Natalie Gumede
Natalie Gumede (born 20 March 1984) is an English actress. She is known for playing Kirsty Soames in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, from 2011 to 2013. She previously played China in BBC Three comedy show Ideal. She has also appeared in The Persuasionists, Emmerdale and Doctor Who among other television shows. Gumede was also runner-up in the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. From 2017 to 2019, Gumede began appearing in Netflix original Free Rein as Maggie Steel Phillips. Early life Gumede was born in Burnley, Lancashire and lived in Colne during her early life, attending first Christ Church C of E Primary School and then Park High School. Her father is Zimbabwean and her mother is English. Her grandfather Josiah Gumede was the only President of the short-lived Zimbabwe Rhodesia. At the age of 11 while attending Pendle Hippodrome Youth Theatre, she was picked by BBC producers to help present the north-west regional insert for Children in Need in 1995. From aged 4 to eleven, Gunmede attended the Chippendale School of Dancing in Colne, and later furthered her arts career at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. Career From 2004 until 2007, Gumede