This Is Me

by Michelle Collins

Michelle Collins has played iconic roles in the two most watched soap operas on British television. In the 1990s she played the backstabbing blonde, Cindy Beale, in EastEnders , and in 2011 she joined the cast of Coronation Street and now plays much-loved Rovers Return landlady, Stella Price. But what about the rest? Much of Michelle's remarkable story has never been told before. From growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in North London with her sister and their young single mother to Michelle's quest for success as she fought her way through some difficult and painful times. In her book Michelle reveals her battle with anorexia and bulimia; running away to Los Angeles and her first AA meeting there; her first foray into the music business; her tempestuous relationships and the truth behind the tabloid stories; why she missed her own wedding, and her relationship with daughter Maia's Italian-born father. Through it all, Michelle's book is ultimately a celebration of her talent, resilience, and so much more. It is the open, frank, funny, and sometimes shocking story of a proud, working single mum, who has led an extraordinary life and who has never been afraid of fighting for what she wants.

Genres: Nonfiction

273 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2014

Reviews

[Mel]

So Michelle Collins is coming to a con I'm going to and when I found out she'd written a book I decided I should read it before then. It felt a bit odd reading a "soap celebrities" autobiography but Michelle was actually really down to earth. Considering the book was based on only 20 minutes of interviews between her and the writer, they did a really good job of bringing her words to life. She was a bit light in places, there were a lot of parties and a lot of really good friends to this day, and not many in depth stories, but considering how she's been treated by the tabloids that was pretty understandable. For me the most interesting parts were reading about Michelle growing up around Holloway (as that's where I now live), and her very different route to acting. I respected her for her openness about her history of eating disorder and why she joined AA for awhile. I'm looking forward to meeting her even more now.

[chucklesthescot]

This wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be. There is the usual stuff about her childhood and teenage years which was ok but not greatly interesting. I did like the short segment about being dumped by Mari Wilson as a backing singer just before the band scored a massive hit with 'Just what I've always wanted'. There wasn't much detail on her time at Eastenders which I found disappointing as I was a fan of the show in it's early years and hoped to read some interesting behind the scenes stuff, which was sadly lacking. There was no dishing the dirt on boyfriends or co-stars and the Coronation Street segment was short and focused on the row over her accent which I'd already seen lots about in the media at the time.

I found this a bit bland overall.

[Gillian]

Excellent book.

[Julie Watkins]

somewhat tame and uninteresting. juicy stuff like relationships missed out so basically a what job she did when kind of thing. disappointing