[1][3] McIntosh took a break from music to play the character Alice Henderson in the Scottish soap opera River City, which was set in a fictitious suburb of Glasgow.

McIntosh has also appeared in a few Scottish films, including Ken Loach's My Name Is Joe,[4] and Lone Scherfig's Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself,[4] as well as in three episodes of the TV police-drama series Taggart.

[4] In November 2024 Abertay University will honour McIntosh with a Doctor of Arts honorary degree.

[5] McIntosh married Deacon Blue lead singer Ricky Ross on 12 May 1990, and they have four children.

[6][7] She is of maternal Irish Catholic descent: her mother, Sarah McIntosh (née Gallagher), was from the townland of Dore in Gweedore, a district in the north-west of County Donegal in Ulster.