To show how proud we are to be from the North East of England, we thought it would be fun to celebrate some talented famous faces that were born and raised here.
Ant and Dec
Ant and Dec are a British television presenting duo, from Newcastle upon Tyne. The duo feature on many TV shows, such as Saturday Nigh Takeaway and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here. Their first presenting job was in 1994, on the CiTV Saturday morning show, Gimmee 5, where they discovered their talent for humorous TV presenting. Since then, their career has evolved over time and they are two of the biggest names in the television industry and have even presented the Brit awards in 2015.
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson is a British actor and comedian, who was born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne. He is best known for his role in Mr Bean (1990 - 1995) and the film series Johnny English (2003-2018). Atkinson's acting career took off following the BBC sketch comedy show, Not the Nine O'Clock News from which he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. His other film work includes, James Bond (Never Say Never Again - 1983) and the bumbling vicar in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole is an English singer and TV personality, from Newcastle upon Tyne. She rose to fame in 2002 after securing a place in Girls Aloud, a girl band who were brought together and created on Popstars: The Rivals. Girls Aloud still hold the record for the fasted time between formation and reaching a number one single with their song, Sound of the Underground. The group became the biggest selling girl group on the 21st century, with over 4.3 million singles sold and 4 million albums sold just the UK alone.
Steve Cram CBE
Steve Cram is a British retired track and field athlete, who was born in Gateshead in the North East of England. During the 1980's, he was one of the world's best middle distance runners and was nicknamed 'The Jarrow Arrow' after his hometown, Jarrow. Cram was the first ever male to run 1,500 meters in under 3 minutes 30 seconds and also set world records in the 2,000 meters and the mile in the summer of 1985. Since retiring as an athlete, he has done a lot of television presenting and athletics commentating.
Paul Collingwood MBE
Paul Collingwood is a former Durham and England cricketer, who was born in Shotley Bridge, a village in Durham. Collingwood played in all three formats of cricket internationally for England. He made his first appearance for England in One Day International Cricket in 2001 and in Test Cricket in 2003. His career as a Test cricket ended on a high in 2011, after becoming a three-times Ashes winner as England won a series in Australia, for the first time ever in 24 years. Collingwood later retired from first-class and List A cricket in the September of 2018.
Sarah Millican
Sarah Millican is a British comedian, writer and presenter, who was born in South Shields. Her comedy career began in 2008, when she won best newcomer at Edinburgh Fringe festival and it has been non-stop since. In 2013, she was listed one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK, by Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Her work has landed her on a number of TV shows, such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You, as just a few examples. In 2019, Millican began presenting her own show on Radio 4, a comedy panel called Elephant in the Room.
Emeli Sande
Emeli Sande is a British chart topping singer, who was born in Sunderland and raised in Scotland. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing on Chipmunk's debut single with her song 'Diamond Rings.' This single charted at number 6 on the UK's Singles Charts and was Sande's first ever Top 10 Hit.
Joe McElderry
Joe McElderry was born and raised in South Shields and is best known for winning the X-Factor in 2009. McElderry's first single 'The Climb' reached number one on both the UK Singles Charts and the Irish Singles Charts. These days, he has moved from singing to acting and has played the lead role of Joseph in the touring show of Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat. This year he is due to perform a touring show to pay tribute to the late George Michael.
Ross Noble
Ross Noble is an English stand-up comedian and actor, who now lives in Melbourne, Australia. The comedian was born in Newcastle and raised in Cramlington, and shot to fame through his regular appearances on British television, particularly on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You. Noble has also had a successful theatre career, appearing in the UK tour of Mel Brooks' The Producers in 2015. He later played Igor in another Mel Brooks musical - Young Frankenstein, in London's West End.
Bob Mortimer
Bob Mortimer was born in Middlesbrough in 1959. He is an English comedian and actor, best known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series with fellow comedian Paul Whitehouse.
Robson Green
Robson Green is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and TV presenter, who was born in Hexham in the North East of England. Green shot to stardom in 1989, following his role as hospital porter, Jimmy Powell, in the BBC's drama series Casualty. He topped the UK charts many times, along side his bandmate Jerome Flynn, with their songs Unchained Melody and I Believe. They duo were huge stars in the 90's after appearing in ITV's Soldier Soldier together for five series'.