Claire Jane Sweeney (born 17 April 1971, Walton, Liverpool) is an English actress, singer, musical theatre performer and television personality. She trained at the Elliott-Clarke Theatre School in Liverpool, and went on to the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. After leaving the stage school, Sweeney had many singing engagements before landing the minor role of Lindsey Corkhill in Brookside for a brief spell in 1991. She entertained cruise ships for P&O as a singer for four years before returning to England. On her return, Sweeney reprised her role of Lindsey and remained on the show as a leading character until its demise in 2003. Sweeney appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. Her appearance on the show prompted her to greater fame amongst the British public. This directly led to her appearing as "Roxie Hart" in the musical Chicago in the West End. In 2002, Sweeney released an album, Claire on Telstar Records, consisting of a mix of original material and cover versions of well-known songs, which enjoyed only modest success reaching the UK Top 20. In 2003, Sweeney returned to the stage in the lead in the World tour of Fosse. Sweeney then took a regular place on the panel of ITV's relaunched Loose Women from 2003–2005, but left to pursue her stage career. In 2005 and 2006, Sweeney appeared in Pantomime productions of Snow White and Aladdin at Theatre Royal, Nottingham. On 10 July 2006, Sweeney took over from Sally Ann Triplett in the role of "Miss Adelaide" in the UK production of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in London's West End for an 8 week run. Sweeney also played opposite Dirty Dancing legend Patrick Swayze before touring the UK extensively in the same production. She starred in the pantomime Snow White at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent in December 2008. She then starred in the touring production of the musical Shout! alongside Su Pollard. In December 2009 she starred as Carrion the Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty alongside comedian Kev Orkian at The Churchill Theatre, Bromley. In 2010 she is embarking on a major national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic musical Tell Me On A Sunday.
