REAL NAME : Emma Jacobs
DATE OF BIRTH : 27th May 1982
BORN : Street, Somerset
LIVES : West London
HEIGHT : 5ft 8
PARTNER : Nitin, a research and consultation manager.
FAMILY : Only child to civil servant mum Judy and dad Tom, who made shoes.
TRAINED : National Youth Music Theatre and Arts Educational School in London. Also attended dance classes at Tinney School of Dance.
SKILLS : mezzo soprano singer; dance, trampolining, gymnastics & javelin
PREVIOUS JOBS : working in an Indian restaurant; modelling underwear/ shoes; working at Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC; making and selling jewellery and working at an undertakers.
ON WORKING ON HOLBY : ‘There is a very light-hearted atmosphere on set. I always know if I’m working with Robert Powell or Hugh Quarshie that I’m going to be in for a giggle. I’m really happy, I love the show’
ON PLAYING DONNA : ‘I love playing Donna, a few years ago I’d have said that she was a drunken version of myself, we do have a lot of things in common. We’re both very gregarious, but whereas I seem to have matured, Donna has always stayed the same age.’
ON MICHAEL ROMANCE : ‘It was a complete shock when I realised I had to seduce a man in the toilets. I thought, ‘come on, at least get a hotel room’. And I really wondered how I was going to do it because it’s so removed from the real me. But Hari and I are used to the fact that all our scenes are completely flirtatious.’
HOBBIES : Jaye collects diamonds. ‘I’m a dedicated enough collector to have visited Dubai recently on a diamond buying trip’.
Jaye is also into yoga and likes baking.
MUSIC LIKES : Lenny Kravitz. ‘Lenny Kravitz was a great inspiration for me when I was younger because there weren’t many mixed-race faces on TV. He doesn’t know it yet, but he could possibly be my future husband!’. Also likes India Arie.
FAVE BOOK : The Wisdom of Florence Scovel. ‘This book is basically about respecting yourself and other people. Florence has got life right and I want to live like that’.
FAVE TV : The Sopranos
FAVE FILM : The Green Mile. ‘I read Stephen King’s novel The Green Mile when I was very young and it made a great impression. So it was wonderful to see it come to life for me years later in a movie. It’s my favourite film and I could watch it over and over again.’
FAVE ANIMAL : Sheep. ‘Since my parents moved to the West Country, I’ve seen hundreds of them and I love them.’
TELEVISION CREDITS : Perfectly Frank; Places from the Heart; Blue Peter; Teen Magazine Show; Holby City; Waterloo Road
* Jaye appeared in the third series of Strictly Come Dancing with Andrew Cuerden but were eliminated in second week.
THEATRE CREDITS : Golden Boy; Rent; Fame; Once on this Island; The Kissing Dance; Vivien Ellis Awards; Lifts; Annie
AGENT : United Agents, 12-26 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LE.
Twitter : @JayeJacobs1
