Celebrities

Rory Bremner

Perhaps Britain’s most accurate TV impressionist, his popular satirical show Bremner, Bird and Fortune was particularly sharp and edgy. 

Ade Edmondson

He shot to fame in the early 80s as anarchic student VyVyan in TV comedy The Young Ones. Despite a host of other acting roles since, he will surely always be best remembered for his incredible portrayal as this psychopathic punk.

Richard Whiteley

Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 on November 2 1982 and popular host Richard Whiteley chaired the daytime programme for the next 23 years until his death in 2005.

Amanda Barrie

With her huge expressive eyes and coy smile, she is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses and after rising to prominence playing Cleopatra in the British comedy Carry On Cleo, found TV fame in Coronation Street and Bad Girls.

Sherrie Hewson

An actress, broadcaster and novelist best-known for playing dizzy Maureen Holdsworth in Coronation Street and as a panellist on the hit ITV chat show Loose Women.

Gennaro Contaldo

Gennaro Contaldo is one of the most respected chefs in London - the personal mentor of Jamie Oliver. Since first tasting Grasmere Gingerbread four years ago, when he met Joanne in Cumbria, he now insists on regular deliveries.

Levi Roots

Simon Rimmer

Ryan Thomas

Known for playing handsome builder Jason Grimshaw in ITV soap Coronation Street, actor Ryan Thomas has been nominated for numerous ‘Sexiest Male’ accolades, he was voted Rear of the Year in 2008.

Alan Whicker

One of the most successful TV journalists and presenters of all time, his career spanned 60 years and Whicker’s World ran for more than 30 years.

Chris Evans

The outspoken Radio 2 DJ first achieved fame with Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday and he enjoyed celebrity marriages to Loose Women’s Carol McGiffin and Dr Who actress Billie Piper.

Jamie Oliver

The Naked Chef described Grasmere Gingerbread® as the ‘best gingerbread I have eaten’ and brought catering students to The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop during filming of his pioneering TV programme Fifteen. 

Alison Steadman

Best-known for her portrayal of the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party, she also starred in films A Private Function, Clockwise and Shirley Valentine.

Phil Vickery

The handsome chef and star of shows such as Ready, Steady Cook worked in Grasmere before TV fame and included Grasmere Gingerbread® in his prized list of ‘Best of British’ Foodstuffs.

Brian Cant

Only if you are over a certain age will you remember him as a mains presenter of children’s TV programme Play School and as the narrator on the brilliant trio of Gordon Murray puppet shows Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley.

Anne Kirkbride

The death early in 2015 of actor Anne Kirkbride, who played Deidre Barlow in Coronation Street, stunned co-stars and fans alike. A true Corrie great, she played her bespectacled characters for four decades. 

Virginia McKenna

She will forever associated with the film Born Free about an orphaned lion cub looked after by wildlife campaigner Joy Adamson (whom she plays in the movie) and released back into the Kenyan wilderness. 

Jilly Goolden

The English wine critic, journalist and television personality co-presented the popular BBC Food and Drink series for 18 years and was famed for her theatrical and abstract descriptions of all her favourite tipples. 

Russell Grant

The cuddly astrologer and media personality starred in 2009’s Strictly Come Dancing and is also the author of The Real Counties of Britain.

Jimmi Harkishin

A Coronation Street regular since 1999, he plays lovable corner shop owner Dev Alahan whose character has enjoyed a string of romances down the years.

Brian Johnston

Affectionately known as Johnners, he presented long-running Sunday evening radio programme Down Your Way and he was a regular member of the BBC cricket commentary team.  

Antony Cotton

After playing unlucky-in-love gay barman Sean Tully in Coronation Street since 2003, he has established a loyal TV following.

Paul Rankin

Although known as an Irish celebrity chef from County Down, he was actually born in Glasgow. In 1989 he opened the restaurant Roscoff which became the first to win a Michelin start in Northern Ireland.

Sue Cook

Immortalised in the Alan Partridge universe as an object of his unrequited affections, she made her name in TV and radio and later became a writer. She also appeared in TV’s Edge of Darkness and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil.

Oz Clarke

Although known primarily as a wine critic alongside Jilly Goolden on BBC’s  Food and Drink he was originally an actor and enjoyed a small part as a criminal in the 1978 Superman film starring the late Christopher Reeve. 

Pam Rhodes

Although happiest in her wellies pottering in her garden, she is best-known for presenting Songs of Praise and during her tenure has interviewed the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the Royal Family.

Liza Goddard

A versatile actress who shot to fame in 70s TV show The Brothers, was previously married to pop star Alvin Stardust and Dr Who’s Colin Baker and who know dedicates her life to looking after rescued animals at her home in Norfolk.

Bill Beaumont

A former captain of both the England Rugby Union team and BBC TV’s A Question of Sport, he is the managing director of his family’s textile business in Chorley, Lancashire.

Robert Powell

An actor best-known for playing the title role in Jesus of Nazareth and his distinctive voice has graced numerous documentaries and advertisements including World War II in HD Colour and The Story of the Third Reich.

Wilfred Pickles

A popular English actor and radio presenter in 50s and 60s, best remembered for BBC Radio’s Have a Go which attracted a weekly audience of more than 20 million and a weekly mailbag of 5,000 letters

Tom Cruise

The Top Gun and War of the Worlds actor was described as one of the world’s most powerful celebrities by Forbes magazine.

Nicole Kidman

The Oscar-winning actress and UNICEF ambassador starred in the movies Cold Mountain, The Hours and Australia. Her marriage to and subsequent divorce from Tom Cruise dominates the showbiz headlines for years.

Renée Zellweger

The star of Miss Potter fell in love with the Lake District and Grasmere Gingerbread whilst filming some of the movie in and around the area. She is best known for her role in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

Jason Orange

The handsome Take That singer broke quite a few hearts with last year’s announcement to leave the band which enjoyed massive hits with Patience, Back for Good and Relight My Fire during two decades of music chart dominance.

Jean Alexander

Although forever known as nosey parker Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street, the now retired TV actress successfully played the character Auntie Wainwright in BBC comedy Last of the Summer Wine.

Edwina Currie

Famous for the ‘salmonella in eggs’ furore, the former Conservative Junior Health Minister is now a novelist and broadcaster. She caused a sensation when her published diary detailed a four-year affair with John Major.

Colin Welland

The star of BBC TV show Z Cars and movie Kes won an Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay for Chariots of Fire.

Mark Spitz

He was the 1972 Munich Olympics golden boy, winning seven swimming events and establishing world record times in every one, a remarkable record that has stood the test of time.

Julie Goodyear

The larger-then-life Coronation Street landlady of the Rovers Return turned heads at The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop even though she wasn’t wearing her trademark leopard skin jacket.

David Dimbleby

A broadcasting legend, the suave host of BBC Question Time is particularly well-known for his masterful handling of the country’s Election Night specials.

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