Danniella Westbrook

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Danniella Westbrook bigraphy, stories - British actor

Danniella Westbrook : biography

5 November 1973 –

Danniella Westbrook (born 5 November 1973) is an English actress and television presenter. She is known for being the original actress to play Samantha Mitchell in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders in 1990–93, 1995–96, 1999–2000 and 2009–10. Away from EastEnders she has presented various shows, and was also a contestant on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2003. She competed in the 2010 series of Dancing on Ice with US Pairs Skater Matthew Gonzalez and finished fourth in the competition. In 2012 it was announced she would be joining the cast of Hollyoaks.

Westbrook is also known for a much publicised cocaine addiction throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, which caused the complete erosion of her nasal septum/colonna. She sought treatment and no longer uses drugs. She is married with two children, and released her autobiography, The Other Side of Nowhere, in 2006.

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 two brothers, the eldest, Justin—her father’s son from a prior marriage—and a younger brother, Jay, who is 8 years her junior. 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 school. She was sent to a local private school, until, at the age of 12, her parents allowed her to attend Sylvia Young Theatre School as a full-time student, where Denise Van Outen, Dani Behr and her future EastEnders co-star, Nicola Stapleton, were among her contemporaries.

Personal life

Addiction

Westbrook’s struggle with cocaine addiction has been widely documented in the British press. She has confessed that she first tried the drug at the age of 14, in a nightclub. After winning her role in EastEnders at the age of 16, Westbrook was a regular on the London club scene, and her cocaine usage escalated. By the age of 21, she was spending £400 a day on cocaine. She has commented "I was always in clubs and everyone was doing coke and it was glamorous – except obviously, it wasn’t at all. I was just very young, very stupid and very easily led…I think there should be someone at EastEnders to say to young people when they come in, ‘Look, your life is about to change, you’re going to be invited to things, and you’ll be offered drugs.’ Someone who can tell them what sort of people are about, and what sort of papers, and how quickly what you’ve worked for all those years can be gone." It is estimated that she has spent over £250,000 on drugs, used 5g of cocaine every single day throughout her first pregnancy, and has admitted that during her lowest ebb she attempted suicide several times.

In May 2000, Westbrook was photographed at the British Soap Awards, where an image of her missing septum was given to a series of tabloid newspapers, unveiling her secret and highlighting her excessive drug abuse. Danniella was checked into rehab and six months later, she appeared on the Channel 4 show The Priory with the claim that she was clean and had been free from drugs for months. However, hosts Jamie Theakston and Zoë Ball struggled to get coherent answers from Danniella, who was under the influence of drugs despite her claims of abstinence. Reflecting back on the event in 2002, Westbrook commented, "I said I was clean, but it was obvious I wasn’t. I looked about 50, and my voice was shaky. I should never have been allowed on. They wanted to laugh at me, rip me apart. I despise that sort of thing, but it did me the world of good because watching it I realised, ‘I’m so ill.’ When it came to the crunch I thought, ‘Hang on. I don’t want to die.’" Danniella re-entered rehab in order to kick her drug habit, which she has now successfully done. Westbrook has since undergone reconstructive surgery on her nose to replace her eroded septum.