My first Christmas in the Rovers!
Former Hear'Say singer gym Ryder is looking
forward to pulling men as well as pints as barmaid
Michelle in Coronation Street's festive special
Kym Ryder has every reason to celebrate this Christmas. Having weathered ups and downs in her post-Hear'Say singing career, the artist formerly known Kym Marsh has shown that tenacity can pay off. She's reinvented herself as a soap siren in Coronation Street and is a walking advertisement for a happy family life.
Kym takes centre stage on the cobbles this Christmas with her first big storyline as singer-cum-barmaid Michelle Connor.
She'll also be toasting the
release on Boxing Day of her first fitness video and is thrilled that she and her family - husband
Jack Ryder and children, David, 11, and Emily, 9 - have just moved to a dream home in Cheshire and will spend their first family Christmas in the North for years.
Kym's Corrie storyline sees Michelle attract the attention of both Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and newcomer Sonny Dhillon (Pal Aron, who played DC Brandon Kane in The Bill from 2002-4), a millionaire businessman who could certainly entertain Michelle in some style.
When Steve hears Michelle accept Sonny's invite to a swanky New Year's Eve party, his attempt to sabotage their date doesn't quite go to plan. Viewers will then see Michelle toying with both men in a love triangle that looks set to run well into the new year.
"It's my first big storyline and I'm thrilled," says Kym. "Michelle is a great character, so I'm really chuffed. This is a good test for me and a great chance to stretch myself."
The sweet and chatty actress says she'll be watching Corrie's Christmas episodes with her family in her home town of Wigan, having moved back after five years in Hertfordshire. In August, she and former EastEnders star Jack, 25, bought a four-bedroom house in Cheshire, close
From the top: with husband Jack and her children. Emily and David; kissing Coronation Street's Steve (Simon Gregson) underneath the
mistletoe; and with her Hear'Say bandmates, including Myleene Klass (in foreground)
to her parents David and Pauline, and Granada Studios in Manchester, where the soap is filmed. Dave Cunliffe, Kym's former partner and David and Emily's dad, also lives in Wigan.
"It's lovely," she sighs. "I'm only half an hour from work now, instead of two and a half hours by train, so I see a lot more of the children. And they don't have that long commute to their dad's every fortnight, which was a big trek for them. He's only 20 minutes away"
Kym and Jack are a refreshingly down-to-earth couple who seem to shun the flashy lifestyle. Their new house isn't anything particularly lavish, just a modest family home.
"It's not huge, just a normal house," Kym says. "Jack and I are not living in a dream world - we both know it could all end tomorrow so we have to be sensible."
The couple haven't even clashed over decorating. "We have very similar tastes and it's all very neutral colours and nice fabrics, not cluttered but not minimalist. It's very homely."
This weekend, Kym is looking forward to celebrating a traditional family Christmas at her parents' house.
"It's going to be like old times, because we haven't been to my mum's for Christmas dinner for ages," she says. "Usually, Jack and I take the family out for Christmas dinner, but it's not the same as going to Mum's. I'm so excited!"
And Kym is determined to help her mum whip up a traditional turkey dinner.
"I'm rubbish at cooking, but I'm going to help Mum because I would feel awful leaving her to do it alone. My son David is excited because he's doing cookery at school, so he's going to make the starter.
"After lunch, we'll probably pop to my sister's to see her and her four children, then go home in the early evening so the children can play with their presents."
Although Kym's got more money than she ever had growing up in a working-class home and, later surviving on benefits as a single mum (she and Cunliffe split in 1999), she insists she doesn't spoil her kids now.
"We don't want them to turn into brats so we don't get them too much. For example, last year David wanted an iPod Nano and I was like, 'Are you sure you're going to use it?'. He promised he'd use it, so we did buy it in the end and it was the best present ever."
Before making it big with Hear'Say, spending more than £100 on a Christmas gift would have been just a pipe dream for Kym.
"Christmas was always really difficult for me," she admits. "But I used to save up hard beforehand. When David was four, he wanted a Sega Megadrive and I had to buy it secondhand because I couldn't afford a new one. Obviously things are different now, but we still think hard before buying expensive presents."
Nor do Kym and Jack push the boat out for each other. "The best present I ever had from him was two years ago, a first-edition copy of Peter Pan, which was such a thoughtful present because I collect children's books," she says.
"Jack likes to play guitar, so last year I bought him an exact replica of a guitar he wanted."
The couple's marriage seems solid, despite a brief split in 2003 and the fact that Jack's career has faltered since leaving EastEnders in 2002.
"In April, we'll have been together six years," Kym says proudly. "We're both really happy and comfortable with each other and still very much in love."
Is there any tension at home, with her career being more successful than Jack's?
"I've had people say to me,
'Oh, Jack's not doing anything,' and I'm like, 'Yes, he is,"' she replies. "He may not be on TV, but he works really hard doing theatre and he's made a movie, Popcorn
[a romantic comedy due for release next year], and radio plays. There's no rivalry between us. What I'm doing now he's done before, so he can help me. It works."
She is also open about the couple's plans to extend their family. "Obviously, we would like a baby of our own, but we've both been so busy!" she chuckles. "We both want to be able to enjoy the baby and be there."
Losing any baby weight shouldn't be a problem, what with all the tricks she's learned
for her new fitness video, Kym Ryder's Burn And Firm Workout, and the healthy-eating regime that's helped her lose more weight this year.
She slimmed down to a size 8-10 for her 2002 wedding with help from her personal trainer, Paul Younane, who devised the video's exercises and encouraged Kym to eat more healthily.
In a way, the video's been a long time coming, after Pop Idol judge Nigel Lythgoe humiliated Kym by publicly criticising her weight.
"I got offered the chance to do a fitness video at the beginning of Hear'Say when Nigel had just called me fat, but I didn't want to be seen to cash in on that," she reveals. "I'd got a lot of letters from girls who were dealing with weight issues and didn't want people thinking I was trying to make money out of that situation."
She says she's now "size 9- right in the middle, which is awkward when you're buying clothes".
"I have a hectic schedule and two children, and there's no time to go to the gym, so we designed a programme of things I could do at home," she explains. "Lo and behold, I lost more weight, and it's stable now at eight and a half stone, which is very comfortable for me."
The video is suited to women like Kym, who juggle work and family. "We're aiming it at people who don't go to the gym," she says. "Some people find it intimidating or are too busy, and some can't afford the membership. I know I couldn't when I was on benefits!
"If I can't get to the gym three times a week, I do these exercises at home and incorporate things weights. So you don't have to spend money on equipment."
But all work and no play does make Kym a tired girl. "My New Year's resolution is to learn to relax more. I don't give myself a lot of time," she smiles. "I'm constantly trying to make sure everyone else is OK.
"I'd like to take one hour a week to get pampered - have a massage or get my nails done. Just to get my head in the right space.
"But really," " she adds, "I've got everything I could wish for!"
Kym Ryder's new fitness DVD Burn And Firm Workout is out now on EMI.