Amongst her achievements, Annika Reeder has two Olympic Games, five World Championships, and three Commonwealth Games gold medals from 1994 and 1998. Annika was also a European floor finalist in 1994, and vault finalist in 1998. She won the Senior British Championship twice, and was runner up four times.
To find out more about Annika Reeder, please see our ‘more essex celeb’s’ section…
.................................
At the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Sally Gunnel won the 400m hurdles. She then set the world record in the same event when she won gold in the 1993 World Championships
To find out more about Sally Gunnel, please see our essex celebrities section…
...................................
Martina Cole was born (1958) and brought up in Essex. Her first novel, DANGEROUS LADY, was an instant bestseller in 1998, and became a highly successful TV drama series, as was ‘The Jump’.
To find out more about Martina Cole, please see our essex celebrities section…
...............................
Essex Girl, Tina Cousins appeared on German DJ/producer Sash!'s single "Mysterious Times" in 1998, which allowed her to break into the music industry.
To find out more about Tina Cousins, please see our essex celebrities section…
................................
Alison Moyet was born in Billericay and brought up in Basildon. She was involved with various punk, rock and blues bands in the South East Essex area during the 1970’s/1980’s, including ‘The Vandals’ and ‘The Vicars’. She came to fame as half of the electro pop duo ‘Yazoo’ (with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke) in the early '80s and is noted for her bluesy voice. Yazoo was known in the US as ‘Yaz’ and had excellent hits such as ‘Only You’ and ‘Don’t Go’. In 1983, she started her solo career, releasing her debut album, ‘Alf’ in 1984, which was a huge success in Britain. It went to number one on the charts and launching the hit singles "Invisible," "All Cried Out," and "Love Resurrection"; it was a minor hit in the U.S., with "Invisible" getting into the Top 40. Alison toured with a jazz band in 1985,which was led by John Altman They released a version of Billie Holiday's "That Ole Devil Called Love’’ The group received poor reviews, but the song became her biggest hit in Britain landing a place at number 2 in the UK singles chart. Also in 1985, Moyet perfomed at the ‘LiveAid’ concert, alongside Paul Young.
In 1986, Alison released "Is This Love?," which became another massive UK hit. "Love Letters’’ and "Weak in the Presence of Beauty from her second album ‘Raindancing’ in 1997, were also hit singles, with the latter peaking at number 4..
To find out more about Alison Moyet, please see our essex celebrities section…
....................................
Help was at hand for the ‘Big Breakfast’ with the dream teaming of Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen, who came together in 1997.
Vaughan's quick wit held the show together, while Van Outen traded on her Essex girl image to get the laughs and the ratings graph pointed upwards again.
To find out more about Denise Van Outen, please see our essex celebrities section…
....................................
Women of achievement certainly are not dumb
May 1999
Two hard-working women, Mikaela Martin and Katherine Wood have made it through to the finals of the Women of Achievement Awards, organised by Cosmopolitan magazine, helping to overturn the dumb essex girl image.
Tina tries to protect Westcliff seafront home
June 1999
Pop star Tina Cousins was very annoyed at the Southend Council decision to demolish her former 1948 home on Westcliff seafront. She lived in the beautiful property 4 years previous, with her boyfriend, and stated that the seafront character is under threat due to the old fashioned buildings being torn down and replaced with modern ones.
She said: "I love Southend.
"When you say to people you're from Southend they say `Oh Essex girl', but they don't realise how pretty it is.
Dumb? Not our Essex girls
September 1999
Essex girls scooped some of the country's best exam results, putting an end to the dumb stereotype image.
An article in the Sun newspaper has confirmed what people in the county have always maintained - Essex girls do have brains.
Chelmsford High School for Girls came out top.
Coming soon! Webmasters book 'not just an essex girl' will be a thrilling read about real lives in Essex from early 1900's to present - Excerps will be available on the site soon.....