Donna Air

Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, producer and philanthropist.

Donna Air
Donna Air in 2013
Born
Donna Marie Theresa Air

(1979-08-02) 2 August 1979
Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England
Occupation(s)Actress, producer and philanthropist
Years active1992–present
Partner
Children1
Websitedonnaair.com

Early life and education

Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979,[1] in Gosforth, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née Lackenby) and mechanical engineer Trevor Air. The eldest of three children, Air has a sister, Francesca, and brother, Alexander.[2]

Air grew up in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne,[3] where she attended St Oswald's Catholic Primary School and later Sacred Heart Convent School and Gosforth High School.[4]

She also attended First Act Theatre, a local youth theatre group. Her fellow students at First Act Theatre included Jill Halfpenny and Anthony McPartlin. Air also modeled as a child, appearing in ads for Nissan, Asda, and Lenor.[5]

Career

Air first appeared as an extra on the CBBC programme Byker Grove at age 10.[6] The producer asked her to audition for a role, and she was cast as Charlie Charlton. In 1994, she and her costars Jayni Hoy and Vicky Taylor formed Byker Groove!,[7] releasing the single "Love Your Sexy", which charted at 48 on the UK Singles Chart.[8] Air moved to London at 15,[9] continuing the band as a duo with Hoy as Crush. Two of the band's singles released in 1996, "Jellyhead" and "Luv'd Up", charted in the UK at 50 and 45 respectively, while their debut studio album Teenage Kicks failed to chart.[10] The band's management team booked Crush on a tour of the United States, Japan and South East Asia, commencing after Air completed her GCSEs, with "Jellyhead" subsequently peaking at 76 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11]

Following her promotional touring, she returned to the United Kingdom and in September 1997 signed to MTV UK to host the daily live show, MTV Select,[12] later becoming a presenter of several shows including The Big Breakfast, Channel 4's flagship morning entertainment show. Air departed MTV Select in April 2000, citing her desire to return to acting and to devote more time to her role on The Big Breakfast as the reasons for her departure.[12] In January 2001, Air was promoted to a main presenter on The Big Breakfast in a relaunch of the programme amid falling viewer figures.[13] However, Air later resigned in May of that year,[14] with Channel 4 axing The Big Breakfast shortly thereafter.[15] Also in May, Air appeared in The Mummy Returns, the sequel to The Mummy (1999), in a "blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo" that BBC film critic Neil Smith described as one of the only points of difference between the sequel and the original film.[16]

She has also appeared in many television dramas, most recently Hollyoaks in 2010 and Hotel Babylon in 2008, BBC TV comedy Operation Good Guys, Catherine Cookson's six-parter A Dinner of Herbs, and Lynda La Plante's Supply & Demand. Air appeared in the films Still Crazy (1998) and Bad Day (2008) [17] amongst others. Air presented on Five's early evening, magazine programme Live from Studio Five, alongside regular presenter of the programme, Kate Walsh.

In January 2013, Air participated in the ITV programme Splash! She replaced Jennifer Metcalfe at short notice.[18] In November 2017, Air announced that she would be taking part in the tenth series of Dancing on Ice.[19] She was partnered with Mark Hanretty. They were eliminated in Week 7.[20]

In 2019, Air was announced as having a starring role in the second series of the drama The Split, which started airing on BBC One in February 2020.[21]

Personal life

In 2000, Air was introduced to businessman and animal conservationist Damian Aspinall by their mutual friend Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.[22] The pair began a long-term relationship, and Air gave birth to their daughter, Freya Air Aspinall, in September 2003.[23] Shortly after her birth, the couple announced their intention to place her in the care of a gorilla, a ritual in which Aspinall's older children had already taken part.[23]

Air and Aspinall separated amicably in 2007.[24] In 2013, Air began dating James Middleton, the younger brother of Catherine, Princess of Wales;[22] the pair eventually separated in 2018.[25]

Air has supported charities including the Macmillan Cancer Support, Race for Life, Sport Relief, and Jeans for Genes.[26]

As of 2019 she was living in Chelsea, London.[27]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1998 Still Crazy Dutch Hitch-Hiker
1999 Truth or Dare Louise Short film
2001 The Mummy Returns Show Girl
2002 The One & Only Donna
2008 Bad Day Abby Barrett
2013 The Counselor Chauffeur
2015 Age of Kill Sarah Blake
2021 Dragged Up Alex Short film
2022 The Bubble Susan Howard

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1992-1995 Byker Grove Charlie Charlton 4 series
1998 Supply & Demand Lucy 2 episodes
2000 A Dinner of Herbs Maggie Roystan 3 episodes
2000-01 The Big Breakfast Presenter
2002 Breeze Block Kiki Miniseries
2008 Hotel Babylon Rachel One episode
2010 Hollyoaks Sophia One episode
2020 The Split Fi Hansen 6 episodes

References
  1. Ferguson, Euan (5 November 2000). "Flawless, but hardly clueless". The Observer. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. Procter, Kate (25 February 2013). "Donna Air's sister speaks about their childhood". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. Nutkins, Kirsty (9 February 2020). "Donna Air interview: 'A security guard shouted at me to sit down. The next thing I knew, I was being carted off to a cell'". The Times. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  4. Neil, Beth (7 June 2005). "Geordie girl stars". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  5. "Hot Air". The Scotsman. 4 August 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  6. Duke, Simon; Hodgson, Barbara; Himelfield, Dave (8 May 2021). "Where the cast of Byker Grove are now - from I'm a Celeb to Hull Uni". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  7. Duke, Simon (30 March 2018). "Blast from pop past for Donna Air as album she recorded 22 years ago appears on iTunes". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  8. "BYKER GROOOVE!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  9. Lawlor, Danielle (4 February 2020). "Donna Air opens up about being single at 40". Tatler. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  10. "CRUSH". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  11. "Billboard Hot 100 for week of December 21, 1996". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  12. Wilkes, Neil (17 April 2000). "Donna Air leaves MTV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  13. "New faces at Big Breakfast". BBC. 22 January 2001. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  14. Wilkes, Neil (14 May 2001). "Donna Air leaves Big Breakfast". Digital Spy. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  15. "Big Breakfast washed up". BBC. 19 June 2001. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  16. Smith, Neil (18 May 2001). "Recycled return for Mummy". BBC. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  17. "Donna Air: I'm more confident now". The Belfast Telegraph. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  18. "Donna Air replaces Jennifer Metcalfe in Splash! heat three line-up". Tellymix.co.uk. 9 February 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  19. "Byker Groove. Donna Air confirmed for Dancing on Ice". rte.ie. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  20. Roker, Sarah (18 February 2018). "Antony Cotton & Donna Air are voted off in Dancing on Ice". Digital Spy. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  21. "BBC - Second series of Abi Morgan's original BBC One drama The Split begins production - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  22. Gannon, Louise (6 January 2018). "Donna Air on her very private romance with James Middleton: 'I'm very happy'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  23. "TV star's baby handed to gorillas". BBC News. 10 November 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  24. "Donna Air splits from £40m zoo tycoon". London Evening Standard. 8 July 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  25. "Donna Air confirms split from James Middleton". Hello!. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  26. Absalom, Eugenie (23 September 2013). "Macmillan De'Longhi Art Auction 2013 raised money for Cancer Support". Demotix. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015.
  27. MacBain, Hamish (30 October 2019). "My London: Donna Air". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 February 2020.


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