She was a member of an ABBA tribute band, The Right Stuff, and appeared in television roles including an Esso advertisement, Holby City, and a BBC production, Elidor.

She also tried for the part of Maria Sutherland in Coronation Street, and made it to the final three along with Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh, but lost out to Samia Smith.

[4] Shaw's break came in 2000 when the ITV show Popstars launched a competition for contestants to become part of a newly formed pop band.

She was chosen as one of the ten finalists and became one of the members of Hear'Say, along with Kym Marsh, Myleene Klass, Noel Sullivan and Danny Foster, having beaten 4,000 other hopefuls.

Their first album, Popstars, went on to sell 1.2 million copies in the UK,[5] followed by their own television show entitled Hear'say It's Saturday, performing with established artists such as Lionel Richie, Joe Pasquale, Bradley Walsh, Blue and Atomic Kitten.

Since the band broke up on 1 October 2002, just after her 21st birthday, Shaw has established herself as a leading lady in musical theatre as well as an actress, television presenter, model and as a popular media personality.

She landed a role in the remake of the Summer Holiday musical in London's West End, and later in a UK tour of the show starring alongside Darren Day and Christopher Biggins.

A real killer and big voice mixed with some superb dancing skills showed that Suzanne was the pure and simple choice for the role...sorry couldn't resist!".

The leading role in Snow White followed, and then as Janet in The Rocky Horror Show national tour, appearing twice on Londons West End.

Acting roles post Hear'say have included The Court for Channel Four and a guest appearance on the British television police procedural The Bill, broadcast on ITV1 in June 2007, playing the character of Laura Matthews.

Having previously received a gash to the head and a broken rib, this did not deter her, and she vowed to carry on for her dance partner and the people who had voted for her.

Christopher Dean stated that he was hugely impressed with her skating and performance, saying she could do both fast and slower numbers equally well and was exceptionally versatile.

On 16 March, Suzanne Shaw was named the Series 3 Dancing on Ice champion, after Phillip Schofield announced she had won the public vote.

In the Christmas special Shaw again received the maximum score of 30 for her performance of the Santa Baby effectively winning the show for team Torvill.

The series featured Shaw, Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and Mike Reid competing for a vacant Baronial title in a small Scottish town called Gardenstown, near Banff in Aberdeenshire.

Before his death, Reid had expressed a wish to have a new community centre built in the village; a number of donations have since been secured from his family and others, and this is likely to go ahead in the near future.

Shaw toured in The Vagina Monologues throughout the summer of 2009 alongside actresses such as Jessie Wallace, Wendi Peters and Sue Holderness.

[16] Shaw starred as Judy Haynes alongside Aled Jones, Adam Cooper and Roy Dotrice in the musical White Christmas at the Lowry arts centre in Salford from November 2009 to January 2010.

She received very positive reviews for the role from, for example, The Stage, which commented "The beautiful Haynes Sisters are delightfully played by Suzanne Shaw as Judy, who sings and dances with ease with talented Rachel Stanley as her sister Betty",[17] The Lancashire Evening Post which stated "Former Hearsay star, Suzanne Shaw is a revelation, dancing, singing and acting with seasoned aplomb".

[18] and the Flintshire Chronicle which said "The show played to the actors' strengths so (Aled) Jones and (Rachel) Stanley took the big songs and (Adam) Cooper and (Suzanne) Shaw the dazzling dance routines.

The former were in good voice and it was well worth the trip to Salford just to see the sublime I Love a Piano tap routine by a flying Cooper and Shaw".

The couple had been friends since Shaw's Hear'Say days, but began dating in December 2005 after appearing together on Britain's Worst Celebrity Driver.