WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Samantha Janus

Actress Samantha Janus had “A Message To Your Heart” for Eurovision in 1991 hoping for the first win in a decade. Game on!

19 year old wannabe actress and singer Samantha Janus was chosen out of all the unknown’s to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991. She followed Emma the previous year, who had come sixth with “Give A Little Love Back To The World“, with yet another Paul Curtis written song, “A Message To Your Heart”. The ceremony was to be held in Rome, Italy and without a win for ten years, the UK was desperate to get back in the game. Perhaps of note was Samantha’s backing singers, or rather back-up singers for the show, being one Kit Rolfe, Belle of Belle and The Devotions and 80’s chart star Hazell Dean! Sadly, the song failed to ignite any interest or get its message across and came in tenth, the lowest performing entry since Rikki’s “Only The Light” in 1987. When released as a single, “A Message To Your Heart” peaked at No.30 in the charts, slighly higher than her predecesor had done a year earlier.

Thankfully Samantha quit the music business and focused on her acting career, which featured a number of bit parts on television. She made her name and got her big break in 1995 when she co-starred as Mandy in the BBC comedy series, Game On, which ran for three years. After that she combined stage work along with film roles before landing the part of Ronnie Mitchell in the soap opera, Eastenders. Her first run lasting from 2007-2011 and after a two year break, she returned in 2013 for another four years worth. Samantha played Michelle Unwin, mother to ‘Eggsy’ in the so-far made two Kingsman films, ‘The Secret Service’ in 2017 and its follow up ‘The Golden Circle’ in 2019. She can mostly be seen on stage these days but made her comeback to comedy in 2021’s Buffering.