1. Blacksmith’s daughter brought up in the tiny village of Ffarmers, Carmarthenshire, West Wales – voted village of the year in South Wales 2005.
2. In 2004, Shân was honoured with two Honorary Fellowships, from Aberystwyth University of Wales and Lampeter Universtity. She is the youngest to have been honoured in Aberystwyth.
3. If you visit the ‘Arts Explorer’ room at the Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff you can get a virtual Shân to sing for you!
4. The series in which Shân made her acting debut, ‘Con Passionate’ has been nominated for a fiction series award at the Grand Prix European Televison Festival in Berlin.
5. Did you know that Shân’s body parts have been on a bus advertising campaign promoting ‘Con Passionate’? Her cleavage and baton (Davina Roberts) have been nominated recently for a Promax award.
6. Shân won the ultimate accolade at the Abergele National Eisteddod of Wales in 1995 which prompted her to turn professional – the famous Blue Riband vocal prize (Rhuban Glas).
7. Shân is an accomplished horsewoman – and her horse Nelson was quite a celebrity in his day – appeared on television and in the press. (He passed away this year at the grand old age of 28).
8. Shân was caught out twice on Welsh Candid Camera for S4C – the first time when she was a presenter of the ‘Sioe Fach’ series on S4C (Agricultural shows in Wales) and was set up to be interrupted during her work all day - and the second time while she was starring in ‘Phantom of the Opera’ in the West End - a filming crew took Shân out for the day in London to film an item for the Wales Tourist Board directed by a Chinese director – she stood on Westminster Bridge and sang the Welsh National Anthem!
9. Shân has sat between a pilot and co-pilot on a chartered flight because it was overbooked.
10. She’s absailed off the Cardiff Millenium Stadium roof for charity… oh yes and sang the Welsh National Anthem to a full capacity audience of 72,000. Not at the same time!