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Roman Armor Guide

Whenever I watch old movies with Roman soldiers it always seems like they are wearing different typed of armor and fighting with different weapons. I would think that all of the movies would show the soldiers wearing the same gear and fighting with the same tactics. I decided to go on a fact finding mission to see if I could determine what kind of armor the soldiers really used in combat situations. This article was written to let others know what my findings were and what I learned through my search.

 

The first thing you need to know is that the Roman army tended to change their armor to make it more efficient, so some of the differences are real. The Roman Empire was a formidable force and they knew that to stay strong they needed to improve their gear whenever possible. Soldiers fighting with better weaponry and armor stand a better chance of defeating their enemies and expanding the Roman Empire.

 

Roman armor and weaponry did have some main themes with each change. Their fighting gear was always light, mobile, and great for long marches. This is because they never covered their arms or legs to any large degree. They also always used light weight sandals or boots and kept their faces completely open around the eyes and mouth. They believed that the light gear enabled them to travel swiftly and thus conquer even more people than slower armies with heavier armors.

 

Roman weaponry consisted mostly of short fighting swords. Smaller swords did not tire out the soldiers arms as quickly as the larger weapons of their opponents. Small throwing spears known as pilums were also wielded by these warriors.

 

Roman soldier armor varied between different chain mails and other torso coverings. Although this armor was not as light as the leather armor that the original Roman soldiers wore, it was still very light in comparison to other armors of the times.

 

The shields that Roman soldiers wielded were quite large and protected the entire body of this soldier. They were also great for linking up with fellow soldiers and forming a nice protective shield wall to fight behind. The shield was a major source of pride for many of the fighting soldiers.

 

It was fun and interesting to read about the armor and weapons of ancient Roman warriors. It really made me respect the movies I saw because before I thought that maybe some of them may have been inaccurate. Thank you for reading this article on Roman soldier armor, weapons, and shields. Link to this page from your website and increase its visibility.

Where Is TV Technology Heading?

TVs have come a long way since I was young, I used to watch our huge CRT TV in the front room and thought that was good, even though the back stuck out about 2 feet! Then plasma TVs started to emerge and suddenly you could hang your TV on the wall, which compared to the old CRT units was like magic. LCD TVs came out next and started to try and pull people away from plasma ones, then HDTV has come out in the last few years, so what is next?

A recent development has been the use of LEDs for the backlighting of an LCD TV, previously they used CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps) which are bulky compared to LEDs. There are two versions you can get, one where the LEDs are at the edge and the light is guided into the middle, or the better version where the LEDs are all across the back of the screen, either way you get a super slim screen compared to the CCFL versions.

3D televisions are starting to come onto the market now, but the reaction to them has not been that great because the technology is so new. The concept of having 3DTV is fantastic, but the execution still needs work because having to wear those silly glasses ruins it for most people. The ‘active shutter’ glasses currently being used give you a strange flickering effect you have to look through, and reports suggest the 3D effect doesn’t work when you sit more than a few feet away from the TV.

Remember these are the first generation of 3DTVs though, so the people who like to have the newest toys will buy these models, then the rest of us will wait for them to improve the technology and buy the later versions of them. There are one or two companies working on commercial applications of 3D viewing without having to wear glasses, so hopefully that will filter down into our TVs soon.

OLEDs (organic light emitting diodes) are another technology which we can look forward to, although it has been in the pipeline for years and they can’t seem to get above a 13 inch screen at the moment. They are still working on it though to make larger screens which we can have in our homes, but if they do crack the current problems then the resulting TV will be just millimeters thick! So the future of TV is certainly interesting, I can’t wait to see what things will be like in 5 years time…

If you want a huge 55 inch LCD TV while you wait for 3D TV to take off, then consider the Samsung UN55B6000 which is really popular at the moment.

Lost: DVD Box Set of All Six Seasons

<a href=”http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Shows-to-Watch-Now-That-Lost-is-Over&id=4361217″>ABC’s Lost</a> is up there with Dexter, Six Feet Under, and Curb Your Enthusiasm as one of the best TV series of the 2010s! As someone who has already seen every single episode of all six seasons of Lost, I am still planning on <a href=”http://www.thenextnew.com/lost-the-complete-series-dvd-blu-ray/264/”>ordering the entire Lost series on Blu-Ray</a> because this is the kind of show that will be very fun to see a second time (and there’s a lot of awesome bonus features included with the complete collection box set.)

If you are new to Lost then I’m actually jealous of you to be able to experience it for the first time still. It is really that good, I’m serious. Lost is the kind of show that you are probably going to remember for the rest of your days.

To really get the most out of the experience you really want to <a href=”http://www.smartreviews.info/lost-complete-collection-all-6-seasons-on-dvd-or-blu-ray/137/”>buy the complete Lost series box set</a> and then avoid all spoilers as much as you can. A great part of this series is having the “mysteries of the island” slowly unraveled in unexpected ways. Do not ruin that by looking up spoilers about the show!

You must also view it from start to finish with every episode in order. This is a true “serial” program where every episode leads to the next. It is all “one big story” rather than a show where every episode has it’s own beginning and end.

I must warn you that Lost is very addictive and that you very well may find yourself watching five episodes in just one day (and yes I actually did that once!) It is one of those shows where every episode ends on an unbearable cliffhanger that really has you wanting to know what happens next.

I must also say that this is a show for thinking people. What’s happening will not always be obvious. If you are seeking outs dumb entertainment, you should definitely look somewhere else. You will have to make use of your brain when you watch this amazing TV series.

British Babes: Karen Gillan

Karen Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, Scotland. Her father, Raymond John, a Day Centre Manager, and mother, Marie, live in Kinmylies. At age 16, she decided to pursue her interest in acting, studying the craft at Edinburgh’s Telford College. Later, she secured a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London on the BA (Hons) Acting degree course. She is the cousin of actress Caitlin Blackwood, who portrayed the young Amy Pond in two episodes of Doctor Who.

Gillan has taken part in numerous modelling events including 2007’s London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks’ autumn/winter catwalk show. She has also modelled for the launch party of Nicola Roberts’ Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. This was shown in Nicola’s episode of the documentary, The Passions of Girls Aloudcitation needed which premiered on the 4 April 2008.

Gillan’s early TV acting career included guest appearances on several dramatic TV series, with her first ongoing role being a two-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show in which she played multiple characters, as well as celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as episodic short films on BBC Two, and then later also as a web series on BBC.co.uk. Part of the BBC’s multimedia “switch” programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series.

Her biggest role to date is that of the Eleventh Doctor’s first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in early 2009. She had previously appeared in the episode “The Fires of Pompeii” in a minor role as a member of the Sybilline Sisterhood. She made her first on-screen appearance in the series in “The Eleventh Hour”, which first aired on 3 April 2010. She has been confirmed as appearing throughout the 2010 series of Doctor Who, and was confirmed in Issue 420 of the Doctor Who Magazine to be appearing in the 2011 series.

Can there be any woman between 17 and 30 who doesn’t secretly (or not even that secretly) want, with shivers of yearning, to be Karen Gillan at this moment? Plucked, she freely admits, from obscurity, she’s the new girl, Amy Pond, in the life of the new Doctor, as Matt Smith replaces David Tennant this Easter, and Steven Moffat comes back to the writing.

Karen is, truly and annoyingly, a lucky, pretty, talented, happy, smart, leggy, ordinary, honest, laughing girl, from a very loving family. Born in Inverness 22 years ago, she toyed for a while with a career in music before being told her acting was better than her singing, and heading to London’s Italia Conti school, which she soon quit to take her first TV job, in an episode of Rebus. Suddenly she found herself out of work, out of college, having to take a job in a pub (The Pilgrim in Kennington, you fans might like to know) just to survive. But before long she was talent-spotted for a modelling job, and that was her career for the next couple of years, while trying furiously to get back into acting. She thought she “hadn’t a hope in hell” of securing Amy, so just went for it, without fear.

“Then I got the recall, the second audition. That was when I started sweating. This huge thing. And it was so secretive I couldn’t even tell BBC reception where I was going, had to pretend it was for something called Panic Moon, which is an anagram of companion.” She was the last auditionee, and got the call later that same night that’s still changing her life.

Karen says “To be honest, I wasn’t really a huge follower of Dr Who before I got this part. I mean I knew it was huge, but … I was nothing like my mum, who’s a proper diehard Whovian. She’s got a Tardis money-bag, and Dalek bubble-bath. But having read the first episode I was utterly smitten, and with the character. Amy’s a sassy lady, funny and passionate, and her relationship with the doctor has a really interesting dynamic.” She kisses him this series: does she love him? Karen (who is in real life in a relationship), answers carefully. “She has a love for him, a really deep love for him. But not romantic.

She continues “It’s been an education in itself to work with Matt, who’s so endlessly inventive, bringing something new to it every day rather than falling into the easy default scared-face. That’s one of the challenges; you’re faced with life-threatening situations every episode, but you can’t just widen your eyes all the time. Yes, this doctor is preeeetty good. As, I’ve said, is Amy, and she gets to wear all these small skirts, which I will admit was very cold, but also very cool. They originally wanted to put me in trousers, but I did say I’d like to wear a skirt because – you’ll understand when you watch it. Actually I think I love Amy. I’m in love with her. I want to be her.”

Karen Gillan is yet another to add to the list of true British Babes

Jimmy Johnson Extenze Infomercial Review

If a known famous person such as former Dallas Cowboys super bowl coach and Fox NFL analyst Jimmy Johnson agrees to make a strong sales pitch for Extenze, chances are the decision becomes a hot topic, drawing opposing views from all sectors. The Extenze infomercial, while admittedly improving the stock of this pill, has brought to the fore issue of alleged inappropriateness that may have been committed by Jimmy Johnson. While such reaction of some sectors is not altogether unexpected, consumers are again being used as pawns by certain stakeholders who will stop at nothing to undermine the market position of Extenze. These are the entities that usually resort to desperate acts and squid tactics in an effort to sow confusion and misinformation among consumers.

Opponents Utilizing Unfavorable Campaigns?

For those entities that can’t compete in opposition to Extenze head on for sheer absence of distinct edge of their products, this latest endorsement by Jimmy Johnson via the now well-liked Extenze infomercial is absolutely bad news. The shady marketing departments of these suspect companies are surely busy these days trying to map out their next move to counteract the positive impact of the strong pitch by Jimmy Johnson for Extenze. In fact, we are now seeing some of their initial offensive attacks already. There are unnamed groups spearheading a campaign to sanction Jimmy Johnson for endorsing Extenze. This act is a classic case of pure harassment. In their failure to stem the tide of growing support by loyal customers of Extenze, they are now resorting to desperate attacks in order to derail the gains of Biotab Neutraceuticals in marketing and advertising Extenze.

Will The Jimmy Johnson Infomercial Survive?

The company is neither intimidated nor distracted in their effort to push Extenze to higher heights. Despite the vicious attacks being launched by competitors, the product has shown great resiliency. This might be surprising to the uninitiated, but for the makers of Extenze, this is something that is already expected. They knew all along that the power behind the success of Extenze is the legion of satisfied users who stay unwavering in their support for the product. Their unwavering confidence on the product is the single and most significant reason why Extenze has remained the premium brand and way in front of its competitors.

With the credibility of Jimmy Johnson and Extenze combined the positive results have been unrivaled.  Beyond the negative promotion, men only needs to answer this question – Does Extenze work for me? Obviously, users of the male enhancement product provide the strongest support that this brand is simply the best and way ahead of its competitors when it comes to overall performance and safety.  Click on the following link for more information on the Jimmy Johnson Extenze Infomerical.

Be a Seafaring Lady in your Vixen Pirate Wench Outfit

The time has come once more when folks get to dress up in any costume they want: might that be scary, funny, weird, or familiar. Halloween is indeed a moment for merry-making regardless of whether it truly is always related to scary costumes and horror stories. Kids get to have lots of fun asking for treats around the neighborhood in their lovely outfits. Adults can also have an excellent time by wearing costumes including   vixen pirate fancy dress outfits in their neighborhood or workplace. Costumes are yet once again prepared for Halloween. Do you think you are geared up? Do you’ve your pirate outfits ready?

 In case you’re still in a dilemma as to what you ought to put on to the costume celebration, take these concepts into account and seek out for your costumes now.

 It can be vital that you look for unusual outfits beforehand. An Elizabeth Swann outfit  could be genuinely challenging to find so be ready to begin looking in advance.The same is true for other unique outfits. Retailers ordinarily preserve common costumes in abundant stocks but some unusual outfits can’t be discovered in costume shops or superstores.

 Preserve in mind that not all stores carry sexy pirate outfits.They’re outfits which are normally worn by adults. Yes, I know you’d want to wear some thing swashbuckling this Halloween. You may in fact put on accessories to complete this disguise.

 In the event you still happen to have some difficulty deciding which of the suggested costumes will suit you, how about ? They are new costume ideas that everybody desires to try. Get yours now before stocks run out. Folks are now pouring inside the stores and also the queue on the cashier is longer previously. If you don’t want that, you need to purchase your ladies pirate costumes  on the web. Search the world wide net for costume stores that include a big variety of Halloween outfits. Don’t forget to acquire matching accessories to perform your outfit for Halloween celebration.

 Have to you fail to obtain the outfits from the nearby superstore, there’s a planet full of outfits over the web so begin browsing now and have discounted costs.

Satellite to PC Technology – How Does it Work?

As of late, we have seen lots of talk on the internet about brand new software that allows people to view satellite television directly on their home computer system.  It is a good alternative for individuals who want to view television on the internet but don’t want to be tied down by the cost and inconvenience of a traditional satellite system.

So, how exactly does satellite direct TV to PC technology function?

Well, at the risk of getting excessively technical, there’s basically two ways of getting satellite television streamed straight to your personal computer – a “traditional” PCTV Card/satellite dish system or Satellite television for pc software.

1. PCTV Cards

A PCTV card is a hardware component which gives your personal computer (or Apple computer) the functional capability to work like a tv set, allowing you to watch tv shows on your pc even as it operates other software applications at the same time.  By having a PCTV card added, your pc acquires the ability to receive tv signals.  Even so, you will still need a satellite tv dish and receiver in order to receive the satellite signal and transmit it to your computer.  Put simply, if you don’t have satellite dish, then a PCTV card will not allow you to watch satellite television.

2. Satellite TV for PC Software programs

Satellite TV for PC software programs  function quite differently when compared old fashioned satellite dish/PCTV card installation.  Instead of you receiving and decoding satellite tv signals at your location, the signals are received and descrambled at the satellite to pc provider’s location and then streamed live to your pc.  If you think about this, it’s actually a lot like your current cable television supplier.   With cable tv, all of the stations that you watch are received by your cable tv provider by way of satellite and then “streamed” into your own home through the cable that runs to your TV.  Satellite direct tv performs much the same manner except that it features lots more stations than cable television and is delivered to your personal computer via the net.

You won’t require a satellite television dish nor do you require any special equipment.  All that is needed is the software that enables your pc to hook up to the provider along with a high speed online connection.

To learn more on satellite direct to PC technology, check out satellite direct tv review.

Jennifer Ellison Big in Britain

Jennifer Ellison was born on May 1st, 1983 from the English city of Liverpool. Entertainment was in her blood from the very beginning. When she was 2 years old, she was sitting on the counter at a fish ‘n’ chips restaurant and screamed that one day she would be famous. At the age of 3, Jennifer began taking singing and dancing lessons. Studying the arts, she became a dancer. She was so good that she won national championships for both ballet and modern dancing in 1996 and 1997. This led to her snatching the coveted lead role in a ballet production, which was performed before Princess Anne at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End.

Acting was always something she wanted to try. Since the age of 9, she had been writing letters to the producers of the hit British soap opera Brookside to see if there were any roles for her. As expected, all her queries were met with disappointment, but her parents were proud of her drive. In 1998, she was informed by her manager that Brookside was holding auditions for a couple of 14-year-old girls who would portray sisters. Originally paired with an actress with whom she had absolutely no resemblance, she was fortunate when the producers dismissed the latter and matched her with Suzanne Collins. The two young actresses got the parts although Ellison was initially signed on for only six episodes. Playing Emily Shadwick O’Leary, an untamable vixen with a wild streak, it didn’t take long for the producers to realize they had a genuine star on their hands.

Not only was she a fan favorite, but many guys tuned in just to get a glimpse of Jennifer. It came to a point where there were always two piles of fan mail at the production office: one general Brookside pile and a Jennifer Ellison pile. Thanks to her popularity, Jennifer stayed on the show for five years. Before her stint on the show came to an end, she diversified her career by modeling. As a matter of fact, Ellison starred in the Marks & Spencer “Relax At Home” lingerie line in 2002. In 2003, her character was killed off Brookside and she decided to return to her performing roots and give pop music a try. Even though she was initially discouraged, she managed to get a recording contract with East West.

Jennifers first single, “Baby I Don’t Care,” is a new version of the 1989 Transvision Vamp classic and was launched June 16th, 2003. To promote her musical career, she even sang before 60,000 people at the Southampton Road Show. Her new single “Bye Bye Boy” was released November 24th, 2003. Because of her hectic schedule, especially since she’s set to appear in the film Hey Mr DJ and is currently shooting the upcoming Joel Schumacher movie, The Phantom of the Opera, which is scheduled for release in 2004, an album is still forthcoming. She currently lives in Liverpool and recently ended a two-year relationship with long-time boyfriend Tony Richardson, partly due to his involvement in a gang feud.

Jennifer Ellison @ Rachel Riley & Other British Babes

Black Eyed are Peas’ed with British Downloading Record

The Black Eyed Peas number 1 tune “I Gotta Feeling”has become the very first ever single to be downloaded more than 1 million times in the United Kingdom. Initially made available on 8 June, 09, it lasted a couple of weeks in the number one spot and a total of thirty three weeks in the top 40. Vocalist Fergie said: “It’s exhilarating to know we are so connected to our Peabodies.”Hopefully the good vibes from that song will continue to brighten people’s lives.”  

Martin Talbot, MD of the Official Charts Company, pointed out the milestone seemed to be “a very significant step for the download market.”It’s been with us for five years but this really marks a coming of age,” he added. Downloading was initially taken into account within the singles chart in April 05, but only if the Disc was actually for sale in the shops. It was only a year after, digital downloading became eligible for the chart in their own right, and only a month or so after, Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy became the very first music single to reach number 1 whilst not selling any CD copies. Consequently downloading has been able to dominate the top 40. In fact, 98% of virtually all single sales are actually through downloading, with about a hundred thousand needed every week to find the top spot.

While that amount is fairly high in contrast to the rest of the music charts history, you’ll find issues from the music industry that it might be masking a much greater issue. Record company executives state millions of pounds every year are now being lost as a consequence of problems such as on-line piracy – in no way helped from the easy accessibility of downloads. Martin Talbot said that download single sales are just one part of the picture. He stated: “Around the world album sales are declining rather dramatically. “But here in the UK things aren’t quite as bad. This isn’t a boom time but it’s not a time for real concern either.”

Incase you would like to watch this brilliant group live then you could be in luck. They’re going to be hitting live in your area in the near future with the groups in demand North American concert tour! Secure your Black Eye Pea tickets right away before they’re soldout!

Rachel Stephens True British Talent

Rachel Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, television personality and occasional model. She is a former member, and one of the lead singers, of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005. In 2008, she came second in the sixth series of the BBC One series Strictly Come Dancing with her dance partner Vincent Simone.

Born in London, United Kingdom to a middle class Jewish family, she attended Ashmole School in London. From a very early age, Stevens was drawn to entertaining people; she started ballet and acting lessons at the age of five. In 1993 she first caught attention while beating out 5000 competitors and winning a modeling contest sponsored by UK teen magazine Just 17.

Following her first modeling jobs, she decided to study at the London College of Fashion (where she achieved a diploma in the business course). During that time she also worked in a film company and later ended up working in public relations, but began to lose interest and decided to pursue a career in singing instead.

At the age of twenty, Stevens became a member of the British pop group S Club 7, which were a BRIT Award-winning British pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. The group rose to fame via their own BBC television programme and by selling 16 million records worldwide and launching four number one hit singles in the United Kingdom. S Club eventually split up in 2003.

In 2001 and 2002 respectively, she was voted the second Sexiest Woman in the World by UK’s FHM readers.

After S Club were disbanded, Stevens signed a £1.5 million ($2.3 million) solo four-album deal with Polydor Records and re-signed with Fuller.6 Breaking out on her own after success with S Club was hard for Stevens, “I think we ended up conforming to what people’s perceptions were,” she said about the group. “This one was the ditzy one, this one was the singer, this one was the dancer. And to come out of that and be a whole person has been a real challenge for me. I didn’t have my say, really, in the group. None of us did.”

Her first solo single, written by Cathy Dennis (who has also written for Britney Spears and Kylie Minogue) and produced by Bloodshy & Avant, “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex”, was released in September 2003.

Taking inspiration from R&B music most reminiscent of TLC and Sugababes, and adult-style pop music by Madonna, Stevens’s debut solo album, Funky Dory was released later that month. The album was a minor hit, reaching number nine on the UK albums chart. Although the album was not a huge commercial success, it did gain praise from pop critics. Jamie Gill, in a review for Yahoo! Launch, said that Stevens “eschews the cheap and cheerful approach of her old band for a slinky adult confidence and musical eclecticism.”

That December, the album’s title track, “Funky Dory” was released as the second single. The song was hailed as being sophisticated and sexy, like its predecessor, and featured a sample of the David Bowie song “Andy Warhol” from his album Hunky Dory. Hopes were high that the single would be able to match the success of “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex”, but like her album, the single made a low showing on the charts, peaking at number twenty four. The song was given mixed reviews by pop-critics with some calling it “musically better than “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex” with a hybrid of pop, Latin and even a hint of jazz infusion” but not a good choice as a single as it lacked anything special and different, as it did not live up to Stevens’s previous single.

In July 2004, Stevens released a brand new song, “Some Girls” which was produced by Richard X. After the commercial failure of both her album and previous song hopes were high for “Some Girls” to perform well on the charts, with critics calling the song her career make or break release. The song became a hit across Europe, and reached number two in the UK. All profits from the song went to the BBC Sport Relief charity. On its release HMV.co.uk called the song Stevens’s “finest song to date”, and Yahoo! Launch commented “she came to save her career. She ended up saving pop.”

Due to the success of “Some Girls”, Funky Dory was re-released to include “Some Girls” and another new track, a cover of Andrea True Connection’s “More More More”. “More More More” peaked at number three in the UK, giving Stevens her third top ten solo single in the UK. At this point, Stevens stepped up promotion, inadvertently earning herself a Guinness World Record for “Most Public Appearances by a Pop Star in 24 Hours in Different Cities” (Seven on 8 September-9 September 2004).

In late 2004, Stevens began working on her second solo album with producers and songwriters Richard X, Alexis Strum, and Xenomania. The following March she released the first single from her upcoming album, “Negotiate With Love”. The song was hit in the UK, reaching the top ten.

“Negotiate with Love” was followed-up by the song “So Good”, which was released in July and was another success when it peaked at number ten in the UK. It was hailed as a good pop song that was “tastily produced and sassily delivered.”

In the summer of 2005, Channel 4 broadcast a documentary which followed Stevens through the summer as she promoted “So Good”. After the singles and the documentary appeared, Stevens released Come and Get It in October 2005. The album was, like her previous effort, a minor success peaking at number twenty eight in the UK.
The last single released from Come And Get It was “I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)”, released in October 2005 the song peaked at number twelve in the UK. The single received some of the best reviews of Stevens’s career with it being hailed by HMV.co.uk for its “astonishingly flawless vocal performance” and as Stevens’s “most commercially accessible and quirky single since “Some Girls”.

Two years after the album’s release, The Guardian placed it in their article “1000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” list.

While Stevens was a member of S Club 7, she appeared in five series of S Club shows: S Club 7 Go Wild! Miami 7, L.A. 7, Hollywood 7, and Viva S Club. The group also starred in the feature film, Seeing Double. In 2004, Stevens briefly appeared in Suzie Gold, followed by a minor cameo role in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005).

In 2005, Stevens played a character called “Jane-Mary” in a Spider Man charity spoof called Spider-Plant Man for the BBC appearing opposite Rowan Atkinson. In December 2007 it was announced that Stevens would be transformed into a nine-inch high plasticine character for Glendogie Bogey, a new animated comedy for BBC Scotland. Later in 2005, Stevens also played a minor role in Dominic Veall’s ITV television drama Flawless playing Lucy Carlts, the sister of Rodger Carlts.

In August 2008, it was announced that Stevens would take part in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing, which started on 20 September. She was partnered with professional dancer Vincent Simone, and together they hold the record for the most perfect 10s ever achieved in any series of Strictly Come Dancing, thus beating out other contestants including 2007 winner Alesha Dixon and 2008 winner Tom Chambers. They also hold the record for the Foxtrot, Tango, Argentine Tango and Rumba and even though Stevens is perhaps the most successful contestant in Strictly history, she finished in second place.

Stevens and Vincent Simone also took part in the 2008 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special on Christmas Day which saw a four way tie at the top of the leader board by four couples getting 39 points each. Head judge Len made the final decision and decided to put them in order which left Stevens in third place in the leader board. Stevens returned in Series 7 2009 grand final with a group tango which saw her dance with Vincent and alongside series 6 finalist Lisa Snowdon and Brendan Cole.

Stevens and Simone also competed in the 2009 Christmas Special alongside Austin Healey, Chris Hollins, Gethin Jones, Ali Bastian and Ricky Whittle. Stevens and Simone did not win the Christmas Special, however, they did match their score for the rumba (39/40), still the highest score for the dance to date and thus ending the special as runners up.

In June 2008, Stevens became engaged to boyfriend Alex Bourne in Italy (who had changed his surname from Leigh) after 18 months of dating. The couple were planning to get married in the autumn of 2008 but decided to postpone their wedding until August 2009 due to Stevens’s busy autumn schedule training and performing on Strictly Come Dancing. Stevens married Bourne on 2 August 2009.

In 2005, Stevens fronted the Everyman Testicular Cancer Awareness campaign. Stevens’s role was notable as she was the first woman to represent this campaign. Her television commercial raised eyebrows with its suggestive content that included her telling men to “put one hand down their trousers and give their testicles a good feel”. On the commercial, Stevens commented, “Sometimes men need a little encouragement to think about their health. This is a funny way of raising awareness about a serious subject.”

In 2005, Stevens also took part in the Make Poverty History campaign, which aims to eliminate poverty in developing countries by cancelling old debts, improving the way aid is given and removing barriers, so these countries can trade more effectively with the rest of the world. Stevens donated an undisclosed amount of money to the campaign, and also starred in television and magazine advertisements supporting the cause. Her official Web site also displayed the campaign’s official online banner.

While in S Club 7, Stevens fronted the World Wide Fund for Nature. More recently, she has been the front woman for Pretty Polly, Sky Sports, Marks & Spencer, and Focus Dailies. In 2009, Stevens became the new ambassador for Schwarzkopf Gliss hair products.

See Rachel Stephens, Rachel Riley & Other British Babes

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