2016 Virgin MoneyLondon Marathon Celebrities

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1. Jack Ashton

2. Andrew Barton

3. Marcus Bean

4. Ricky Boylan

5. Clarke Carlisle

6. Chris Chittell

7. James Cracknell

8. CJ de Mooi

9. Natalie Dormer

10. Chris Evans

11. James Farrar

12. Gruffudd Glyn

13. Richard Harrington

14. Graham Hornigold

15. Lee Hendrie

16. Dame Kelly Holmes MBE

17. Ashley James

18. Jeremy Joseph

19. Gwilym Lee

20. Danny Mills

21. Chris Newton

22. Bobby Norris

23. Giles Paley-Phillips

24. Gary Poulton

25. Kate Quilton

26. Robert ‘Judge’ Rinder

27. Gary Rowett

28. Camilla Rutherford

29. Baasit Siddiqui

30. Iwan Thomas MBE

31. Shane Williams

32. Kai Owen & Nadine Mulkerrin

Jack

Andrew

ASHTON

BARTON

Bristol-born actor Jack is best known for his role as vicar Tom Hereward on BBC One’s 1960s-set medical drama Call the Midwife, alongside actress and comedian Miranda Hart and Strictly Come Dancing’s Helen George.After moving to London for drama school, Jack never left and has worked extensively on stage, and screen, since graduation, appearing in TV shows including BAFTA award-winning drama Broadchurch, Endeavour, Holby City and ITV sitcom Vicious, alongside Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi. Jack is running the marathon for Macmillan

Andrew Barton is a hairdresser, best known for offering expert advice on 10 years younger, Angela and Friends and Lorraine Kelly’s Dream Team.Twice named British hairdresser of the year, he began his career as an apprentice at a Yorkshire salon, going on to work across the globe from the United States to the Far East.Formerly the international creative director of Saks, he now heads up his own hair and beauty empire, running London salons and creating his own hair care range. Andrew, who was adopted, is running the marathon for Coram which has been helping children find adoptive parents for over 40 years.

Marcus

Ricky

BEAN

BOYLAN

Marcus is a TV chef who regularly appears on ITV’s This Morning with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. He’s also appeared on Good Food’s Market Kitchen and Channel 4’s What’s Cooking.Marcus is self-taught, and found fame after entering a Channel 4 competition called the Iron Chef.He’s made live appearances at the BBC Good Food Show and the Ideal Home Show and has written for publications including Hello and Foodie Magazine London.Marcus and his wife Jenny run their own pub/restaurant in Baschurch, Shropshire and the Brompton Cookery School and B&B.He’s running the marathon for the NSPCC.

Ricky is a British light welterweight boxer who has been competing since he was 17. He made his professional debut at London’s York Hall against Sid Razak in December 2010, going on to win the Light-Welterweight Southern Area Title in December 2013.Ricky ran the London Marathon in 2013, just 36 hours after his eighth pro fight against Arek Malek at Canary Wharf.He will run the marathon this year for the NSPCC.

Clarke

CARLISLEClarke is a former professional football player who provided defence for clubs including Queen’s Park Rangers and Leeds United. He also earned three caps for the England under-21 team.Since retirement he’s presented on Match of the Day 2 and been a pundit for both Sky Sports and ITV Sport.He’s also appeared as a contestant on Channel 4 game show Countdown and is the first footballer to take part in BBC topical debate show Question Time.He’s an ambassador for Kick It Out, which campaigns for inclusion and equality in football. Clarke will be running the marathon for Cancer Research.

Chris

CHITTELLChris is an English actor who is best known as much-loved Emmerdale favourite Eric Pollard. Initially contracted for just 12 episodes, Chris has played the five-times married, smooth-talking businessman since 1986, making him the longest serving cast member of the ITV soap.His early career saw him star in classic films including To Sir, With Love, alongside Sidney Poitier and The Charge of the Light Brigade and on stage at the Old Vic alongside Peter O’Toole in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.Chris is a marathon veteran and is running this year to raise funds for Bloodwise.

James

CRACKNELLJames Cracknell is one of Britain’s most successful athletes of all time with two Olympic gold medals at the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and six World Championship titles. Since retiring from his 13-year international career, James has distinguished himself as a very special and inspiring sportsman, athlete and adventurer.In 2010, he took on the challenge of cycling, running, rowing and swimming his way across America from LA to New York. It was during this challenge, however, that he suffered a near-fatal accident after being struck from behind by a truck while cycling. While he endured a difficult recovery, he is now back to his sporting best. In addition to training for marathons and many other races in the UK, James is Vice President of the charity Headway and has been appointed to lead policy exchange work on obesity and physical activity.

CJ de

MOOICJ is a professional quizzer, best known as a regular on the BBC TV show Eggheads where he, and his fellow panellists, take on a team of would-be champions in a general knowledge battle. CJ left Eggheads briefly in 2011 to pursue acting, appearing in plays, musicals and pantomimes and filming his movie debut The Renata Road.He starred in spin-off show Revenge of the Egghead in 2014, going solo up against a team of five contestants, before returning to the Eggheads panel the same year.CJ has also appeared on quiz shows including The Weakest Link, Fifteen to One and Countdown.

Natalie

DORMERNatalie is a British actress who has starred in two of the biggest books-turned-blockbuster series of the last decade, on the small screen as Margaery Tyrell in Game of Thrones, and on the big screen as Cressida in the Hunger Games: Mockingjay movies.She’s also appeared on television in The Scandalous Lady W, as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors and in Elementary.Her movie credits include Ron Howard’s Rush, alongside Chris Hemsworth, and Ridley Scott’s The Counselor, with Brad Pitt. This year she’s set to star in supernatural horror The Forest.Natalie is running the marathon for the NSPCC.

Chris

EVANSChris Evans is a Radio 2 presenter and was, last year, named the new frontman for the BBC’s flagship motoring show Top Gear.Chris has hosted some of the biggest TV shows in recent years, from Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday to, more recently, BBC One’s The One Show. He used to wake up the nation on both Radio One and Virgin Radio’s breakfast shows. In 2005 he was back on the airwaves on BBC Radio 2, taking over Terry Wogan’s morning slot in 2010 which saw him win music radio personality of the year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. Chris is running the marathon for BBC’s Children in Need.

James

FARRARJames is a successful model. He graduated from the Royal Centre School of Speech and Drama in 2010 and went on to star in Gutted at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. He’s also appeared in TV shows including Silent Witness, EastEnders and By Any Means along with starring as charming Liam in Hollyoaks. James is running the marathon for Bloodwise, which funds research into blood cancers.

Gruffudd

GLYNGruffudd is a Welsh actor, best known for starring alongside an Oscar-winning Eddie Redmayne in the 2014 Stephen Hawking biopic, The Theory of Everything.He’s also appeared on the big screen in blockbusters Thor: The Dark World, alongside Chris Hemsworth, and in last year’s space drama The Martian with Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain.He’s appeared on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and he’s starred on television in Doctor Who, Lewis, Stella and last year’s BBC One ratings winner Poldark alongside Aidan Turner.Gruffudd is running the marathon for Bloodwise.

RichardHARRINGTONRichard is a Welsh actor best known for playing the lead role of troubled DCI Tom Mathias in the BAFTA Cymru award-winning detective drama Hinterland. Last year Richard starred in the BBC One adaptation of Winston Graham’s Poldark as Captain Andrew Blamey. He has also appeared in a string of television shows including Bleak House, Coronation Street, Casualty, Spooks, Silent Witness and Lark Rise to Candleford. Richard has starred on stage and won a BAFTA Cymru Award for his role in the film Dafydd.The dad-of-two is running the marathon for Bloodwise.

Graham

HORNIGOLDGraham is the Executive Pastry Chef of Hakkasan Group and has spent the last 25 years honing his incredible skills in some of the finest hotels and restaurants in London. He was named UK Pastry Chef of the Year in 2007.In November 2015, Graham took over from Mary Berry as a judge on CBBC’s Junior Bake Off finding the UK’s best young bakers. This will be Graham’s fifth London Marathon for the charity WellChild and in memory of his brothers Simon and Ian, who died in a car crash in 2006.

Lee

HENDRIELee Hendrie is a former Aston Villa and England footballer. While at Aston Villa, Lee won the 1997-1998 Young Player of the Year award and featured in the 2000 FA Cup Final. Following his retirement from professional football, he has founded the Lee Hendrie Academy, hoping to discover and nurture new footballing talent across the UK. Lee is running the marathon to support MS National Therapy Centres.

Dame KellyHOLMES MBEDame Kelly is one of Britain’s most successful 800m and 1500m runners, who won medals in the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and an Olympic Bronze in Sydney in 2000. Four years later she took double gold at the Athens Olympics and was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2004. Dame Kelly still holds records for the 800m and 1500m. Since retirement in 2006, she’s launched the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, to support athletes transitioning from sport, using their skills and experience to mentor disadvantaged youngsters.She’s running her first marathon for that trust, and also supporting Myeloma UK, MIND, The Pickering Trust and Hospice in the Weald.

Ashley

Jeremy

JAMES

JOSEPH

Ashley is a former star of reality show Made in Chelsea, going on to carve out a successful career as a model, TV and radio presenter.She currently hosts her own show on Hoxton Radio and has been a presenter on Clothes Show TV, Clothes Show Live and online fashion channel Fashtag TV. She fronted the PopGirl TV show Style Stars, setting down fashion challenges to teenage girls, and most recently appeared on Celebrity Dinner Dates.In 2014 she launched her own jewellery brand Whistle & Bango.She’s running the marathon for Marie Curie.

Jeremy has owned G-A-Y for over two decades, cementing its status as one of London’s hottest night spots and expanding the brand to open G-A-Y bars in London and Manchester.The G-A-Y stage has seen performances of some of the biggest stars in the world including Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and Adele.Jeremy, who will be running the marathon with Glenn Horder, fundraising manager for the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF), will be dressing in drag. It will be Jeremy’s seventh London Marathon and he will, once again, be raising funds for EJAF.

Danny

LEE

MILLS

Gwilym is a Welsh actor, best known for his role as DS Charlie Nelson, sidekick to Neil Dudgeon’s DCI John Barnaby in ITV’s long running drama Midsomer Murders.He previously starred in TV dramas including Land Girls, Monroe and time travel favourite Ashes to Ashes alongside Philip Glenister.On stage he’s played Oedipus at the National Theatre, Laertes to Jude Law’s Hamlet at the Donmar in 2009 and won first prize in the 2011 Ian Charleson Awards for his role as Edgar in King Lear.He’s running the marathon for Bloodwise.

Danny Mills is a former professional football player best known for his spell at Leeds United where he helped the team to reach the Champions League semi-final.He also played for Norwich City, Charlton Athletic, helping them win promotion to the Premier League, and Manchester City before retiring in 2009.He made his England debut in 2001 and was part of the England squad for the 2002 World Cup, going on to earn 19 international caps.He’s now a popular pundit and commentator on Radio 5 live.Danny is running the London Marathon for the Bobby Moore Fund, which supports Cancer Research UK’s work to beat bowel cancer.

Gwilym

Chris

Bobby

NEWTON

NORRIS

Chris is one of the UK’s most successful international riders on road and track, a former professional cyclist with five Olympic medals to his name.He’s currently the GB Cycling Olympic Endurance coach and helped guide Lizzie Armitstead to silver in London 2012 and the GB women to World Team Pursuit Championship gold in 2014.Since retiring, he’s taken up running, completing five marathons, four in London, with a personal best of two hours and 39 minutes last year. He will, once again, run in support of Anthony Nolan, which helps save the lives of people with blood cancer.

Bobby is one of the stars of reality show The Only Way is Essex. Having joined the cast in season four, he has kept fans glued to their screens, particularly with his fiery but fiercely loyal friendship with Gemma Collins.Bobby’s beloved mum Kym was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last year and was in desperate need of a stem cell transplant to save her life.An anonymous donor was found through Anthony Nolan and Bobby is ‘saying thank you’ by running the marathon to raise funds for the charity.

Giles

Gary

PALEY-PHILLIPS

POULTON

Giles is the award-winning children’s author of The Fearsome Beastie, which won The People’s Book Prize 2012 and the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book the following year.There are currently plans to turn The Fearsome Beastie into an animated film starring Alison Steadman and Brian Blessed.His other work includes Tamara Small and the Monster’s Ball, Little Bell and the Moon and There’s a Lion in My Bathroom. He has also written the popular picture books Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs and Princess Stay Awake.The father-of-two will be running the marathon for Action Aid UK.

Gary took on Alan Sugar in the eleventh series of The Apprentice, making it to the semi-finals and finishing a very respectable fourth before hearing that infamous, ‘You’re fired!’Gary, from Birmingham, was a programme manager for Tesco. He now works for Whitbread and is running the marathon to support his company’s affiliated charity Great Ormond Street Hospital, specifically The Premier Inn Clinical Building, which is due to open in 2017. An accomplished runner, Gary has previously run the marathon and the Great North Run wearing a mankini.

Robert ‘Judge’

RINDERRobert is a criminal barrister, best known as ‘Judge’ Rinder, who presides over his own compelling TV courtroom.Known for his no-nonsense approach, the ‘Judge’ has, since 2014, been tackling showdowns between warring parties who agree, in the end, to abide by his ruling.Robert married long-term boyfriend Seth Cumming two years ago, with his old University friend, and star of Sherlock and 12 Years a Slave, Benedict Cumberbatch officiating.Robert is a keen marathon runner and is, this year, raising funds for Buttle UK, which provides grants and support to vulnerable children.

Kate

QUILTONKate is a television presenter best known for presenting Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped since 2012, a series which investigates the science and provenance of food. During her time at Channel 4 she has commissioned a number of award-winning multiplatform projects including D-Day: As It Happens for which she won the BAFTA for Digital Creativity (2014) and the Digital Emmy (2014). In 2016 she began presenting Tricks of the Restaurant Trade with Simon Rimmer. Kate is running the London Marathon for the first time, in support of the Papworth Trust.

CamillaRUTHERFORDCamilla is a British actress who found fame playing Isobel alongside Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren in Robert Altman’s acclaimed Gosford Park.She has gone on to star on stage and in television shows including Rome and mini-series Fleming, about the early life of the 007 author Ian Fleming.Camilla has also starred alongside Reese Witherspoon in Vanity Fair and in Wes Anderson’s Darjeeling Limited with Adrian Brody and Owen Wilson. She’s modelled for Max Factor and Links of London and currently writes a blog, The English Mother, about her experiences as a mum-of-three. Camilla is running the marathon for the NSPCC.

Gary

ROWETTGary is manager of Birmingham City FC, the team where he played from 1998 to 2000. After starting his career at Cambridge United, he went on to play for Everton, Derby County, Leicester, Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion before retiring in 2007. Two years later he returned to Burton as assistant manager, before taking the reins himself in 2012 and helping the club to the First Division play-offs. He was appointed Birmingham City manager in 2014 and is running the marathon for Liam’s Smiles. The charity, which raises funds for Meningitis Now, was launched by ex-Birmingham City player Colin Doyle and his wife after their son Liam contracted meningitis as a baby.

Baasit

SIDDIQUIBaasit is one of Britain’s best-loved armchair critics. As part of the Siddiqui family on Channel 4’s BAFTA award-winning reality show Gogglebox, he sits on his sofa, with dad Sid and brother Umar, offering their own unique views on the best and worst TV shows of the week.When he’s not in front of the camera Baasit, from Derby, teaches IT at a secondary school in Nottingham.This will be Baasit’s second marathon and his first London Marathon, which he’s running to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital.

IwanTHOMAS MBEIwan is a former 400m runner who won gold medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games. He’s also an Olympic silver medallist and holds the British Record in the 400m with 44.36 seconds.Now a presenter, he covered the London Paralympics for Channel 4, he’s a regular on The One Show and hosts his own BT Sport show, Chequered Flag, which sees him travel the world covering Moto GP racing. He appeared in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing and was a finalist in Celebrity MasterChef in 2009.Iwan is running the marathon for Macmillan.

ShaneWILLIAMSShane Williams is a Welsh rugby union player, most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Welsh national team. He won 87 caps for Wales and four caps for the British and Irish Lions. He remains second only to David Campese on the list of all-time international try scorers having scored 60 tries in 91 test matches. He was selected at the IRB Player of the Year in 2008.Since his retirement, he has worked as a presenter and pundit covering the Six Nations Championships for the BBC and the Rugby World Cup on ITV.This will be his second London Marathon.

Kai

Hollyoaks Characters

Nadine &OWEN

MULKERRINKai and Nadine both star in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. They have recently been working closely with the NSPCC as they tackle one of the Channel 4 soap’s most controversial storylines, which see Kai’s character Pete, a paedophile, grooming his teenage stepdaughter Cleo.It is that work with the NSPCC that has prompted the pair to run the marathon to raise funds for the children’s charity.Prior to Hollyoaks, Welshman Kai found worldwide fame in Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood while Nadine starred as Chloe in BBC sitcom In with the Flynns alongside Will Mellor.