From 1978 to 1985, she was the lead singer of various punk rock bands; including, Margox and the Zincs: which initially featured Holly Johnson and Andrew Schofield as guitarists.

[3][4] In 1983, Clarke appeared as Fran, a CND campaigner, in two early episodes of the Liverpool-set Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, credited as Margi MacGregor.

Clarke followed Letter to Brezhnev with a European trilogy for Finnish brothers Aki and Mika Kaurismäki:[2] Helsinki Napoli All Night Long, I Hired a Contract Killer and L.A.

Clarke had a lead role in the films Letter to Brezhnev (1985), The Dressmaker (1988) and Strike It Rich (1990), and appeared in the Pet Shop Boys' video for their 1987 single,"Rent".

In 1991, she returned to presenting, this time on the late night ITV show The Good Sex Guide which gained audience figures of 13 million.

Clarke turned down an offer to take the series into a late night chat show format, the host eventually being Toyah Willcox.

In the same year, she also portrayed Ronnie O'Dowd, a 'sexy' female boxer who follows her father into the world of 'pugilism' and rescues him from being 'on the skids' in New York to bring him back to Liverpool with her winnings in Blonde Fist.

Following the success of The Good Sex Guide, the ITV franchise holder Carlton offered Clarke her own day-time show, and the resulting programme, Swank, co-presented with fashion designer David Emanuel,[2] ran for two series.

Around this time, Clarke's partner was the artist Jamie Reid (known for his work with the Sex Pistols) and she was paid an undisclosed sum to pose nude while nine months pregnant with their daughter Rowan.

In 2004, Clarke appeared on the Five reality TV show The Farm and had a leading role in the theatrical film School for Seduction co-starring Kelly Brook.

The same evening Clarke appeared as a panel guest on the BBC Two late-night show Newsnight Review, talking about her home town's Capital of Culture celebrations.