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Actress and Celebrity Gemma Atkinson to open M Festival

Southampton, 21st July 2008: Multiplay, organiser of M Festival - the UK's largest electronic games event, are pleased to announce that TV celebrity Gemma Atkinson is to officially open the event on Friday 8th August 2008 at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.

Gemma’s first acting role playing Lisa Hunter on Hollyoaks placed her in the public eye and she has been firmly there ever since. She was a popular character in Hollyoaks, playing Lisa for five years and proving her credentials as an actress covering topics of self-harm and bereavement. Due to her characters popularity Gemma continued with late night Hollyoaks show, Hollyoaks: in the City.

After leaving Hollyoaks behind Gemma showed fans a different side to her by appearing in ITV1’s primetime show Soapstar Superstar and proving that she can sing as well as act. More recently Gemma became even more of a household name by taking part in ITV1’s massively successful I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here broadening her fanbase. Gemma also has a part in Brit-Flick 'Boogie Woogie' out in August, her 2009 calendar is out in September and she'll be playing 'Peter Pan' at the Royal Manchester Opera House in December.

Gemma is also an avid gamer in her spare time and is thrilled to be opening such an important milestone for the European gaming scene.

For more information about M Festival go to www.mfestival.com

About Multiplay:

Multiplay are organisers of the UK’s largest video games festival, the i-Series. Established in 1997 they have over ten years of experience in organising LAN parties and have seen tens of thousands of gamers attend the events. Complimenting their events Multiplay are also Europe’s largest online games service provider, offering server hosting for the best multiplayer games of the day. Their self-owned and operated network infrastructure connects the UK with mainland Europe, providing the fastest connections to their servers