Jill Halfpenny has become one of the North East’s best-known stars during a career spanning more than three decades.
The Gateshead-born actress has spent more than three decades on stage and screen, winning an Olivier Award and publishing a Sunday Times bestseller before receiving an honorary degree from Northumbria University.
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Where it all began
Born in Leam Lane, Halfpenny attended St Edmund Campion RC Comprehensive School before training at London’s Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Jill first found fame in the late 1980s on the Newcastle-based teen drama Byker Grove, before establishing herself as a soap actress through the roles of Rebecca Hopkins and Katie Mitchell in Coronation Street and 7.
In 2004, she captured the nation’s attention by winning the second series of Strictly Come Dancing with partner Darren Bennett.
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That same week, Halfpenny landed the role of Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago, launching a successful musical-theatre career. She returned to Newcastle for The Bodies at Live Theatre in 2005 before playing Paulette Bonafonté in Legally Blonde the Musical, winning an Olivier Award in 2011.
Halfpenny has also worked as an ambassador for the children’s charity Kidscape, and was later awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Gateshead in 2013 for her artistic achievements and charity work.
Dealing with grief
Halfpenny has spoken about losing her father to a heart attack when she was four. She said the loss was “never addressed” at the time and left a lasting impact.
Her partner, Matt Janes, died suddenly in 2017 in similar circumstances.
In a May 2026 episode of A Night In with Sally Lindsay, Halfpenny spoke openly about her depression and grief after his death.
Her memoir, A Life Reimagined, was published in June 2024 and quickly became a Sunday Times bestseller. She writes that unresolved childhood grief contributed to her later problems with alcohol.
Speaking on Lorraine Kelly’s breakfast show, Halfpenny said: "This is the thing that I learned from losing my dad, I could not side-step grief and I could not go around it.
"I had to go through with it because I didn’t want to repeat what I went through with my dad and I have to feel things."
Northumbria awarded Halfpenny an Honorary Doctor of Letters in recognition of her contribution to British television and theatre, and her courage in sharing her personal story to help others.
She described the experience as a privilege, writing on social media that her career “has looked more like a kids etch-a-sketch scribble rather than a nice neat line.”
Jill shares son Harvey-Reece Conway with her former husband, actor Craig Conway.
In May 2026, the pair appeared together in Channel 5’s Number One Fan, marking Harvey-Reece’s acting debut.
Halfpenny continues to divide her time between television and theatre while championing the North East’s creative talent.