Name : Abi Titmuss
Birth name : Abigail Titmuss
Born : 8 February 1976 (1976-02-08) (age 31) Ruskington, Lincolnshire, England
Notable roles : Celebrity Love Island
Biography
She grew up in Ruskington, where her parents were teachers, and took her A levels at Kesteven and Sleaford High School. She played the clarinet at school. Her parents divorced when she was 17, and her father moved to Argyll, in Scotland, where he re-married. Her mother is secretary of (Sleaford Museum Trust) . She graduated from City University in St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1998, and became a staff nurse at London's University College Hospital. She also worked at the Royal Brompton Hospital, and while there she was harassed by a senior house officer, Dr. Shibley Rahman, in 2004. After these incidents (which included confronting Titmuss while she showered naked), Dr. Rahman was eventually found guilty of misconduct by a General Medical Council tribunal.
Titmuss met TV presenter John Leslie at a party in a pub on Fulham Road in London in 1998. The pair quickly formed a relationship, and Titmuss lived between her student nurse accommodation at the hospital and Leslie's home in Barnes, south-west London.
In 2002 presenter Ulrika Jonsson released her autobiography, in which she suggested that she had been indecently assaulted earlier in her career by a now well-known TV presenter. Weeks later, the "News of the World" ran front page pictures of John Leslie snorting cocaine in a cafe. The following week, pictures appeared in the paper of Leslie, Titmuss and other women taking part in sex-sessions at Leslie's home, including Lanre Onabowale, posing as basketball player Jayson Blayde, and his girlfriend.
Trial of John Leslie
The following week on Matthew Wright's live morning television show on Channel Five, "The Wright Stuff", Leslie was named as the anonymous celebrity linked to the rape accusation in Jonsson's autobiography.
Leslie was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service, and faced a court trial, throughout which Titmuss was present at his side.
When Leslie was found not guilty, the assumption was that the couple would continue their relationship. However, Leslie's career had stalled, whereas Titmuss had raised her image to the point where she was offered various television presenting jobs. Her tabloid-friendly looks and ease in front of the camera gained her a part-time post as a reporter for Leslie's friends Richard and Judy, undertaking occasional projects while continuing her job as a nurse.
Glamour career
Titmuss undertook a series of interviews promoting her image as a real sex star and Britain's #1 pinup. In her own words to "The Sunday Mirror" she stated: 'I'm not like those glamour girls who say: 'I'm really dirty, I'm really bad', then just pose around. I really "am" dirty and bad - I love sex. I've always been really good with my tongue and it's very long, girls love it as well!'
She took up presenting on pornographic channel Television X, released a fitness video, authored an erotic novel published by Black Lace, and made personal appearances in nightclubs all over the UK and Ireland. After a photo shoot opportunity offered by FHM of a two page spread, she eventually was featured in a three page spread and made the cover. In the following year, she made 38 front page appearances in 2004 and 2005 for many UK men's magazines, such as "FHM" , "Nuts", "Zoo Weekly", "Loaded", "GQ" and "Maxim" magazines, others such as "The Sunday Times Style" and topless on page 3 of several tabloid newspapers including "The Sun", "The News Of The World", "The Daily Mirror", "The People" and "The Daily Star" - each photoshot made her a minimum of £20,000 per session. Titmuss was voted by readers as #7 in FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005, and wrote a regular sex advice column for the magazine. In December 2004, Titmuss appeared on the front cover of FHM magazine with Victoria Silvstedt. At the height of her fame in 2004/5, she could command up to £30,000 a day for appearing on the front page of "Nuts" or "Zoo".
She appeared on ITV1's "Celebrity Love Island". Her other television work includes training as a chef on the 2004 series of "Hell's Kitchen", and in 2005, she appeared on Channel 4's "The Friday Night Project" as a regular guest feature, and in "Abi Titmuss: A Modern Day Morality Tale", a fly-on-the-wall documentary for Channel 4.
In 2005, Titmuss appeared in a high fashion shoot in "Pop" magazine, which commented on her status as the "Face of 21st century celebrity".
After taking a break from modelling work, Titmuss relaunched her glamour career as a brunette with an appearance on the cover of "Zoo" magazine and the sale of the official "Abi Titmuss Calendar 2007".
She recently appeared as a celebrity on reality series "Deadline" with Janet Street Porter as an editor on ITV2. The show followed a number of celebrities as they attempted to produce a celebrity-based magazine each week, published as a supplement to "Closer" magazine. Titmuss was the fourth celebrity to be sacked from the show. She has previously guest-presented shows on Virgin Radio, MTV and LBC radio.
On 25 April 2007, it was announced that Titmuss had made an appearance for a third year running in FHM's annual "100 Sexiest Women in the World" readers' poll, peaking at #80 (#7 in 2005, #95 in 2004), however Titmuss has recently announced her intention to 'retire' from the world of glamour modelling.