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Privacy NoticeDanielle Nicholls made a triumphant return to our screens last year. The star became a household name at 19 as the face of ITV’s children’s channel CITV – but took a career break to focus on her family and deal with the heartbreaking loss of her young daughter. Despite being told she was “on the wrong side of 40” to revive her career, the 45 year old singer and model from Manchester is proving the doubters wrong. Originally discovered by producer Steve Ryde, Danielle co-hosted the daily kids channel, launching shows like Teletubbies, alongside Stephen Mulhern from 1998 to 2001.
She presented alongside Stephen Mulhern
(Image: ITV/CITV)
After leaving CITV, Danielle presented Channel 5’s celebrity karaoke show, Night Fever. By 2012, she had three children with her husband, Dean Holden, the current manager of Charlton Athletic and former boss of Oldham Athletic. However, tragedy struck the family in 2012 when their daughter, Cici, passed away during a holiday in Lanzarote. Cici contracted meningococcal septicemia, a bacterial infection causing blood poisoning leading to sepsis. Despite immediate medical attention and a helicopter ready to transport her to intensive care, Cici tragically died within three hours, reports the Manchester Evening News. Danielle opened up about her ‘worst’ job interview that took place two weeks after a heartbreaking loss, recalling: “I looked at the other kids and said to Dean ‘I can’t go on telly pretending I’m happy.'”
Dean Holden and Danielle with children Joey, Ellis, Mitzi and Chase
(Image: MEN Media)
Following the tragic death of Cici, Danielle and Dean expanded their family with two more children – Mitzi and Chase, joining siblings Joey and Ellis. Danielle also trained as a breastfeeding advisor to support other mums. “For the next eight years I submerged myself,” she shared. “And then Covid hit. I was in a dark place,” she admitted. Speaking about the 2020 lockdown, she revealed: “Dean and I had a conversation and had a bit a meltdown. He said ‘you’ve got to do what makes you happy’ and I said ‘I want Danielle back’ and we said ‘let’s do it.'”. In a twist of fate, Danielle ran into a former CITV colleague in London when she accompanied Dean for an interview he had with talkSPORT. “It was serendipity,” she explained.
Danielle co-hosts a late Saturday night entertainment and phone in show with Andre Walker
(Image: Danielle Nicholls)
“Two weeks before that meeting I was told I was on the wrong side of 40. They said ‘darling you’re on the wrong side of 40 and you haven’t got a hope.’ But that spurred me on. Once I got over it and stopped crying it gave me a kick up the a**e.” Last year, Danielle was scooped up as a presenter on TalkTV and currently hosts a phone in show with Andre Walker. Danielle commented: “People used to comment on my accent but nowadays it’s gone in my favour.” “I remember meeting with an agent and they said ‘we’re not taking on any more northerners, we’ve already got one girl from Scotland.’ At 19 getting famous that quickly, it was intimidating. I do think being in TV has changed. It’s much nicer this time around.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnStephen MulhernWhere Are They NowNostalgia
