- Ben Freeman
Ben Freeman (born
April 8 ,1980 ) is an English television actor, best known for his part inITV 's "Emmerdale " asScott Windsor .Biography
The eldest of five siblings (three younger sisters and a younger brother), living in Slough, Berkshire, Freeman went to St. Bernard's Convent School (now St. Bernard's Catholic Grammar School). While at school Freeman took a part-time acting course over a school half-term holiday and was spotted by an agent, who signed him up. Freeman's first role was playing Chris Longworth in children's school soap "
Grange Hill ".After leaving Grange Hill, when Emmerdale decided to recast the character of Scott Windsor from incumbent
Toby Cockerell in 1998, Freeman won the role of the womanising car mechanic Scott.Personal life
Freeman has had a
tabloid reported personal life. He dated Emmerdale co-starAmy Nuttall until she broke off their relationship with him in 2004 for cheating on her.He then dated model Cassie Sumner, who was later reported to be a £3,000-a-night vice girl who had dated
Chelsea F.C. footballerMichael Essien . [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006560099,00.html Soap in chaos as star is 'held' | The Sun |HomePage|News ] ] In 2005 girlfriend Montana Manning, 17, of girl band Cookie broke off their relationship after Freeman cheated on her with a fan.Rape allegations
On
3 December ,2006 , theBritish Foreign Office confirmed that Freeman has been charged with raping a British 16 year old woman while on holiday on theCaribbean island ofBarbados . [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6204146.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Soap star on holiday rape charge ] ] Freeman, his stepfather and other members of his family had been staying at the Almond Beach Village resort, where the girl was also staying. [ [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=emmerdale-rape-accused-faces-life%26method=full%26objectid=18203827%26siteid=94762-name_page.html Emmerdale Rape Accused Faces Life - Mirror.Co.Uk ] ]The alleged incident took place on the night of Wednesday
29 November , at a pool-side sun lounger at the resort that both parties were staying at. Freeman left the Almond Beach Village the next day, while the 16-year-old girl stayed on until she and her family returned to the UK on Sunday3 December .Freeman was initially ordered to stay on the island until the case was over, had his
passport confiscated and was released to his lawyer on payment of $20,000 Barbadian dollars (£5,000) bail. In a subsequent hearing on the6 December , his passport was returned by the judge and he was free to leave the country, subject to agreeing to return for the formal hearing on the15 March ,2007 and payment of bail at $100,000 Barbados dollars (£26,000). [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6212788.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Rape charge soap star given bail ] ]In mid March Freeman appeared in court to deny raping a schoolgirl in Barbados. He admits they had sex but says she consented. [ [http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a44077/freeman-in-court-over-rape-charge.html Showbiz - News - Freeman in court over rape charge - Digital Spy ] ]
In December 2007, an ITV spokesperson confirmed that Freeman would not be renewing his contract for practical reasons, as it expired at the end of 2007. The ITV spokesperson said: “Due to the uncertainty of the process of law and the lead times in writing a character in and out of a soap we cannot be sure of Ben’s availability for work, so we cannot renew his contract at this stage." According to the website, Freeman would like to talk to ITV about a contract renewal, after this situation is over. [ [http://www.itv.com/Soaps/emmerdale/newsandgossip/BenFreemanleavesshow/default.html Emmerdale | News & Gossip | Ben Freeman leaves show - ITV Soaps ] ]
References
External links
*imdb name|id=0293299|name=Ben Freeman
* [http://www.emmerdale.org/emmerdale/profiles/scott/ben.htm 2003 interview re Emmerdale]
* [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006560100,00.html The Sun report on rape allegation] includes eye witness pictures of both parties
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