I got the acting bug at the age of seven, appearing as a dwarf in ‘Snow White’. I then cut my vocal teeth in choirs and madrigal groups until my head was turned by musical theatre when I starred in ‘West Side Story’ at Chester Gateway Theatre.

Always theatrical and naturally lazy, I chose a career in drama teaching to act and sing my way through life, although my bossy nature makes me a born organiser.

I've had fun doing dinner theatre and musicals in America, community theatre at Bristol Old Vic and twenty years performing with Bristol Opera where I happily combined what I love best - dressing up and performing.

Family is my number one priority and life in the Monk household is never dull, always fun and inevitably full of drama! Foreign travel features highly on the agenda just as much as curling up with a great husband and a good book.