Patsy Palmer has been a familiar face on our screens for decades, but she’s still best known for her role as Bianca Jackson in EastEnders – here’s a look at her life away from the cameras
As actress Patsy Palmer gears up for her rumoured Celebrity Big Brother debut, we’re taking a look inside her life off-screen.
Despite her extensive television career, Patsy is best known for her portrayal of the iconic Bianca Jackson in BBC’s EastEnders.
The 52-year-old star bid farewell to the soap in 2014, but has since reprised her role as Bianca on several occasions, with her latest comeback taking place in September 2024. The end date for her current stint on EastEnders remains a mystery.
Beyond her EastEnders commitments, Patsy juggles being a DJ and a mother to four children. She’s also rumoured to be entering the Celebrity Big Brother house this year and is set to make an appearance on Pointless Celebrities on Saturday, 5th April.
Let’s take a peek into Patsy’s life away from the cameras….
Patsy kick-started her acting journey at a young age, starring in a West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when she was just six years old. She later joined the Anna Scher Theatre school and made her TV debut in The Gentle Touch in 1984, according to Plymouth Live, reports Belfast Live.
While studying, Patsy realised that there was already a successful actress named Julie Harris, prompting her to adopt the stage name Patsy Palmer. The name is a combination of her mother’s maiden name and her mother’s nickname, Patsy.
She went on to appear in popular shows like Grange Hill and The Bill before securing her breakthrough role in EastEnders in 1993, at the tender age of 21.
The soap star has been open about her tough start when she joined the iconic series, living in a cramped and damp flat in London’s East End as a single mum to her son Charley, whose dad is boxer Alfie Rothwell.
In her tell-all book, Patsy spilled the beans on her wild twenties, admitting: “By my 20s I was bingeing my life away on cocaine, ecstasy, and enough vodka and Laurent Perrier Champagne to quench a small village’s thirst for several hours. I would be out of my head for two or three days in a row – whole chunks of time were lost. I took so many drugs I’m amazed I survived.”
Her love life saw a whirlwind romance with filmmaker Nick Love, culminating in a summer wedding in 1998, but the marriage was short-lived, ending after just five months.
2000 marked a new chapter as Patsy married Richard Merkell. Her road to recovery led her to rehab by 2004, where she successfully got clean.
Patsy, who now champions sobriety, told The Mirror: “We don’t have drink in our house. Richard is a social drinker but he doesn’t drink at home. I follow the 12-step programme from Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.”
Together with Richard, Patsy has three kids: Fenton, Amelia, and Bertie. Her eldest, Charley, is following in his mum’s footsteps, building an acting career with roles in Our Girl, Dunkirk, and Darkest Hour.
Both Fenton and Amelia are making waves in the modelling world; Amelia is strutting her stuff with Storm LA, while Fenton is working it on both sides of the pond, in Los Angeles and the UK. Rumour has it that Fenton’s been romantically linked to none other than Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford – and Patsy once shared a snap with Cindy herself on her socials.
Patsy packed up for Malibu with her brood in 2014 and hasn’t looked back, once saying: “We just wanted to try something new, we have a pretty normal life in an extraordinary place.”
Since the big move, she’s been rubbing shoulders with the likes of Camille Grammer and Cindy Crawford, no less.
The ex-EastEnders star also has a surprising connection to Love Island’s Luca Bish, which came out when he strutted into the villa in 2023. Patsy was all over social media cheering him on, posting: “Omg @lucabish all grown up and going on @loveisland we cannot wait to you you will smash it so beautiful kind and funny. Yay from your MALIBU CREW,” complete with two pink heart emojis.
Turns out, Luca and Patsy are tight-knit family pals, with Luca having supported Patsy during her DJ gig at Quantus Gallery in 2023.
Despite her stateside adventures, Patsy occasionally pops back to Albert Square and continues to grace EastEnders, with her character Bianca getting tangled in her sister Sonia’s (played by Natalie Cassidy) exit drama.
Patsy made a splash on Dancing on Ice last year, and now there’s chatter that she might be heading into the Celebrity Big Brother house. The upcoming season of the popular reality show is slated to kick off on ITV come Monday, 7th April, although the official line-up remains hush-hush.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
