Boddington Beer Girl

Background:

British model and TV presenter Melanie Sykes rose to prominence with the Boddington Beer campaign in 1997. She has since become the face of Head & Shoulders shampoo in the UK as well as the high street chain Matalan, among others. As TV presenter, Sykes is known for presenting Channel 4's “The Big Breakfast” (1997-2001), and ITV's “Today with Des and Mel” (2003-2005) and “Loose Women” (2005-2006). She has filled in Paul O'Grady several times in “The Paul O'Grady Show.”

Sykes co-penned the book “Blooming Beautiful: My Plan for Looking Great, Being Healthy and Surviving Hormonal Havoc, Throughout Pregnancy and as a New Mum” with Hilary Boyd. It was published in 2006 through Michael Joseph Ltd.

Sykes has split from her seven-year husband, Daniel Caltagirone. They have two young children. Previously, she was romantically linked to singer/songwriter Matt Goss for five years.

Mother of 2

Childhood and Family:

Melanie Sykes was born on August 7, 1970, in Manchester, England. The daughter of an Anglo-Indian mother, she has an older sister, Samantha, and a younger sister, Stacy. Melanie was educated at Mossley Hollins High School and Ashton Sixth Form College, in which she studied A Level Religious Studies. She played the euphonium in her father's group, Stalybridge Brass Band.

In January 2001, Melanie was married to Daniel Caltagirone, an Italian. They welcomed a son, Roman, in the following year. Their second son, Valentino Luca, was born on July 21, 2004. As of July 2008, Melanie has separated from her husband.

The Big Breakfast

Career:

Melanie Sykes first enjoyed fame as the bikini-clad girl on the Boddington Beer TV commercials in 1997. Subsequently, she presented America's “Real TV” (1997), hosted “Dream Ticket” (1997), a documentary for London Weekend Television (LWT) and became co-presenter in Channel 4's morning talk-show, “The Big Breakfast,” which was nominated for a 1998 National Television Award in the category of Most Popular Daytime Programme. She was on the show from 1997 to 2001. In 1999, she presented Melanie Sykes' “Southall Stories,” a documentary for BBC2 on Asian culture in Great Britain, and acted in the short film “Justified Technophobe” in the following year, playing Eve.

Despite an immediate start, Sykes' television career entered a setback for a period. She made a triumphant return in 2003 when she was hired as host in ITV's “Today with Des and Mel,” a post she held until the show's cancellation in 2005. In the meantime, she also did other work for ITV like “The British Soap Awards 2003,” “Celebrities Under Pressure” (2003-2004), “The Vault” (2003-2004) and “National Television Awards Party of the Year” (2004). From 2005 to 2006, she was panelist on the ITV daytime talk-show “Loose Women.”

Sykes, who had her own radio show on Galaxy FM, presented “The A List,” a nationally aired radio talk show based on total sales, for London's Heart 106.2. She departed the show, which was produced by Unique the Production Company, at the end of 2006 and was replaced by Gail Porter.

In November 2006, Sykes substituted Paul O'Grady in the long-running chat show “The Paul O'Grady Show” when the award-winning TV personality took leave from his show. She was invited back to the series in May 2007, November 2007 and later from 51 to 18 April 2008, when O'Grady was sick.

Sykes was a presenter in “Gene Detective” (2007), a 10-part daytime documentary/reality-TV seris where she follows the process of genealogist Anthony Adolph when he exploits the current research techniques to help people hunt long lost relatives.

Recently, in 2008, Sykes, who has added several more TV commercials since Boddington's beer such as Head & Shoulders shampoo, the high street chain Matalan and BrightHouse, made a sensual pose for men's magazine FHM. Besides, she became a judge on “The Sofa Factor” for GMTV.

Awards:
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