Amatillie Thalia Amartey (born 20 April 2003) is an English actress and presenter. After making guest appearances in various series including 4 O'Clock Club, Doctors and Creeped Out, she portrayed Chloe in the CBBC musical series Almost Never from 2019 to 2021. She has appeared in The Teacher and Waterloo Road, as well as the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special. Amartey has also worked as a television presenter, having fronted various CBBC and CITV projects.

Tillie Amartey
Born
Amatillie Thalia Amartey

(2003-04-20) 20 April 2003 (age 21)
EducationRADA
Occupations
  • Actress
  • television presenter
Years active2016–present
TelevisionAlmost Never
Waterloo Road

Life and career

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Amartey was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to a Ghanaian father and English mother.[1] Amartey is also the niece of Spice Girls singer Mel B.[2] She began acting at the age of seven after attending a local drama club and has been professionally represented by an acting agent since the age of ten.[3] She studied at St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy,[1] later going on to study acting at RADA.[4]

When she was eight, Amartey was cast as Baby Nala in a touring stage production of The Lion King. However, after the first stop of the tour, Amartey began to feel homesick and her mother thought it was best for her to withdraw and wait for another role. Weeks later, she was cast in a high-profile Amazon Kindle advertisement.[5] Amartey made her screen debut aged twelve in an episode of the CBBC series 4 O'Clock Club in 2016.[6] She then appeared in a 2017 episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.[7] Of being on Doctors, she said: "I learnt a lot being involved with Doctors as it was the first soap I had done and it was filmed at a very fast pace. [...] It was an emotional episode with lots of script and a chance to show my acting skills in a very different way."[5]

In 2019, Amartey began starring in the CBBC series Almost Never as Chloe, a role she played for three years.[8] Then in 2022, she starred in the Channel 5 drama The Teacher, as well as beginning to present the CBBC show Love! Love! Love!. Amartey has also presented various projects for CITV.[9][10] In 2023, Amartey competed in BBC's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.[11] She is also set to star in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road as Stacey Neville from 2024.[12]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2016 4 O'Clock Club Mary Episode: "Social Worker"
2017 Doctors Georgia Burke Episode: "Hoops"
2017 Ratburger Tina Trotts Television film
2018 Creeped Out Arlene Episode: "Bravery Badge"
2019–2021 Almost Never Chloe Main role
2020 Resolution Kairos Short film
2021 Moving On Marnie Episode: "Hungry to Learn"
2022 The Teacher Izzy Main role
2022 Radioman India Vincent-Jones (voice) Main role
2022–2023 Love! Love! Love! Herself Presenter
2023 Better Jade Wilkes Recurring role
2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special Herself Contestant
2024 Waterloo Road Stacey Neville Main role
Source:[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Teen actress lands TV role". Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  2. ^ Norris, Lucy. "Strictly's Neil Jones issues warning to contestants ahead of first elimination". Metro. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Meet the #tuneup line-up: Drama". Tune Up. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Tillie Amartey". Curtis Brown. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Tillie Amartey". TresA. Archived from the original on 30 May 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Good luck to the amazing, Tillie Amartey, aged 12, filming as Tall Mary in the 4 O'Clock Club Series 5 today! Well done Tillie, we're very proud!". Facebook. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Hoops". BBC. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Love Island's Amber Davies lands first TV role with BBC". Bracknell News. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  9. ^ "The Teacher cast: Meet the characters of the Sheridan Smith drama". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  10. ^ "The Teacher cast: Who stars in the new Channel 5 drama series alongside Sheridan Smith?". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Tillie Amartey and Neil Jones want to impress Head Judge Shirley Ballas with their festive jive". BBC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  12. ^ Spackman, Maisie. "Waterloo Road confirms new cast as Coronation Street star's daughter joins". Metro. Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
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