital.

After their split, Collins had an amicable relationship with Tassalini, who lived close by, and they raised their daughter together.

In 2014, Collins published a memoir, This is Me, detailing her life growing up and decades in show business.

She supports Arsenal F.C.


Politics
In August 2014, Collins was one of 200 public figures to sign a letter to The Guardian in opposition to Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.


Charity
Collins is involved in charitable causes. She is an ambassador for Oxfam and has visited Brazil, South Africa and Armenia, promoting the need for the basic right to education. She is also an ambassador for Ambitious about Autism, the national charity for children and young people with autism. She continues to be involved with a variety of fund raising projects for Stonewall, Smart Justice, and Breakthrough Breast Cancer.