Former EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite has opened up about her child Flo’s journey after they told her they were transgender six years ago
Tamzin Outhwaite has publicly disclosed that her eldest child is transgender for the first time. The EastEnders actress, who was married to actor Tom Ellis, confessed she was initially “distressed” when Flo came out seven years ago, but now comfortably states she has a son and a daughter instead of two daughters.
The 54-year-old actress expressed regret over her initial reaction to the news, wishing she could alter it. She described the situation as “very distressing”, leading both her and Flo to seek family therapy for support.
She explained: “The way I reacted at the very beginning I would love to change because I think until you’re going through it yourself with your child it’s very difficult to judge other people or to judge a situation because you don’t expect that to happen to you or your child.
“What I did initially, I was like ‘don’t be ridiculous’, I didn’t say don’t be ridiculous but my mind went to ‘that’s ludicrous’ and working back from that to talking through it.”
Outhwaite shares two children, Flo, 17, and Marnie, 12, with fellow actor Tom Ellis, whom she divorced in 2014, reports the Mirror.
While appearing on the Parenting Hell podcast, the actress shared: “I’ve got two kids and I did have two daughters and now I have a son and a daughter and that’s quite easy for me to to say now but it wasn’t maybe six or seven years ago.
“We live in a very happy household now, full of jokes, and it’s my favourite place to be at home.
“You know they say that as a mum, probably as a parent, that you’re only ever as happy as your unhappiest child and so with that in mind we have had some pretty unhappy years.
“Now we’re in a really wonderful place as a family, Flo is in a wonderful place as a brilliant actor, singer, writer, director in his sixth form at school, and Marnie is thriving.
“So instead of just trying to get through difficult times we are now all thriving and the relief and joy is very tangible.”
She went on to say: “It was about when Flo was about 10 or 11 and the maddest thing is, I suppose, is that it’s not the most interesting thing about him.
“He’s an incredible, incredibly funny, intelligent boy and I’m watching him grow into a wonderful human who’s very talented and to see him thriving is just nothing but relief and joy for me really because there was some dark times.
“Fab bit of family therapy, therapy on Flo’s side so Flo was doing therapy as well. Speaking to other people and realising you weren’t alone was a really, really helpful thing.
“I became almost like a padded cell around Flo, almost going ‘it’s okay whatever you want, you want to do this, you want to do that, it’s all okay’, because I think if you push back on a kid they’re going to want to do the opposite of what their parent says so I made everything a possibility.
“I didn’t say you can’t be that but it was a very distressing time.”
Tamzin also mentioned that while her six-year-old quickly grasped the change, she was worried about her father’s reaction, who is now supportive.
“Marnie has been the most insightful about all of it because it’s constantly, from pretty much day one when Marnie was six years old has said ‘this is my brother Flo’.
“Flo has many nicknames at school, all sorts of different things, all of the kids are so accepting of everything but I think they’re much more understanding.
“Whereas obviously there was a time, my dad’s brilliant now and on board, but there was a time where I didn’t want Flo to have the wrath of what my dad had to say about the whole thing.”
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
