Donna Air has been an actor, a singer, a presenter and, most recently, a spokeswoman and campaigner for healthy living, organic food, and a host of natural lifestyle options.
She is best known to many for her role as Charlie Charlton in Byker Grove (1992-95), and continues to add acting credits to her portfolio. However, stints presenting MTV Select (1997-2000) and The Big Breakfast (ca. 2000-02) cemented her as a host in the minds of her later fans.
Male supporters will also know her from her appearances in lads’ mags such as Sky, Loaded, FHM, Maxim and GQ – among others – and these photoshoots continue to attract much of the traffic to donnaair.co.uk. While Donna may not be posing for so many bikini shots these days, it’s clear that her sparkling green eyes and tousled blonde barnet are firm favourites in the minds of men of all ages.
Later credits moved to the big screen, with films including The One and Only and Bad Day representing Donna’s longer screen appearances. Walk-on parts in Still Crazy (the movie with the infamous attempt at a Dutch accent…) and The Mummy Returns add to the list of places you might have seen the Geordie starlet in the cinema.
Donna’s personal life has been as eventful as any of her on-screen characters, with a long-term relationship with millionaire casino-owner Damian Aspinall producing the couple’s daughter, Freya, in 2003. Despite the inaccuracies of some tabloid reports, Donna and Damian were not married, and ultimately went their separate ways.
These days, you’re as likely to see Donna promoting the Soil Association as you are to see her posing in her underwear – if not more so. She now campaigns in favour of healthy eating, freshly cooked food, organic ingredients and a host of other all-natural issues.
Being Blonde
Donna is famed for her gaffes, although often they’re reported out of all proportion. And don’t be fooled – she’s very much in on the joke, too.
Her own production company tips a proverbial hat to her reputation, carrying the name Airhead Productions as a nod both to Donna’s surname and to her supposed ditziness.
Probably the most famous ‘quote’ from Donna’s television career is the urban legend that she once asked The Corrs how they met. As an avid fan since 1998, I can honestly say I’ve never seen any concrete proof that this happened.
Sorry to disappoint you all, but in interviews The Corrs have refused to comment on the story – and Donna has denied it herself in the past. If I ever find any evidence to the contrary, you’ll all be the first to know.
About donnaair.co.uk
This site was launched in October 1998 and is a labour of love. It is entirely unofficial, although Donna Air knows it exists and is generally supportive of that fact.
I make no promises as to the completeness of the information contained herein – it is the best I could do with my own online detective skills and a number of years spent following Donna’s career.
Likewise, if you find anything that just seems plain wrong, get in touch and I’ll look again at my sources and make any necessary amendments.
That being said, welcome to the site, thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy your time here.