Samantha Fox facts for kids

Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from Crouch End in North London. She has appeared on a number of reality television shows—including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity MasterChef—and has occasionally worked as a television presenter and actress.

After placing second in a Sunday People amateur modelling contest, Fox rose to fame as a Page 3 model in The Sun, where she made her first appearance in February 1983, aged 16. During her time on Page 3, she became one of the most photographed British women of the 1980s; she was named "Page 3 Girl of the Year" for 1984, 1985 and 1986. She left Page 3 in 1986, aged 20, to focus on her pop music career, but made occasional glamour modeling appearances thereafter. In 2008, she was voted the top Page 3 model of all time.

Released in March 1986, her debut single for the Jive Records label, "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)", became a top-10 hit across Europe, North America and Australia, reaching number one in several countries. Her first three studio albums—Touch Me (1986), Samantha Fox (1987) and I Wanna Have Some Fun (1988)—all produced international hit singles; she was nominated in the British Female Solo Artist category at the Brit Awards 1988. Her subsequent albums—Just One Night (1991), 21st Century Fox (1997) and Angel with an Attitude (2005)—were less successful, but she has continued to tour and has announced a forthcoming seventh studio album, produced by Ian Masterson.

In her early career, Fox dated men including Peter Foster, the Australian fraudster, and Paul Stanley, the rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of rock band Kiss. She was in a long-term relationship with her former manager Myra Stratton from 2003 until Stratton's death from cancer in 2015. In 2022, she married her tour manager, Linda Birgitte Olsen.

Early life

Fox was born on 15 April 1966 in Mile End, East London, the oldest daughter of actress Carole Ann Wilkie and John Patrick Fox. She had a sister (died 2023), Vanessa, and two half-siblings from her father's second marriage, Frederica and Frankie. Fox comes from a family of market traders.

Fox took an interest in the theatre from an early age; she first appeared on a theatre stage when she was three years old. She formed her first pop band with Richard Smart, Edward Gallagher and Bob Day when she was fourteen. She attended St Thomas More Catholic School, Wood Green; and was enrolled in the Anna Scher Theatre School from the age of fifteen. The next year she signed her first record deal, with Lamborghini Records.

Career

Modelling

Fox's "glamour" modelling career began at age 16 when her mother took photographs of her wearing lingerie and submitted them to The Sunday People's "Face and Shape of '83" amateur modelling contest. After Fox placed second, a photographer for The Sun invited her to pose for Page 3; at the time.

Fox later said she was grateful for the opportunity to break into "glamour" modelling, since many people in her area were unemployed or had "rough, low-paying jobs”. She had previously considered joining the police, but at 155 centimetres (5 feet 1 inch) tall she did not meet the height requirement then in place of 163 centimetres (5 feet 4 inches) for female officers.

Fox's first Page 3 photograph appeared in The Sun on 22 February 1983, under the headline "Sam, 16, Quits A-Levels for Ooh-Levels". She signed a four-year modelling contract with The Sun and was named "Page 3 Girl of the Year" in 1984, 1985 and 1986. She also made modelling appearances in multiple men's magazines.

Fox left Page 3 in 1986, aged 20, to focus on her singing career. She made occasional glamour modelling appearances later in her career. She is recognised as one of the most photographed British women of the 1980s, alongside Diana, Princess of Wales, and Margaret Thatcher. In 2008, she was voted the top Page 3 girl of all time.

Singing

Fox attempted to launch a music career in 1983. Her first single, credited to S.F.X., was a cover version of the 1981 Lesley Jayne song "Rocking with My Radio", released on the Lamborghini Records label. It was produced by Ian Gillan Band and Spencer Davis Group member Ray Fenwick, who also wrote the B-side, "My Old Man". Fox continued her collaboration with Fenwick, releasing her second single, "Aim to Win", under her own name in 1984. Neither of these singles was successful. Fox later said that "[Lamborghini Records] didn't really have a clue in those days and I didn't either," but said that the experience of performing live benefited her later musical career. Songs from her early Lamborghini Records singles were included as bonus tracks on the 2012 deluxe reissue of her album Touch Me.

In 1986, Fox was invited to an open audition for Jive Records, which was seeking a "British Madonna" to record the track "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)". Released as a single in March 1986, the song became an instant hit, reaching the top 10 across Europe and topping the charts in multiple countries. In the UK, the song reached number 3 in the charts, and in the US it reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her second single, "Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)", also reached the top 10 in the UK. Jive Records offered her a five-album deal. Her debut album, Touch Me, peaked at number 17 in the UK and charted all over Europe, reaching number one in Finland. The album received mixed reviews from critics, but Fox dismissed the criticism, claiming that music critics routinely disapproved of attractive artists.

Her second album, Samantha Fox, released in 1987, featured the hit singles "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" (UK #8) and "Naughty Girls (Need Love Too)" (US #3). The former song was produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, while the latter was remixed by US production duo Full Force. At the Brit Awards 1988, Fox was nominated in the British Female Solo Artist category alongside Kate Bush, Alison Moyet, Sinitta, and Kim Wilde. The award went to Moyet. Her third album, I Wanna Have Some Fun, released later in 1988, featured the hits "I Only Wanna Be With You" (UK #16) and "I Wanna Have Some Fun" (US #8). The album also charted in both the UK and US. By the end of the decade, Fox had achieved three top-10 singles in both the UK and US and three gold albums in the latter. She continued to have notable success in Australia and Europe.

Fox's record sales declined sharply after the 1980s. She released three further studio albums, Just One Night in 1991, 21st Century Fox in 1997, and Angel with an Attitude in 2005, but none produced any hits. A Greatest Hits album was issued in 2009, both in single and double CD formats. In 2012, her first four albums were remastered and reissued as double deluxe CDs by Cherry Red, with the addition of remixes and previously unreleased tracks. In 2022, Fox announced that she was working on a seventh studio album, produced by Ian Masterson, that would include a song co-written with Steve Strange as well as songs co-written with Ricky Wilde, brother of Kim Wilde.

In addition to her solo career, Fox collaborated with Cris Bonacci (former lead guitarist for the all-female rock band Girlschool) and Lauraine McIntosh to form the short-lived band Sox. They entered A Song for Europe, the UK's pre-selection competition for the 1995 Eurovision Song Contest, coming in fourth place out of eight songs with their entry "Go for the Heart". Sox released the song as a single before disbanding. Fox collaborated on "Santa Maria" by DJ Milano, a 1997 cover version of the original 1995 song by Croatian-Dutch model and singer Tatjana. She collaborated with Swedish singer Günther, who recorded a cover version of her 1986 hit "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" for his 2004 album Pleasureman. His version features new vocals by Fox, who also appeared in the music video. In 2022, she contributed co-lead vocals on the track "Tomorrow" with Swedish band Nestor, which was included on their album "Kids in a Ghost Town." In August 2023, she toured in the United States with Bad Boys Blue and Boney M, appearing in cities including New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Jose.

Film and television

Fox has done occasional film and television work. She and Mick Fleetwood co-presented the Brit Awards 1989, a live BBC broadcast that was subsequently described as "chaotic" and an "epic shambles". The presenters repeatedly missed cues and made incorrect introductions, including failing to show a recorded message from Michael Jackson and introducing Boy George as the Four Tops. Fox later claimed that the presenters were given cards containing incorrect information, that the autocue was malfunctioning, that female Bros fans disrupted the show with continuous screaming, and that her co-presenter was "out of it".

In 1990, Fox appeared on the American sitcom Charles in Charge as Samantha Steele, a fictional rock star. She also featured in The Match (1999), 7 Cases (2015), and the comedy horror film Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017). In 1995 she guest-starred in the Hindi film Rock Dancer. In November 2009, she participated in ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!; she was voted out on day 16. In 2010, she appeared in a celebrity episode of Come Dine with Me with Calum Best, Janice Dickinson, and Jeff Brazier. In 2016, she featured in Celebrity Big Brother 18, finishing in seventh place. In 2023, she appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.

Charitable activity

In 2008, Fox donated her favourite bra to a charity auction. In 2011, she participated in a campaign for the LGBT charity the Albert Kennedy Trust.

Personal life

Fox (left) and her former partner Myra Stratton (right) at the 2010 Fate Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Fox's parents separated in 1988. Her father managed her career prior to 1991. In that year, he assaulted her, leaving her with cuts, bruises, and two broken ribs. Following that incident, she hired accountants to trace over £1 million that she believed he had embezzled from her accounts. She discovered that her father had moved her money into offshore bank accounts and had not paid tax on her earnings for a decade. She sued and was awarded a £363,000 court settlement in 1995, although those funds were used to settle her tax bill. She spoke to her father only once during the last decade of his life; he died in 2000. Fox had one full sibling; she also has two half-siblings from her father's second marriage.

In March 2023, Fox's younger sister Vanessa died at age 50, nine days after suffering a heart attack.

Discography

Studio albums

• Touch Me (1986)
• Samantha Fox (1987)
• I Wanna Have Some Fun (1988)
• Just One Night (1991)
• 21st Century Fox (1997)
• Angel with an Attitude (2005)

Awards and recognition

Certifications