Paula-Ann Bland shot to fame after starring in Only Fools and Horses – but quit acting years later, and now she looks completely different.
The young actress also starred in beloved British drama Grange Hill, which aired for an incredible 31 series, the now 52-year-old also starred in The Bill as Kelly Brice and, perhaps most famously, played Michelle in Only Fools and Horses.
She was born on May 23, 1968, and kicked off her acting career aged 10 in 1978 where she played iconic character Claire Scott in Grange Hill, before it was cancelled in 2008.
Paula ditched her budding acting career to pursue dreams of fashion, as she launched her own shoe shops called Paola in Knightsbridge and Kings Road, Chelsea.
(Image: paulaannbland/Instagram)
Now she looks completely different after transforming from her young self into a 52-year-old businesswoman.
Her once mousey locks are now blonde and bouncy as she switched up her acting role for her new life – and it seems it’s going incredibly well for her.
She wed in 1992 to Peter Triplett, and the couple share two children. A son, Daniel, 25, and daughter, Bella, 19, together before they later divorced. She resides in Surrey and had also launched a PR agency called Stoned, which has since been dissolved.
(Image: paulaannbland/Instagram)
In 2018, Paula received a heartbreaking diagnosis that she had stage three triple-negative breast cancer, in 2018 and she lost part of her breast during the procedure.
Speaking to the Sunday Express, she said: “When you hear the word cancer, you can’t hear anything else, everything else becomes just white noise.
“I understand it had to be done to save my life and this is better than the worst scenario of double mastectomy and removal of ovaries. The procedure leaves you without an important part of your identity as a woman.”
(Image: BBC)
Paula is very open about her battle with cancer, and often takes to Instagram to update followers and friends on her recovery and progress with chemotherapy.
In a recent Instagram post she discussed her gratitude for her health and her new hair growth post-chemo.
She wrote: “The Hair is growing like the grass!! It’s great to get out and feel normal again. Back to the hustle, moving’ and a shakin’. Back in town and I love it!!!”
The post shows Paula out and about in Knightsbridge, showing off her glorious blonde locks. She wears dangling colourful hoop earrings, a white blouse layered with a leather jacket and a pair of trendy purple tinted sunglasses.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
