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Kim Woodburn

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Kim Woodburn
Born
Patricia Mary McKenzie[1]

(1942-03-25) 25 March 1942 (age 82)
Eastney, Hampshire, England[1]
Occupations
  • Television personality
  • writer
  • cleaner
Years active2002–present
Spouses
Kenneth Davies
​
​
(m. 1971; div. 1975)​
Peter Woodburn
​
(m. 1979)​
Websitekimwoodburn.com

Patricia Mary "Kim" Woodburn (née McKenzie; born 25 March 1942)[1] is an English television personality, writer, and former cleaner. Known as the "Queen of Clean", she came to prominence by co-presenting the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House? (2003–2009) and its Canadian version Kim's Rude Awakenings (2007–2009).[2] Woodburn has gone on to appear on various reality television shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2009) and Celebrity Big Brother (2017).[3]

Early life

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Patricia Mary McKenzie was born in Eastney, Hampshire on 25 March 1942 to Mary Patricia (née Shaw) and Ronald McKenzie.[1] Woodburn says that she was physically abused by her parents throughout her childhood, and sexually abused by her father.[1] She left home at the age of 16 and moved to Liverpool where she worked as a live-in cleaner for a family.[4] Besides being a professional cleaner, Woodburn also held other jobs such as social worker, beautician and model.[5] In February 1966, when she was 23 years old, Woodburn prematurely gave birth to a stillborn baby and buried him in a park.[1] This revelation, which she made in her 2006 autobiography, Unbeaten, led to a police inquiry, but no action was taken.[4] After the death of her baby, she changed her name from Patricia to Kim (after the actress Kim Novak).[6]

Career

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How Clean Is Your House?

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In 2002, Channel 4 contacted a cleaning company looking for "a really good cleaner with quite a funny temperament for a new series."[7] The company recommended Woodburn, who was then earning £1,000 a month as a live-in cleaner for a family in Kent.[7] After a screen test, programme makers paired her with Aggie MacKenzie and filming began three weeks later.[8][9]

How Clean Is Your House? aired from 2003 to 2009, with the duo producing books, board games and DVDs due to the popularity of the series.[10] Woodburn appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the USA, where How Clean Is Your House? aired on BBC America.[11] From 2007 to 2009, Woodburn starred in a Canadian version, titled Kim's Rude Awakenings, alongside Mike Chalut. In August 2009, Woodburn announced to Now magazine that she would not be making any further series of How Clean Is Your House? and Channel 4 announced soon afterwards that the series had been cancelled.[12][13]

Television appearances

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Woodburn in 2017

In November 2009, Woodburn was announced as a contestant for the ninth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. She finished as runner-up to Gino D'Acampo.[14] In March 2010, she appeared on Celebrity Come Dine with Me on Channel 4 alongside Claire Sweeney, Darren Day and Tom O'Connor.[15] In 2011, Woodburn became a regular panellist on the Big Brother spin-off series, Big Brother's Bit on the Side. In November 2011, she entered the house to set a shopping task which she also judged, while berating the housemates for their hygiene.[16]

In February 2013, Woodburn teamed up with chef Rosemary Shrager, and the pair appeared on the fifth series of Let's Dance for Comic Relief as contestants. They danced to "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" by Marilyn Monroe. They were eliminated by the panel of judges.[17] In 2014, Woodburn appeared as a contestant on an episode of The Chase Celebrity Specials.[18]

In March 2016, Woodburn took part in the second series of Famous, Rich and Homeless for BBC One. Her controversial comments on the lives of rough sleepers and some of them that she met led to a dispute between her, the public and the other volunteers on the show.[19] In April 2016, Woodburn and her husband, Pete, appeared on Channel 4's A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun in order to find a holiday home in Costa del Sol, which was to be their home during the winter months. Their budget was £320,000 and they were shown five two-three bedroom penthouses.[20] They put two offers forward of £285,000 and then £295,000 on an apartment but both were turned down by the Norwegian owner.[21]

In January 2017, Woodburn entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to participate as a housemate in its nineteenth series, entering on Day 11. She finished in third place on Day 32.[22]

In August 2018, Woodburn made a controversial appearance on ITV's Loose Women. She was asked if she would make amends with Coleen Nolan, but left after a reception by the panel that was widely described as "bullying". The incident resulted in almost 8,000 people complaining to Ofcom.[23] In 2021, Woodburn featured in a Christmas advert for Grainger Market Delivery, an online shopping company.[24] In 2022, Woodburn made various guest appearances on GB News and was a contestant on the E4 cooking competition Celeb Cooking School, where she was eliminated first.[25]

Other ventures

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Woodburn's cleaning products at Poundland

In 2006, Woodburn wrote an autobiography, Unbeaten, which detailed her early life.[1] She has appeared in various pantomimes in theatres all over the UK. Her first pantomime performance was in the Cinderella as an Ugly Sister, alongside television co-star Aggie MacKenzie, at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. It ran from 7 December 2007 to 6 January 2008.[26] From 15 December 2010 to 3 January 2011, she made her second appearance in pantomime in Cinderella at the Woodville Halls Theatre in Gravesend, where played the Fairy Godmother. From 11 December 2012 to 26 December, she played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the Grimsby Auditorium.[27] She performed in pantomime for the fourth time at the Southport Theatre in Jack and the Beanstalk as Fairy Starlight. The season ran from 13 December 2013 to 31 December 2013. From 2014 to 2015, she played Fairy Liquid in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Brindley in Runcorn, followed by a 2019 appearance at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[28] In 2022, Woodburn released a range of cleaning products at Poundland.[29]

Personal life

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Woodburn's first marriage to Kenneth Davies ended in divorce in 1975.[1] She married Peter Woodburn in 1979 and they live together in Nantwich, Cheshire.[30][31] They had no children.[32] Woodburn's tight braided bun hair style is described as her 'trademark' by BBC One.[2]

Filmography

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As herself
Year Title Notes Ref
2003–2009 How Clean Is Your House? Presenter [33][34]
2004 Too Posh to Wash Presenter
2006 When Kim & Aggie Went to Hospital Presenter
2007–2009 Kim's Rude Awakenings Presenter
2009 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Series 9; runner-up
2012 Hotel GB Housekeeping
2016 Famous, Rich and Homeless
2017 Celebrity Big Brother Series 19; third place
2022 Celeb Cooking School Contestant

Guest appearances

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Bibliography

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  • How Clean Is Your House? with Aggie MacKenzie (2003) ISBN 0-7181-4699-9
  • Too Posh to Wash: The Complete Guide to Cleaning Up Your Life with Aggie MacKenzie (2004) ISBN 0-7181-4769-3
  • The Cleaning Bible: Kim & Aggie's Complete Guide to Modern Household Management with Aggie MacKenzie (2006) ISBN 0-7181-4906-8
  • Unbeaten: The Story of My Brutal Childhood (2006) ISBN 0-340-92221-4

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Woodburn, Kim (2006). Unbeaten: The Story of My Brutal Childhood. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-92221-4.
  2. ^ a b "Kim & Rosemary - Let's Dance for Comic Relief". BBC One.
  3. ^ "What happened to Kim Woodburn after she was removed from Celebrity Big Brother?". Manchester Evening News. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b "I felt like I was a mass murderer". 25 August 2006.
  5. ^ "Kim Woodburn Biography".
  6. ^ "TV star questioned over dead baby". BBC News Online. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  7. ^ a b "TV's 'queen of clean' Kim Woodburn on cleaning mansions to owning one: 'I'm ever so grateful and I've been so lucky'". Belfast Telegraph. 18 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Kim's ready to clean up on the panto stage". Liverpool Echo. 29 November 2013.
  9. ^ Kim Woodburn talks How Clean Is Your House, her childhood and reality TV – YouTube
  10. ^ Williams, Andrew (1 September 2006). "60 SECONDS: Kim Woodburn". Metro. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  11. ^ "A time to clean". http://Oprah.com. 18 November 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  12. ^ Slobodian, Claire (20 August 2009). "Kim Woodburn to Leave "How Clean is Your House?"". Now Magazine. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  13. ^ Plunkett, John (12 November 2008). "Channel 4 axes Wife Swap and How Clean is Your House?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Gino D'Acampo wins 'I'm A Celebrity'". Digital Spy. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Come Dine with Me, 17 March 2010". Channel 4. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  16. ^ Fletcher, Alex (11 February 2011). "Kim Woodburn enters Big Brother house". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  17. ^ "Kim & Rosemary". BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  18. ^ "The Chase Outtakes, Kim Woodburn's Button Pressing blooper". YouTube. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Kim Woodburn slammed by BBC viewers for her cruel words to the homeless". 10 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  20. ^ "A Place in the Sun, Sun 17 Apr 2016". Channel 4. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Marbella, Spain - Episode 41 on April 17th 2016- A Place in the Sun". A Place in the Sun. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Who is Kim Woodburn? Celebrity Big Brother 2017 profile". Radio Times. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  23. ^ "Loose Women faces complaints over Kim Woodburn interview". BBC News. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Big Brother icon Kim Woodburn becomes Mrs Claus for Grainger Market's Christmas advert". Chronicle Live. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  25. ^ "Kim Woodburn booted off chaotic Celeb Cooking School after blowing up about her celebrity co-stars: 'I'd rather clean a 20-year-old toilet'". Metro. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  26. ^ "Kim's ready to clean up on the panto stage". Liverpool Echo. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  27. ^ "How Clean Is Your House's Kim and Aggie haven't spoken off camera since 2007 bust-up over panto". Metro. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  28. ^ "TV star Kim Woodburn makes sure cast of Blackpool North Pier's adult panto Aladdin and His Magic Ring are all scrubbed up in time for launch". 20 May 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  29. ^ "Kim Woodburn reveals dusting mistake that makes cleaning take far longer". Ideal Home. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  30. ^ "TV's 'queen of clean' Kim Woodburn on cleaning mansions to owning one: 'I'm ever so grateful and I've been so lucky'". Belfast Telegraph. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Kim Woordburn: 'I never go looking for trouble, you know!'". 28 February 2017.
  32. ^ "What Kim Woodburn has said about her tragic childhood in the wake of that Loose Women fight". Digital Spy. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  33. ^ "Kim Woodburn at TV Guide". TV guide. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq "Kim Woodburn at BFI". Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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