Brenda Claudina Susan Edwards is an English singer, actress, television personality and presenter.
23 Facts About Brenda Edwards
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Brenda Edwards Claudina Susan Artman was born on 2 March 1969 in Luton, Bedfordshire, to a Saint Vincentian family.
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Brenda Edwards's grandmother, who was a member of the Church of God in Christ in Bury Park, encouraged her granddaughter to attend when she was eight, and Edwards soon discovered a love of music and singing, which led to joining Sunday school junior choir, and soon became the choir mistress, as well as a member of the Pentecostal Collective Church of God in Christ mass choir.
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Brenda Edwards eventually made the move from gospel to secular music, and at 18 she sang at local nightclubs, weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs.
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Brenda Edwards appeared in the second series of The X Factor in 2005.
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Brenda Edwards was in the Over-25s category alongside Andy Abraham, Chico Slimani and Maria Lawson, and mentored by Sharon Osbourne.
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The first live show saw Brenda Edwards singing "Son of a Preacher Man".
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Brenda Edwards was invited back to play Mama Morton over the Christmas period, between 10 December 2007 and 26 January 2008.
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Brenda Edwards returned to play Mama Morton in November 2008, continuing in the role into early 2009.
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In 2009, Brenda Edwards toured the UK in the Queen musical We Will Rock You as Killer Queen.
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Brenda Edwards took two weeks off to appear in another West End musical, and then returned.
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In 2010, Brenda Edwards announced she would release her debut album in 2011.
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In 2012, Brenda Edwards appeared as blues singer Bessie Smith in a workshop of a musical about her life.
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Between 2015 and 2016, Brenda Edwards toured the UK and Ireland in the musical Hairspray, playing Motormouth Maybelle.
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Between February and March 2019, Brenda Edwards was a guest panellist on ITV's Loose Women.
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Brenda Edwards was then brought in as a regular panelist to fill in for Linda Robson.
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Robson returned in early 2020; however, Brenda Edwards has remained on the panel ever since, making weekly appearances on the show.
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In July 2019, it was announced that Brenda Edwards would be playing the lead role of Delores Van Cartier in the forthcoming UK tour and West End revival of Sister Act: The Musical, with Whoopi Goldberg confirming that the part was being revised specifically to allow Brenda Edwards to play the role after being rejected from the original UK casting for being "too old".
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In January 2021, Brenda Edwards joined the BBC's Songs of Praise.
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In June 2022, Brenda Edwards portrayed Matron "Mama" Morton in the UK tour of Chicago, as a replacement for Gemma Collins, who had been forced to withdraw from the role due to a knee injury.
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Brenda Edwards had two children, Jamal and Tanisha, from a previous relationship.
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Brenda Edwards told Coleen Nolan that he died holding her hand.
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Brenda Edwards has had stage III breast cancer, and survived domestic violence at the hands of a former partner.