Vicky McClure and Davina McCall are among the celebrities recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list this year.
Vicky, who rose to fame thanks to her performance in Line of Duty, has been awarded an MBE for her contributions to theatre and charity.
The 40-year-old actress from Nottingham is an ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society and has increased awareness of the condition through her founding of Our Dementia Choir.
Although many people recognise Vicky in a police uniform, she was previously known as the easygoing Lol Jenkins in This Is England.
The character, which she repeated for multiple TV sequel series, earned her critical praise as well as several award nominations and victories, including those from the Royal Television Society and Bafta.
‘To be awarded a Doctor of Letters at the University of Nottingham, just 10 minutes from my house, the place where Our Dementia Choir was formed, among so much esteemed intellect, creative minds and excellence in your fields, this is for sure my personally proudest day to date,’ she said during her acceptance speech.
‘I didn’t get many GCSEs, I’m not the quickest reader but I love people, they give me purpose, this doctorate gives me purpose and if there is any advice I can give to you all today… it’s service.
‘Service to others. The world is a difficult place to navigate and for those living with dementia and other life altering illnesses we must do our bit.’
Meanwhile, Davina McCall, who rose to popularity as the face of Big Brother in 2000, was overjoyed with the distinction.
The 55-year-old’s career spanned two decades on several networks, including Channel 4, ITV, Sky, and the BBC, and she was honoured for her contributions to broadcasting.
Davina, on the other hand, has long been an advocate for health and wellness, having established her own brand of fitness equipment and apparel, as well as many training DVDs.
Davina was recently seen getting her contraceptive coil implanted, which is just one aspect of her larger work advocating women’s problems and bringing them into the public eye.
‘I can’t believe it. It’s a great honour and it really means a great deal,’ she said, in a statement shared with the PA news agency.
Other celebrities honoured in the list were footballer turned pundit Ian Wright, and veteran radio star Ken Bruce.
Dame Anna Wintour, 73, was honoured with novelist Ian McEwan with the Companion of Honour.
Source My Celebrity Life.
