Is Sheridan Smith from Doncaster or Lincolnshire? The argument that won't go away

It’s an argument that seems to be an endless source of debate – is TV actress and singer from Sheridan Smith from Doncaster or Lincolnshire?
Sheridan Smith filming an advert for Google in Epworth.Sheridan Smith filming an advert for Google in Epworth.
Sheridan Smith filming an advert for Google in Epworth.

Every time she appears in our publications, arguments rage on social media as to her background.

So let’s look at the evidence.

She was born on 25 June, 1981 in Epworth, which, as most people will know, is a town about 13 miles east of Doncaster in an area known as the Isle of Axholme.

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The Isle of Axholme falls within North Lincolnshire – although Epworth does have a Doncaster DN postcode.

Last year, Sheridan returned to Epworth to shoot an advert for Google and was filmed in the town she grew up in promoting a number of local businesses.

Pretty conclusive proof she classes Epworth as her roots then?

Well, not really.

She has repeatedly described “Donny” as her home in media appearances.

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On winning her Olivier theatre award in 2011, she exclaimed: ‘I don’t think I deserve to be here. I’m just a complete scrubber from Donny’ while on Twiter, while raving about her brother’s band performing at former town centre pub Cask Corner in 2013 she wrote: “Great to be back home in Donny, loveliest people up here!”

In the 2018 ITV documentary, Sheridan Smith: Coming Home, the 39-year-old described herself as ‘a little girl from Donny’ and revealed how she worked at a burger van in Doncaster while growing up.

The programme also saw her performing at Bentley Top Club in Bentley, following in the footsteps of her parents, who performed as popular country and western duo The Daltons in Doncaster throughout the 80s and 90s.

The young Sheridan would often join them on stage for performances.

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And in 2020, showing her support for Doncaster female world champion boxer Terri Harper, she once again described herself as ‘a Doncaster lass’ while in another tweet from 2012, explaining how she’d pretended to make cakes while actually buying them from Greggs, she wrote: “You can take the girl out of Donny...”

So it would seem that arguments from both camps carry weight.

But there’s one thing that’s for sure, wherever she’s from, we’re all immensely proud of her!