Rita Simons, who is well known for playing Roxy Mitchell in EastEnders, is taking part in Britain’s Brightest Celebrity Families tonight (Thursday, April 29).
But what do we know about Rita Simons, is she married and what has she done since leaving EastEnders?
Rita Simons was born on March 10 1977, making her 44 years old.
Her parents are called Susan and Mark and she has an older brother named Ben.
Rita is also the niece of billionaire business man Lord Alan Sugar. Lord Sugar is married to Rita’s paternal aunt Ann, who he married in 1968.
In 2004, Rita married Theo Silveston and together they have twin daughters Jaimee and Maiya. However Rita and Theo split in 2018.
Last year it was reported Rita is dating her Legally Blonde co-star Ben Harlow.
Rita famously played Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap from 2007 until 2017. Rita is close friends with Samantha Womack, who played Roxy’s sister Ronnie.
In 2017, EastEnders fans were devastated when Ronnie and Roxy drown in a hotel swimming pool on New Year’s Day.
In 2018, Rita played Lisa Prescott in film The Krays: Dead Man Walking.
The same year she competed in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.
She went on to do theatre. Between 2019 and 2020 she played Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty.
In 2019 she played Caro Harcourt in The House on Cold Hill and Miss Hedge in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
This year she is playing Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray.
Rita reveals she didn’t want to be killed off EastEnders
In 2019 Rita appeared on Good Morning Britain she revealed that she didn’t want to be killed off the soap.
She said: “Obviously it’s no secret, we were gutted to leave, because we loved our characters.
“I love Sam, she’s my best friend, you become a pretend family.
“We did want to leave but we didn’t want to die. And to watch your ‘sister’ die, and to willingly kill your character you’ve payed for 10 years and you love, is a weird dilemma to be in, because you have to do the filming…”