About Rachel de Thame
Rachel de Thame (born Rachel Cohen) is an English gardener, television presenter and actress. == Biography == From the age of 10, de Thame studied ballet to a professional standard at the Royal Ballet School, White Lodge, Richmond Park. De Thame contracted glandular fever at age 15, and chose to give up her dream of a dancing career at age 19. She then undertook a course in Drama at Southgate College in 1979–80 and studied History of Art at London's City Lit, after which she worked for a short period for Colnaghi, a well-respected international firm of art dealers in London. She then married for the first time. While pregnant with her first baby, de Thame was recruited by a modelling agency and went on to enjoy a successful modelling career. A major part of de Thame's modelling included appearances in TV ads. Casting agents began to suggest de Thame for acting roles. By 1998, she had appeared in the mini-series Merlin and in the British feature film Bodywork, credited in both productions as Rachel Colover. However, de Thame decided not to continue pursuing an acting career and in 1998, indulging a passion for plants and gardening inherited from her father, she enrolled for two years at the English Gardening School, studying Practical Horticulture and Plants & Plantsmanship, shortly after de Thame auditioned for BBC2's Gardeners' World.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.