Deborah was born in Upminster, Essex to Yvette (nee McCartney) and Philip Bartlett. She began ballet lessons at age three. She moved to West Yorkshire aged seven years old. Aged nine she gave up dance lessons to play the piano. Aged thirteen she appeared in her first short film as an extra and performed on stage, as a member of the choir. with West End star Peter Karrie on his ‘With Friends’ tour at both the Bradford Alhambra and the Grand Opera House in York . Aged 15 she met her first singing teacher, qualified soprano and opera singer Rhiannon Gayle, who guided her through Grade Five Classical and Grade Six Musical Theatre exams. During this time Deborah passed her grade two piano exam and worked up to a grade five standard for Music GCSE. After excelling in Music in high school she attended Harrogate College and did a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. She completed the BTEC with the equivalent of two A’s and a B at A-Level. After college she went to Staffordshire University where she continued to have voice lessons with tutor Steven Harper. She graduated in 2010 with BA Hons in Drama, Performance and Theatre Arts. Upon graduating she went straight into filming series 7 of Waterloo Road and has continued to work in television, film and theatre. Theatre credits include Alice’s Sister in Alice in Wonderland (Harewood House, 2006), Whore #1/ Ensemble in Les Miserables (York Grand Opera House, 2007), Supernumerie in National Tour of Evita (Stoke Regent Theatre, 2008), Sarah in A Grave Reunion (Stage Write Productions, 2011), Amanda in Missing (Snowgoose Theatre, Tour, 2012), Choir Member in Blood and Chocolate (York Theatre Royal, 2013. Also on original cast recording), Strawberry Seller / Chorus in Oliver the Musical (Jorvik Theatre, 2016), and Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast (Runestone Productions, 2017).