Actress Gemma Oaten’s career includes BBC Doctors which she did just one month after graduation from Drama Studio London in 2010, BBC Casualty and Holby City, and the most recognizable, the role of Rachel Breckle in Emmerdale from 2011 – 2015 for which she received best newcomer nominations for the TV Choice Awards, British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards.
In 2020 she completed a nationwide UK number 1 tour of the country in Alan Ayckbourn's Ten Times Table with Bill Kenwright Productions, and other theatre credits include Up n Under and Bedroom Farce, returning to the stage in late 2022 in the role of Shelley in the world premiere of Ladies Unleashed! By Amanda Whittington in her beloved home town at Hull Truck Theatre. Other onscreen work includes on the big screen in the award-winning Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool alongside Jamie Bell and Annette Benning and voice recording the audio book for best-selling novel I Am Dust by Louise Beech.
Gemma counts Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Tom Courtenay as both mentors and friends. It was Patrick Stewart who suggested she use her public profile to raise awareness for mental health, eating disorders and bullying issues.
In July 2019 Gemma did her first TedX talk “The Girl in the Mirror, the Woman on the Screen – The reality of Eating Disorders” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcSTElSJpMk
As the CEO of her family’s Eating Disorders Charity SEED Eating Disorder Support Services https://seed.charity, she regularly speaks to audiences around the UK about Eating Disorders Awareness, resilience and facing adversity. She is an ambassador for Anti Bullying Pro and works tirelessly as an Ambassador for Prostate Cancer UK.
Gemma also appears regularly on daytime programs such as BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, BBC News, and This Morning to continue her promise to raise awareness for eating disorders alongside promoting the huge TV storylines and news headlines.
Gemma is the proud Dog Mum of Ruby Tuesday, her 6-year-old Schnoodle. Already Ruby has been a cover girl of Dogs Monthly!
If she wasn’t busy enough, Gemma runs workshops on confidence building, public speaking, team building, acting and more. As well as speaking around the country to deliver her powerful and important message re well-being, resilience, eating disorders awareness and more, in schools, within the NHS and corporates.
Gemma recently was seen on our TV screens in BBC Doctors and ITV Coronation Street in the role of Isla Hayworth to much critical acclaim, giving poor Tyrone a run for his money! And also in the series of Celebrity Antiques Roadtrip and ITV’s prime time show Million Pound Pawn raising vital funds for SEED Eating Disorder Support Services.
In 2023 she continues to step into the role of co-host for the Viking FM Breakfast show and is excited to be working in a medium she loves, Radio, as well as continuing her vital work around eating disorders with SEED, which is now being acknowledged at parliamentary level, along with recent reporting with BBC Breakfast and BBC The One Show.
Follow Gemma on socials:
Twitter: @gemmaoaten
Instagram: @gemma.oaten