Linda Lusardi


Linda Frances Elide Lusardi is an English actress, television presenter and former glamour model.
WWW lindalusardiofficial.com𝕏 lusardiofficialIG lindalusardi

Early life

Lusardi was born in Wood Green, London, to Lilian and Nello Lusardi. Her mother was born in Edmonton, Middlesex and her father in Hackney, east London, to Italian parents. Lusardi grew up in Palmers Green.

Career

Modelling

In 1976, at the age of 18, she began posing for pictures as a Page 3 girl in The Sun, where she continued to appear until 1988. She appeared nude in the men's magazines Mayfair in February 1977 and Fiesta in November 1977.''''

Television, film and stage acting

As an actress, Lusardi has appeared in the drama series The Bill playing the girlfriend of corrupt officer DS Don Beech and also in Hollyoaks and Brookside. On 12 February 2007, she joined the cast of Emmerdale as Carrie Nicholls, an ex-girlfriend of Tom King and mother of his secret child, Scarlett. She left the programme after a year.
Lusardi has appeared in films including Snappers, The Zero Imperative, Oh Minnie, Consuming Passions and The Krays: Dead Man Walking.
Lusardi has starred as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Malvern Festival and toured in Happy as a Sandbag, Funny Peculiar, Bedside Manners, Not Now, Darling, Rock with Laughter, No Sex Please, We're British, and Doctor on the Boil. Lusardi took her own show to the British Forces in Belize, the Falklands and Northern Ireland.
She is a supporter of UK pantomime and often stars with her husband Sam Kane each Christmas at major theatres in the UK. Recent venues have been Woking, Southend-on-Sea, Plymouth, and Llandudno. Lusardi has starred in over 25 pantomimes.

Other television work

Lusardi appeared in two series of A Kind of Magic, as assistant to Wayne Dobson on ITV, and a season of Loose Women in 2002. She later returned in 2014 to 2015 and made a few guest panellist appearances. She regularly presented Wish You Were Here...?, Miss Northern Ireland, chat show It's Bizarre, Film Review and No Smoking on ITV. Lusardi took part in the reality show The Games in 2004, ITV daytime programme Have I Been Here Before? and BBC One's Hole in the Wall in 2009. She also sells Lusardi My Miracle, a range of skin-care products, on the shopping television channel Ideal World.
In 1992, she appeared in the "Dead Ringer" observation round of The Krypton Factor and appeared in a special edition of Bullseye presented by Jim Bowen. Lusardi appeared on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV and in the Royal Variety Performance, as well as Celebrity Eggheads and Pointless Celebrities on the BBC. She also appeared briefly as herself in the BBC sitcom Detectorists.

Reality TV

In January 2008, Lusardi joined ITV's Dancing on Ice, finishing in sixth place. Her professional skating partner was Daniel Whiston, who temporarily moved into her family home to make training more convenient. Lusardi had to catch up with her fellow skaters after falling and breaking a bone in her foot during her first hour on the ice. She also won the Channel 4 show Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2008. In the show, she was voted the best dinner host by her fellow contestants Abi Titmuss, Rodney Marsh, Lesley Joseph and Paul Ross. Lusardi participated in the 2011 series of Celebrity Masterchef, where she reached the final five. In December 2020, she took part in The Real Full Monty on Ice for charity.

Charity work

She is a patron of two charities, the Willow Foundation and the Rhys Daniels Trust.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982The New Kenny Everett Naughty VideoVarious CharactersStraight-to-Video
1988Consuming PassionsFrench BeautySupporting Role
Olympus Force: The KeySuzie--
1990Family FortunesAliceGuest Role
1991A Kind of MagicWayne’s AssistantRecurring Role
1994P.R.O.B.ELouise BaylissGuest Role
1996Noel’s House PartyHouse Guest1 Episode
1998Brookside: Friday the 13thFrankiMain Role
1998-1999BrooksideFranki MorganRecurring Role
2000-2004The BillMaggieRecurring Role
2006Dancing on IceHerselfContestant
2007-2008EmmerdaleCarrie NicholsSeries Regular
2009Hole in the WallHerselfContestant
Ready, Steady, Cook---
Come Dine With MeParticipant --
2011Celebrity MasterchefContestant -
2012-2014Big Brother’s Bit on the SideRegular Panelist -
2014What’s the Score?GloriaSupporting Role
2017DetectoristsHerselfGuest Role
2018The Krays: Dead Man WalkingSally MitchellSupporting Role
The Wright StuffHerselfGuest Panelist -
2019LorraineGuest -
2020The Real Full MontyParticipant -
WonderbirdsHerself/Lovely Lolly LenderOnline Series -
2021Celebrity Ghost TripHerselfParticipant
2024MandyLindaGuest Role

Selected Theatre Credits

YearTitleRoleNotes
1988-1989CinderellaCinderellaDartford Orchard, Dartford
1989PygmalionEliza DoolittleMalvern Festival
1989-1990Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow WhiteThe Hexagon Theatre, Reading
1992-1993Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon--
1993-1994Wolverhampton Grand, Wolverhampton--
1994-1995Darlington Civic, Darlington--
1995-1996Dick WhittingtonFairy BowbellsBradford Alhambra, Bradford
1997-1998Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow WhiteThe Hexagon Theatre, Reading
1998-1999Robin HoodMaid MarianWolverhampton Grand, Wolverhampton
1999-2000Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWicked QueenTheatre Royal, Nottingham, Nottingham
2000-2001Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon--
2001-2002New Theatre, Cardiff--
2002-2003Darlington Civic, Darlington--
2003-2004Churchill Theatre, Bromley--
2004-2005New Victoria Theatre, Woking--
2005-2006Cliffs Pavilion, Southend--
2006-2007Theatre Royal, Plymouth, Plymouth--
2008-2009Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe--
2009-2010Royal & Derngate, Northampton--
2010-2011CinderellaFairy GodmotherVenue Cymru, Llandudno
2011-2012Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWicked QueenWolverhampton Grand, Wolverhampton
2012-2013Sleeping BeautyMaleficentDarlington Civic, Darlington
2013-2014Royal & Derngate, Northampton--
2014-2015CinderellaFairy GodmotherNew Theatre, Cardiff
2015-2016AladdinSpirit of the Ring-
2016-2017CinderellaFairy GodmotherCrowns Theatre, Hull
2017-2018Sleeping BeautyMaleficentGravesend, The Woodville, Gravesend
2018-2019Snow White and the Seven DwarfsWicked QueenThe Playhouse Theatre, Weston-super-Mare
2019The Wizard of OzWicked Witch of the WestTheatre Royal, St Helens
2019-2020CinderellaFairy GodmotherThe Playhouse Theatre, Weston-super-Mare