Ugenia

Ugenia Kerry Watkins better known solely as Ugenia is an English singer-songwriter, model, dancer and actress. She was born on 5th January 1991. Ugenia started out in the industry as a child actress in British soap opera, Eastenders from 1996 to 2001 playing the role of Kacey Harris. She also starred in the sci-fi TV series, Galaxy17 from 2002 - 2005 as well as appearing in some movies; No Doubt (2003), Say Goodbye To Mary (2009), What To Do When You Don't Have A Clue (2009) and Sunnyside (2011). Ugenia is also widely known for her singing career. She has so far released 4 singles, 1 buzz single and 1 album. Her debut album Like A Circus was released in 2010 to critical acclaim and success. She is currently recording her sophomore album. Ugenia is dating Teen Titans member, Joey Frankson ('Devil Titan'), and the pair have twins together, Brandon & Vanessa Frankson.
==Early Life==
Watkins was born and raised in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. She is the daughter of Linda Watkins (previously 'Austin'), a childcare worker and Marcus Watkins, a drama teacher. Ugenia has Italian and French ancestory. Ugenia has an older brother, John-Jay Watkins and a younger brother, Kayden Watkins who is an aspiring singer.
Watkins did not attend school as she was too busy whilst acting however, he parents payed for numerous tutors. At the age of 10 she was then enrolled into stage school.
==Career==
===Acting===
====Television====
Ugenia first appeared on TV screens at the age of 5. In early 1996, she featured in adverts for ElectroPop!, a brand of soft drinks sold across Europe. She landed her first acting role in May 1996, playing the part of Kacey Harris in popular British soap opera EastEnders. Watkins received critical praise for her role as the over the top, comedic Kacey. Ugenia left the show in September 2001 when a team of new writers and a new producer took over the show and cleared out many characters to revamp the show. She also portrayed Tiffany Westwood in British comedy Disfunctionality from 1999 to 2002. Both shows were produced by the BBC.
Watkins then went on to play the role of Roberta Elliot in British sci-fi TV show Restless for 5 episodes in series 2 of the show in 2002. She then became a permanent character for the third series of the show. Restless ran for another series without Watkins' character before ending in 2004. Whilst working on the show, Ugenia also starred in another British sci-fi TV show Galaxy17 as Fluerona. The show received critical praise and won several TV awards during its three year run from 2002 to 2005. The show was set to air in the US, giving Watkins her first taste of fame outside of the UK however these plans were scrapped for unknown reasons.
In 2006 Ugenia returned to the small screen at the age of 15 playing the role of Emily Dashwood in BBC's period drama series, Rose Park. The show ran for two series and finished in November 2007. Her portrayal of the character earned her the 'Best Actress' award in 2007 at The National Television Awards, Watkins was nomianted the previous year but lost out to Farrah Donnelly's portrayal of Kelly Ora in Colour Me In.
Ugenia eventually came to worldwide prominence in February 2008 at the age of 17, starring in American drama Floor 34. She played the role of Willow King, a newly hired secretary. The show was praised for its humorous approach to sensitive subjects. It was a ratings hit on both sides of the Atlantic and its last ever episode is the third most watched episode of a TV show ever in America. It ran for three series and ended in early 2010. Ugenia would then go on to a career in music after the show ended.
====Films====
Ugenia first appeared on the big screen in 2003 at the age of 11. She played the role of Sian Vickers, daughter of a gangstar father and a drug addicted mother in No Doubt. The film was released in Britain only in July 2003 and received praise for its hard hitting story. The film showed many sensitive issues such as drugs, violence, racism, rape and homophobia. Ugenia was a supporting character in the movie, she played opposite Cheryl Rivers who portrayed the main character, Carly.
In 2009 Ugenia made a return to films, this time acting in a movie that received a worldwide release. She played Jennifer Delaney in the slasher film Say Goodbye To Mary. Ugenia co-starred alongside David Russell, Didi Simone and Bryan Welker. Again in 2009, Watkins appeared in another big budget movie, this time a romantic comedy, What To Do When You Don't Have A Clue. The film was a critical and box office success. She played Holly Ellis, a spa receptionist. A sequel is rumoured to be released in 2013.
After finishing promotion for her debut album Like A Circus in early 2011, Ugenia returned to acting. She appeared in the horror movie Sunnyside which is about a small populated town that becomes infested with giant insects. The film performed moderately well at the box office for a film with very little promotion. It was released on 29th August 2011 in American and 30th August to the rest of the world. Ugenia was pregnant whilst filming the movie.
Ugenia is set to appear in upcoming action film Eye To The Telescope as Layla Sharpe, a tough talking waitress who stumbles upon a deadly secret. She will co-star alongside Liam Eagan.
====Voice Over Work====
Ugenia provided the voice of Little Lil in the animated children's film The Bunny in 2009. Later that year she voiced the character of Fiona Frog in direct-to-DVD animated children's film, Lake Of Wishes. 
===Music Career===
Ugenia signed to Shooting Star Records in 2009 whilst working on the show Floor 34. She had always aspired to be a musician from a very early age. At stage school, she learned how to play the guitar and landed many lead roles in musical productions. Watkins started work on her debut album in the spring of 2009. She stated that it was 'A very stressful process. I had to learn scripts for the show as well as write and record songs, meet up with producers, do photoshoots and interviews. There was a lot of pressure on me but I still enjoyed it, music is one of my passions and to be signed to Shooting Star Records, a big label, was just an honour.' 
She released her debut single; Broken Promises in March 2010. It reached No.10 in the UK singles chart and performed moderately well elsewhere. Before the release of her album, Ugenia released a second single titled Fearless, which was a ballad like her previous single. It peaked at No.9 in the UK and sold more than her debut single. Ugenia released her debut album Like A Circus in November 2010 to critical acclaim. It featured vocal collaborations with MattY and her now boyfriend, Joey Frankson. The album's third single; Make Me Dance was released a week after the album,despite not becoming her highest charting single, it is her biggest selling single to date. The fourth single was the MattY collaboration Aliens. It reached the top 5 in the UK. Poker was set to be released as the fifth single but plans were scrapped.
In summer 2011, Ugenia released a buzz single Touch Me which featured Hard Sugar member, Mariah Button. The song was noted for its sexual lyrics and video which was very unlike Ugenia's previous material. The lead single from her sophomore album was set to follow soon afterwards however these plans have been pushed back due to numerous events. During this time, Ugenia joined the Teen Titans on tour, becoming a temporary member known as 'Sexy Titan' as fellow Titan member Laurence Wilson was taking time out and decided not to tour as he had recently got married and was looking after his newborn son.
In late 2011, Ugenia performed a new song called Lights at The Fans Choice Awards 2. Ugenia said that her new album would be released in late 2011 however due to being pregnant, plans were pushed back. Watkins has hinted at a summer 2012 comeback, almost a full year after he last release. She tweeted;
"New music heading your way! The twins seem to like it so it can't be that bad :P xx Genie"
Her sophomore album was originally titled 'Walk Of Life' but was later changed to 'Love.Hate.Suffer'. It is unknown if the album has went through another name change.
==Personal Life==
Watkins was rumoured to be dating teen rapper MattY when she first came into the music business. Though both have denied the existence of a relationship, many still believe they were romantically involved. In 2011, Ugenia started dating Teen Titans singer, Joseph 'Joey' Frankson when both appeared as contestants on the first ever series of Celebrity Big Brother.
In the summer of 2011, after visiting The Dirty Bastard Hotel & Casino (a famous bar visited by many celebrities), Ugenia was involved in a car accident. A black Range Rover collided with the singer's Audi A8 at a high speed. Watkins' car toppled and rolled down a hill, hitting a pile of rocks at the bottom The singer went missing as her body wasn't found in the wreckage. She was presumed dead and many people paid tribute to her, however after a few days the singer was found alive. It was revealed that she had wondered off in search of help but her head injuries made the singer feel dizzy and Watkins had fell unconscious in the middle of a field. A few days later, Ugenia relaunched her website simply with a huge black and white photo of her applying make up with the words 'Legends Never Die' underneath.
In April 2012, the singer and actress gave birth to Brandon and Vanessa Frankson. Ugenia and Joey are currently living together however are not engaged and have not publically expressed any desire to marry in the near future.
==Celebrity Big Brother==
Ugenia was one of 21 celebrities to participate in the first ever series of Celebrity Big Brother. She entered on Day 1 and was considered one of the outsiders of the group until later on in the series. Ugenia was known for being very talkative, sarcastic and for the infamous moment when she and Joey had sex in the house. Ugenia participated with the following contestants (in order of departure); Hayden Merjos, Isabel Merjos, Joey Starzzz, Queen Alexis, Alex P., Andrea Khan, Peter Hampshire, Cassie 'Bitch' Summers, Kestrel Wolfe, Jason Smith, Eric Quillington, Sexy Star, Sara Daniels, Jennifer Allen, Joshy, Stephanie Ortiz, Kimberly Williams, Ife Kuku, Joey Frankson and Mykaylah. Ugenia went on to win the series despite being an outsider for the majority of the series.
==Discography==
===Singles===
SINGLE 	UK	IRE	GER	FRA	ITA	AUS	US	US.POP	ALBUM
Broken Promises 	10	15 	17 	54 	- 	- 	- 	- 	Like A Circus
Fearless 	9 	11 	1 	26 	2 	18 	- 	19 	Like A Circus
Make Me Dance 	8 	3 	9 	8 	2 	20 	62	1 	Like A Circus
Aliens (Ft. MattY) 	5 	3 	14 	22 	58 	2 	15	3 	Like A Circus
Touch Me (Ft. Mariah)	9 	16 	47 	- 	62 	33 	- 	25 	TBA
===Albums===
ALBUM 	UK	IRE	GER	FRA	ITA	AUS	JAP	US
Like A Circus	9 	12 	8 	38 	10 	13 	1 	43
===Other Charted Songs===
SINGLE 	AUS	ALBUM
Stop The Clock (Rydah T ft.Ugenia)	17 	3x
==Filmography==
YEAR 	FILM 	ROLE 	NOTES
1996-2001	Eastenders 	Kacey Harris 	First role. British Soap Opera
1999-2002	Disfunctionality 	Tiffany Westwood	TV Comedy
2002-2003	Restless 	Roberta Elliot 	TV Sci-Fi Series
2002-2005	Galaxy17 	Fluerona 	TV Sci-Fi Series
2003 	No Doubt 	Sian Vickers 	First film role
2006-2007	Rose Park 	Emily Dashwood 	TV Period Drama. Won Best Actress.
2008-2010	Floor 34 	Willow King 	TV Drama. Gained worldwide recognition.
2009 	Say Goodbye To Mary 	Jennifer Delaney	Horror film
2009 	What To Do When You Don't Have A Clue	Holly Ellis 	Romantic Comedy film
2009 	The Bunny 	Little Lil 	Animated Film. Voice
2009 	Lake Of Wishes 	Fiona Frog 	Animated film. Voice.
2010 	Take Me Home 	Rhian Hill 	Two episodes
2011 	Celebrity Big Brother 	Herself 	Reality show. Winner.
2011 	Sunnyside 	Sam Foster 	Horror film.
2012 	A Titans Life 	Herself 	Documentary Of the Teen Titans
2012 	Eye To The Telescope 	Layla Sharpe 	Action film. Pre-production
Category:Artists
Category:Pop
Category:British artists