Swindon is and has been home to several celebrities over the years.
From battling the Daleks to battling cowboy builders, the stars from our town are known for a variety of reasons.
And 2023 has been a busy year for them, with one receiving an Emmy nomination, to another getting engaged and beyond.
Billie Piper
Born in the town in 1982, Billie Piper first became famous with her music career at a young age, before moving into acting and starring as the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who.
The 41-year-old has had a busy year and was even nominated for an International Emmy Award for her performance in ‘I Hate Suzie Too’.
After turning heads in an extravagant dress at the awards in November, the 41-year-old narrowly missed out on the award to Karla Souza.
It was also announced in July that Bille would return to her role of Rose in the Doctor Who universe for three new audio adventures to be produced by Big Finish.
Melinda Messenger
Melinda was born in Swindon in 1971 and after growing up in the town, she found fame as a glamour model.
This was before going into television presenting where she found further notoriety through shows such as ‘Fort Boyard’ and ‘Cowboy Builders’.
In August the 52-year-old announced on social media that she had become engaged to survival expert Raj Joshi during a trip to New Zealand.
Later in 2023, Melinda starred in the television programme ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’ where she faced gruelling challenges based on the special forces selection training. The show was filmed in autumn 2022, where she met Joshi.
Despite leaving her hometown several years ago, the star still visits family here as she revealed in an exclusive interview with The Adver back in July.
XTC
Formed in 1972 and consisting of four Swindon-born musicians for a period of their run, popular band XTC made a name for themselves with several hits, including 'Making Plans for Nigel'.
The group were honoured with a mural in the town centre painted by Dayna Baxter which depicted the artwork from their album 'Drums and Wires'.
All the members have seen the painting and approve of the vivid and colourful addition to Swindon's grey landscape.
Bassist Colin Moulding later revealed to the Adver in November what happened to Nigel in their biggest hit song.
Nick Hewer
Originally a public relations consultant, Swindon-born Hewer found fame as an aide to Lord Alan Sugar on BBC show The Apprentice.
He later had a stint as the host of Countdown on Channel 4.
Nick appeared on an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip in March alongside fellow former ‘The Apprentice’ star Margaret Mountford.
The 79-year-old also appeared in the public eye to discuss property downsizing in an exclusive interview with Country Life in June.
“I’m going to be 80 in February, so something clicked,” he told the publication.
“The clock went ‘tick’ and we realised that we can’t keep on managing this [the property].”
Matt Fiddes
Another famous face hailing from Swindon is Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard and martial arts blackbelt Matt Fiddes.
Matt, who founded a martial arts business with more than 1,000 schools across the world, has regularly been in the limelight this year.
After claiming to be ignored in a Swindon Ferrari dealership due to his tracksuit attire, the 44-year-old purchased a Lamborghini.
Matt also landed a regular panellist role on the GB News television network, starring on Nana Akua’s Saturday afternoon show, first appearing in September.
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