Cerys Matthews

Surgeon's daughter Cerys, who was brought up in Pembrokeshire and speaks fluent Welsh, first showed signs of her musical talents aged nine when she learned to play the guitar, teaching herself blues and Irish folk songs. After leaving school she spent time working as a nanny in Spain - where she learned to speak Spanish and Catalan before moving to Cardiff. There she met boyfriend Mark Roberts, with whom she formed Catatonia at the age of 23. The band enjoyed phenomenal success in the Nineties, with Cerys' husky vocals and confident persona making her an instant sex symbol. Not long after the release of their fourth album in 2001 the group disbanded, after Cerys and Matthew split up. She found love again with Nashville-based music producer Seth Riddle and relocated to the US town to make a solo album and build a life with him. The couple married and had two children, Glenys Pearl Y-Felin and Johnny Tupelo Jones, but the union broke down and Cerys returned to Wales with the children. In 2007 the singer surprised fans by announcing she would be entering the jungle in reality show Im A Celebrity…, saying she felt compelled to do it "just to see exactly how it feels".