Our county boasts a wealth of acting, musical and artistic talent.
But do you know your Essex celebrities?
Test your knowledge with the list below.
Dermot O'Leary
Born in Colchester in 1973 he attended Colchester 6th Form College.
He went on to gain a BA degree in Media & Television and worked as a DJ for BBC Radio Essex.
His career has included presenting Big Brother's Little Brother and the X Factor.
Alison Moyet
The singer, who was one half of duo Yazoo, hails from Billericay.
She named one of her albums after her home county.
Blur's Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon
Colchester is famously the home town to Britpop group Blur.
Damon Albarn, the group's lead singer and guitarist Graham Coxon went to Stanway School.
They formed Blur with Alex James and Dave Rowntree whilst studying together at Goldsmith's College, London.
Originally known as ‘Seymour' they performed at venues across the town, later moving to London and changing their name to Blur in the process.
Tom Payne
The Chelmsford actor first appeared in BBC's Waterloo Road, playing sixth former Brett Aspinall.
He is fan favourite in The Walking Dead series for his role as Paul 'Jesus' Rovia.
Now he is part of the main cast of the Fox production Prodigal Son.
Lara Pulver
The actress who has played Erin Watts in the BBC spy drama Spooks, and Irene Adler on BBC's TV adaptation Sherlock was born in Southend.
Grayson Perry
The Chelmsford artist, who's work is currently being displayed at the Chelmsford Museum, is winner of the Turner Prize in 2003.
Known for his work in Fine Art, Perry depicts classical forms on vases and decorates them in bright colours. Not only working in ceramics through, Perry also worked in printmaking, drawing, embroidery and other textile work.
Alex Dowsett
Also known as 'The Tiger', Dowsett is a professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Isreal Start-Up Nation and has two goal medals.
Back in 2015, Dowsett broke the track cycling would hour record by 446 metres.
His career started at the Maldon and District Cycling Club.
Nathalie Emmanuel
The actress who started her career on Hollyoaks was born in Southend.
The 30-year-old is probably best know for her role as Missandei in Game of Thrones.
Joe Thomas
Best known as Simon from The Inbetweeners or Kingsley from Fresh Meat, this actor is a household name for anyone who has teenagers in the late 00s.
The 36-year-old actor who was born in Chelmsford went on to study at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Penny Lancaster
The model and photographer from Chelmsford was the 2002 face for the designer lingerie brand Ultimo and a 2007 Strictly Come Dancing contestant.
As well as this, Lancaster was bailed as an occasional panellist on the lunchtime chat show in 2014.
Also, she's married to Sir Rod Stewart.
Harry Judd
McFly drummer and 2011 Strictly Come Dancing winner, Judd's first appearance was in Busted's music video for "Crashed the Wedding," after this he joined auditions to be in McFly.
Judd has done some acting during the first years in the band, this includes a guest-star role in Casualty, teen comedy film Just my Luck and even Doctor Who.
He is from Chelmsford.
Rupert Grint
The Harry Potter star hails from Harlow. The 31-year-old left school at 16 to focus on his acting career.
Kara and Hannah Tointon
The acting sisters were born in Southend and brought up in Leigh on Sea.
Hannah is best known for her roles in The Inbetweeners and Hollyoaks while sister Kara appeared in Eastenders.
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