Danniella Westbrook (born 5 November 1973) is an English actress, better known for originating the role of Sam Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing her on-and-off from 1990 to 2000 and 2009 to 2016. Away from EastEnders, she has presented various series, and was also a contestant on the ITV contest I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2003. Westbrook competed in the 2010 series of Dancing on Ice, with US Pairs Skater Matthew Gonzalez, and finished fourth in the competition. In 2013, she appeared in Hollyoaks as Trudy Ryan. In 2016, she took part in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother, where she reached the final and finished in fifth place. On 27 February of that same year, it was confirmed that Westbrook would return to EastEnders, very briefly with on-screen brother Grant (Ross Kemp), for the death of their on-screen mother Peggy (Barbara Windsor). In 2022, it was announced that Westbrook would play The Fairy Godmother in a West End adult pantomime of Sinderfella, which occurred on 12 December of that year. Westbrook had a much publicised cocaine addiction throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, which caused the complete erosion of her nasal septum. She sought treatment, but later relapsed. She was previously married and has two children. She has also released two autobiographies, The Other Side of Nowhere in 2006, and, Faith, Hope and Clarity in 2013. Early life Westbrook was born in Walthamstow, London, but grew up in Loughton, Essex. Her father Andy was a cab driver, and later a carpet contractor, while her mother, Sue, was a shop assistant. Her parents were also successful property developers. Westbrook has a younger brother, Jay, and an elder half-brother, Justin, from a previous marriage of her father's. She has commented "I came from a very loving family – you know, 2.4 children with a Volvo". As a child, she had a keen interest in horse riding, but she has said that she has always had aspirations to be famous. She started off modelling at the age of seven and then progressed to acting. She joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School when she was eight, attending Saturday classes. Throughout the early stages of her career, Westbrook attended a local state primary school, but she was bullied because of her television appearances, and after one bully cut off her hair, Westbrook's parents removed her from the