Biographies of the Cast and Crew of Ghost Towns and Paranormal Eqypt

Derek Acorah Biography

Born: 27 January 1950

Derek Acorah Official Website

Derek Acorah's family discovered his enhanced abilities of clairaudience at the tender age of six, after Acorah relayed a message to his Grandmother from his Grandfather, a man who died five years before Acorah's birth. But Acorah's first passion as he grew older was soccer. By the age of 13, he was training with legendary Liverpool manager, Bill Shankly and was signed as a professional at 15. After he married and fathered two children, Acorah continued his professional soccer career in Australia, where he played for four years. A knee injury cut his career short and homesickness brought Acorah back to Liverpool, England.
Acorah's enhanced Psi abilities were always with him, therefore on his return to England in the early 1980s, he became a professional, full time spirit medium, based at his home city of Liverpool. Since that time, his amazingly accurate work as a professional clairvoyant in cases for both the private sector and police agencies (criminal cases), has propelled him into more public ventures. In recent years, Acorah achieved international success with his television, radio and personal appearances across Europe, the Middle East and the U.S. By invitation in October 1997, Acorah participated in a Middle East tour that took him to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the desert location of Al Ain. His time is sought after by celebrities on different continents. He has undertaken phone consultations for those in need as far away from Liverpool as India, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Acorah became a member of the ISPR in December 1998.
Acorah's groundbreaking work on the two television series, Predictions with Derek Acorah and Psychic Livetime, won him the British equivalent of the American Daytime Emmy Award. His first book The Psychic World of Derek Acorah, entered its 4th printing within 3 months of its initial September 1999 release. In March 1999, Acorah participated in the ISPR field investigations featured in the two award winning documentaries, ISPR Investigates Ghosts of England (Telly Award - 1999) and ISPR Investigates Ghosts of Belgrave Hall (Best Horror Documentary Award - 2002 Screamfest L.A. Film Festival / Hollywood). Both documentaries are distributed around the world in several languages and are utilized as a teaching tool in universities like UCLA and USC.
During the filming of ISPR Investigates Ghosts of England, the entire ISPR team was moved at the plight of Mr. Nicholas Geary, a recently bereaved Liverpool man. The team was even more moved when teammate Acorah decided to conduct a live stage performance with all proceeds going to Mr. Geary. The May 9, 1999 event was a resounding success.
In July 2001, Acorah shot the pilot of Most Haunted (LivingTV) - and now stars in Derek Acorah Ghost Town on Living TV
Acorah resides with his wife Gwen, a German Shepherd and four cats.

Daniella Westbrook  Biography

Born: 5 November 1973

Daniella Westbrook decided at the age of six that she wanted to be an actress when her mother took her to see the film "Grease" starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

She joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London at eleven. From there Daniella went straight into her role as teenage wife and would - be- model, 'Sam Mitchell/Butcher' in EastEnders for the BBC. After three years in the soap and problems in her personal life with her at the time fiancee Brian Harvey from the band E17, Daniella decided she needed a well earned break from the soap. Exactly one week after she left, she landed the part of 'Dawn' in FRANK STUBBS PROMOTES.

She was a contestant in the British reality series' I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!. She also took part in I'm Famous and Frightened in Fyvie Castle finishing as a runner up.

Daniella has also appeared on Most Haunted

She recently co-presented Cosmetic Surgery Live alongside Vanessa Feltz and also presents a series of fitness DVDs. She married her second husband, Kevin Jenkins on 27 December 2001 and they have one child together.

Angus Purden  Biography

Angus is currently filming the new series of BBC1's hugely successful Cash In The Attic. In addition to having his own column with SMG Newspapers in Glasgow, Angus has worked in the newsrooms at both Five and GMTV. He lives in Notting Hill, is a fluent Italian speaker and describes architecture, design, travel and wine as his great passions.

His bio includes:
Cash In The Attic BBC1
Room For Improvement (Ch4) Presenter on 3 series
GMTV Producer, News output
Drivetime Entertainment Correspondent, LBC Radio
Evening Times Columnist: Entertainment & Society, Scotland
Presenter Corporate channel Royal Bank of Scotland
Presenter 'Live at Six' News, LTV
Reporter Corporate channel. British Airways

Myleene Klass Biography

It's on April 6, 1978, that Myleene Angela Klass was born in Norfolk, England. Her father, Oscar, was a ship captain and was therefore often away from home. Her mother, Magdalena, took on the duties of raising Myleene and her younger siblings Jessie and Don. Myleene was only 4 years old when she started getting into music. At that age she began playing piano, as well as her grandfather's violin. Music was definitely in her genes. During the same period, Myleene was part of a singing trio with her siblings and everyone called them the "von Trapp kids." After attending two Catholic schools, St. Mary's and Notre Dame, she pursued her secondary education at Cliff Park High. When she was 14, she was fortunate enough to be offered a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music, where she learned to play the harp. This school, which had her traveling to London from Norfolk every weekend, was a great experience for her, since this is where she could shine. As her high school graduation rolled around in the mid-'90s, she was offered a spot at Cambridge University but turned it down because she wanted to pursue a music career. She didn't waste any time, however, and got a part in the Miss Saigon musical at the West End.

It was also during those years that Myleene got work singing back vocals for Cliff Richards, k.d. lang, and Michael Crawford, with whom she spent two months on tour. Next for her was the Royal Academy of Music. Even though she had no university degree, they listened to her music and took her on as a post-graduate student. In January 2001, the British network ITV was launching a new TV show called Popstars, in which a nationwide talent search would allow the public to vote to form a five-member pop group. Each week, millions of viewers tuned in to watch the auditions. Myleene was interested in the idea and submitted herself to this grueling process. The group of hundreds of hopefuls was brought down to 60 and finally to 10. The young musician from Norfolk managed to hang on for the ride. Finally, the votes were in and the final five were chosen. They were Noel Sullivan, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, Danny Foster, and, of course, Myleene Klass. The band would eventually be named Hear'Say.

At the same time, Myleene was offered a classical record deal, but she turned it down as she didn't feel she could commit herself to both. She wanted to give herself wholeheartedly to her new band. Before their first album, Popstars, was released in March 2001, Hear'Say was already one of the greatest cultural phenomena the United Kingdom had ever seen. Their debut single, "Pure and Simple," sold over 1.2 million copies and they were on top of the world. It was the fastest selling single in UK chart history. In July 2001, they released a second album called Everybody. However, after singles like "Lovin' Is Easy," "I Knew You Were Waiting," and "Way to Your Love Pt. 1," the British public soon grew tired of the endless tabloid articles on them and their numerous TV interviews.

There was a great deal of animosity between Myleene and Kym Marsh, and the latter eventually left the band in early 2002. Hungry for publicity, Hear'Say held public auditions to find a replacement even though the guy they finally chose, Johnny Shentall, had previously been in another failed band and was a friend. Still, things were looking bad for Hear'Say. Their tour was indefinitely postponed, the hits dried up, and their fan base vanished. As quickly as they had become popular, Hear'Say became the butt of all jokes. In the fall of 2002, the band split up. But as the only member of Hear'Say with any formal musical training, Myleene had plenty of options open to her. In early 2003, Myleene was offered both a pop and classical record deal. It was a no-brainer for her and she signed a six-record deal with Universal Classics, worth more than a million pounds. Her album, Moving On, was released in Britain in October 2003. On it, she simply plays the piano, placing a new contemporary spin on classical pieces and movie scores. Happy where she is right now in her career, she currently lives in London.

Rhodri Owen Biography

Rhodri, 32, (originally from Gower and married to ITV Wales newsreader Lucy Owen), is known for getting results for viewers on programmes including Hard Cash, 4 x 4 and CBBC's Short Change.

He's also recognised for his much-envied job as a presenter for ITV's Wish You Were Here. So it's good to hear that even Rhodri - a seasoned consumer champion with inside knowledge of the travel industry - can fall for one of the commonest scams of all, the disappointing holiday destination.

"I was once stung on a trip to Greece which looked great, but as it turned out the description was worded in such a way that we really didn't have a leg to stand on - it was the epitome of being caught hook, line and sinker. It said something about the accommodation being 30 metres from the beach, but it didn't mention that there was a big dual carriageway within that 30 metres!"

"I'd booked with a last minute holiday internet site, and I certainly won't have anything to do with them again. I'm a big believer in naming and shaming to make other people aware of bad practice."

"I've always been the sort of person who believes in standing up for your rights. I'm known among my friends for being very forthright in what I say when something's not right, and I don't take any flak."

"I believe that you get what you pay for, but if something's wrong you have every right to take it back and have your say. People work hard to earn their money and should be able to get what they expect when they spend it."
Rhodri was born and raised in Three Crosses, Gower, Swansea. Welsh is his first language and he did all his education throught the medium of welsh.

He began his presenting career with S4C, presenting all sorts of shows from their weekly magazine show to many of their special events. After six years with the Welsh channel he moved to London to join CBBC and their consumer show 'Short Change', which he still presents to this day.

Tessa Dunlop Biography

Tessa Dunlop Official Website

Tessa is a television historian and in the last two years has presented history programmes on Discovery Europe/UK, Channel 4, UKTV History and the American History Channel. In December 2005 she won an RTS award for her presentation.

Tessa studied history at Oxford University where she won the Gertrude Easton Prize. She is currently researching the lives of Charles II's mistresses for her first book and is also doing a part-time Imperialism MA.

Tessa also has an extensive speech radio background and can be heard weekly on BBC London 94.9FM.

To find out more about Tessa Dunlop visit her website