Michelle Hardwick  Michelle Hardwick (also known as Michelle Brooks, born 26 February 1976) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as hospital receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk in the ITV drama series "The Royal". In 2012, she accepted the role as a regular in ITV soap opera "Emmerdale" as Vanessa Woodfield. Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Hardwick studied Performing Arts at Park Lane College, Leeds, and then attended Scala Performing Arts, Leeds, following which she has acted in the theatre as well as appearing on television. In 2000, she played the role of Hero in the Northern Broadsides' production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". She has taken notable roles in "Heartbeat" and "Coronation Street". Michelle has appeared in three different episodes of the ITV UK TV series "Heartbeat" (1995 as Sandra in "Toss up"; 2002 as Lesley Sutton in "Coming of Age", which featured the death of character PC Tom Nicholson, played by Ryan Early; and finally in 2003 as Lizzie Hopkirk in "Out of the Blue"). Hardwick appeared in "Coronation Street" in 1997 as Sheila Dixon and in 1998 as Naomi Russell. Her biggest role came through her casting as receptionist Lizzie Hopkirk (Kennoway) in ITV UK TV series "The Royal". The 1960s-set hospital drama was a spin-off from "Heartbeat" and soon gathered popularity on its own account. Hardwick's portrayal of the ditzy Lizzie (often referred to as "Dizzy Lizzie") was a firm favourite amongst viewers. Lizzie delivered some very funny lines, including "A woman needs a fish like a man needs a bicycle". She was known for getting well-known phrases mixed up, malapropisms and general comedic lines. However, Hardwick also demonstrated Lizzie's more serious side when she had to deal with her husband leaving her in the episode "For better for worse". A talented singer, Hardwick has sung on both "The Royal" and Abbamania2. She sang "With a little help from my friends" as Lizzie and took part in Abbamania performing "Waterloo" with fellow TV actress Vickie Gates and actors Will Mellor and Lee Otway. However, she has said that acting is her first love. Hardwick has taken part in Race for Life events near her home to raise money for Cancer Research UK.