Patricia Mary "Kim" Woodburn (néeMcKenzie; born 25 March 1942)[1] is an English television personality, writer, and former cleaner. Known as the "Queen of Clean", she came to prominence by co-presenting the Channel 4 series How Clean Is Your House? (2003–2009) and its Canadian version Kim's Rude Awakenings (2007–2009).[2] Woodburn has gone on to appear on various reality television shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2009) and Celebrity Big Brother (2017).[3]
Early life
Patricia Mary McKenzie was born in Eastney, Hampshire on 25 March 1942 to Mary Patricia (née Shaw) and Ronald McKenzie.[1] Woodburn says that she was physically abused by her parents throughout her childhood, and sexually abused by her father.[1] She left home at the age of 16 and moved to Liverpool where she worked as a live-in cleaner for a family.[4] Besides being a professional cleaner, Woodburn also held other jobs such as social worker, beautician and model.[5]
In February 1966, when she was 23 years old, Woodburn prematurely gave birth to a stillborn baby and buried him in a park.[1] This revelation, which she made in her 2006 autobiography, Unbeaten, led to a police inquiry, but no action was taken.[4] After the death of her baby, she changed her name from Patricia to Kim (after the American actress and painter Kim Novak).[6]
Career
How Clean Is Your House?
In 2002, Channel 4 contacted a cleaning company looking for "a really good cleaner with quite a funny temperament for a new series."[7] The company recommended Woodburn, who was then earning £1,000 a month as a live-in cleaner for a family in Kent.[7] After a screen test, programme makers paired her with Aggie MacKenzie and filming began three weeks later.[8][9]
How Clean Is Your House? aired from 2003 to 2009, with the duo producing books, board games and DVDs due to the popularity of the series.[10] Woodburn appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the US, where How Clean Is Your House? aired on BBC America.[11] From 2007 to 2009, Woodburn starred in a Canadian version, titled Kim's Rude Awakenings, alongside Mike Chalut. In August 2009, Woodburn announced to Now magazine that she would not be making any further series of How Clean Is Your House? and Channel 4 announced soon afterwards that the series had been cancelled.[12][13]
In March 2016, Woodburn took part in the second series of Famous, Rich and Homeless for BBC One. Her controversial comments on the lives of rough sleepers and some of them that she met led to a dispute between her, the public and the other volunteers on the show.[19] In April 2016, Woodburn and her husband, Pete, appeared on Channel 4's A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun in order to find a holiday home in Costa del Sol, which was to be their home during the winter months. Their budget was £320,000 and they were shown five two-three bedroom penthouses.[20] They put two offers forward of £285,000 and then £295,000 on an apartment but both were turned down by the Norwegian owner.[21]
In January 2017, Woodburn entered the Celebrity Big Brother house to participate as a housemate in its nineteenth series, entering on Day 11. She finished in third place on Day 32.[22]
In August 2018, Woodburn made a controversial appearance on ITV's Loose Women. She was asked if she would make amends with Coleen Nolan, but left after a reception by the panel that was widely described as "bullying". The incident resulted in almost 8,000 people complaining to Ofcom.[23] In 2021, Woodburn featured in a Christmas advert for Grainger Market Delivery, an online shopping company.[24] In 2022, Woodburn made various guest appearances on GB News and was a contestant on the E4 cooking competition Celeb Cooking School, where she was eliminated first.[25]
In 2006, Woodburn wrote an autobiography, Unbeaten, which detailed her early life.[1] She has appeared in various pantomimes in theatres all over the UK. Her first pantomime performance was in the Cinderella as an Ugly Sister, alongside television co-star Aggie MacKenzie, at the Theatre Royal in Brighton. It ran from 7 December 2007 to 6 January 2008.[26] From 15 December 2010 to 3 January 2011, she made her second appearance in pantomime in Cinderella at the Woodville Halls Theatre in Gravesend, where played the Fairy Godmother. From 11 December 2012 to 26 December, she played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the Grimsby Auditorium.[27] She performed in pantomime for the fourth time at the Southport Theatre in Jack and the Beanstalk as Fairy Starlight. The season ran from 13 December 2013 to 31 December 2013. From 2014 to 2015, she played Fairy Liquid in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Brindley in Runcorn, followed by a 2019 appearance at the Epstein Theatre in Liverpool as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[28] In 2022, Woodburn released a range of cleaning products at Poundland.[29]
Personal life
Woodburn's first marriage to Kenneth Davies ended in divorce in 1975.[1] She married Peter Woodburn in 1979 and they live together in Nantwich, Cheshire.[30][31] They had no children.[32] Woodburn's tight braided bun hair style is described as her 'trademark' by BBC One.[2]
Loose Women (28 September 2006, 29 May 2007, 13 November 2007, 6 August 2008, 14 December 2009, 15 March 2010, 29 March 2010, 21 March 2011, 22 November 2011, 28 February 2017, 29 August 2018) – 11 episodes[34]
Heaven and Earth with Gloria Hunniford (1 October 2006) – 1 episode[34]
Tonight Live with Dan Wootton (25 April 2022, 18 May 2022, 26 May 2022, 22 August 2022, 21 September 2022, 2 November 2022, 21 December 2022, 15 March 2023, 16 May and 29 May 2023)[34]
The Big Proud Party Agency (29 June 2022) – 1 episode[34]
