Michelle Hardwick age: How old is Emmerdale’s Vanessa Woodfield star?

The character Vanessa Woodfield, played by Michelle in Emmerdale, is best known for being Rhona Goskirk’s best friend, Charity Dingle’s ex-lover, and the mother of Johnny Woodfield.

The character has played a pivotal role in several dramatic storylines over the past ten years, including learning she had bowel cancer and her relationship with Charity.

The actress will have aged, though, and viewers may be surprised to learn how old she is given that she only became a mother a few years ago, given how long she has been on the ITV soap.

Michelle Hardwick, a star of Emmerdale, how old?

Given that they are both 46 years old right now, Vanessa, played by Michelle, appears to be just a few weeks younger than her.

Her alter ego, Michelle, was born on March 7, 1976, making her the younger of the two. Michelle was born on February 26, 1979, making her the older of the two.

Some viewers might believe the actress is much younger than she actually is because she has a youthful glow.

The soap star didn’t get her big break until she turned 19 years old, in contrast to some of her co-stars who began acting when they were much younger.

Michelle attended Scala Performing Arts in Leeds and the Performing Arts at Park Lane College in Leeds to pursue a career in acting.

Heartbeat, a popular ITV drama, featured Sandra as one of her first characters; however, Sandra wouldn’t be the only one she would portray there.

She first played Lesley Sutton in 2002, then Lizzie Hopkirk a year later, before playing this role for an extended period of time on the spin-off series The Royal.

Michelle was a hit with viewers in this role and she continued to play the character until the programme ended in 2011.

The actress also played two prominent characters on Coronation Street: Sheila Dixon in 1997 and Naomi Russell a year later.

She also crossed over to Channel 4 for a small part in the weeknight serial drama Hollyoaks as DI Parker.

She wouldn’t land her Emmerdale role as Vanessa, who was initially introduced as Rhona’s college friend, until she was 36 years old.

Michelle’s appearance took a little while longer than that of the other more experienced cast members, who were all introduced while they were in their 20s.

Even when she made her debut in the most well-known village in Britain, she was still a fan favorite among viewers.

The soap star said of her decision to join the cast ten years ago: “Emmerdale is my dream job as a local girl and show fan.

“I’ve only been here two days, but I already feel at home, and Vanessa is such a fun character. I’m eager to find out what lies ahead for her.”

The actress, who was 44 years old at the time, took maternity leave from the show in 2020 when she became pregnant with her first kid.

She and her wife, Kate Brooks, who is also a producer on the drama, were prepared to start a family, so they did this through IVF.

Following a year of making their love public on social media, the pair were married in 2019.

After the soap star became the mother of the couple’s child, their son Teddy was born less than 12 months later.

Despite using a sperm donor, the embryo that Michelle would carry was actually created from Kate’s egg.

Michelle has talked about being a mother and whether she would ever let Teddy to see his biological father since having her baby.

Teddy can learn who his father is when he is 18 years old, and we would strongly support him in doing so, according to Michelle.

Just to say “Thank you so much for allowing us to be parents and giving us the most beautiful little boy,” I’d love to meet him.

The couple has talked about the possibility of growing their family in the future, so it appears they are not ready to stop at one.

The actor disclosed to OK! Magazine: “Teddy definitely deserves a sibling, and we would adore that. And if we’re fortunate enough, wonderful not only for us but also for him.

Michelle shared personal details about her IVF journey in particular on social media to educate people about the procedure.

The soap star captioned some pictures of her and her wife with Teddy and posted them: “It has been an emotional rollercoaster from the first injections to the transfer of Kate’s egg to me, but one we wouldn’t trade for anything.

“We were very fortunate that it worked the first time because we know that the journey can be much more difficult for some people.

“So, try to stay strong and stay positive no matter what stage your fertility treatment is in. Teddy, you made the entire #youarenotalone #nationalfertilityawarenessweek experience worthwhile.