Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British soap opera created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the programme follows the stories o ...

'', she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, including army series '' Red Cap'' and crime drama ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall Media (production company), Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Head ...

''.

Early life

The only daughter of Anna (née Santi) and Colin Frank Outhwaite, born in Ilford, Essex, Outhwaite has two younger brothers, Kes and Jake. She was educated at Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green. Her mother is of Italian heritage. Her maternal great grandfather Adelmo Santi and his eldest son Pietro Santi were born in Barga,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and became naturalised British citizens in 1957, living first in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and then settling in Fishburn,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

running an

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as s ...

business. Outhwaite attended the Stagestruck Theatre Company as a teenager, taking part in several productions during the mid-1980s. While at school, she studied part-time at

Sylvia Young Theatre School Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent school in Marble Arch, London, England. It is a specialist performing arts school named after its founder and principal, Sylvia Young OBE. Outline The Sylvia Young Theatre School was founded in ...

and on leaving school in 1987, she joined the

London Studio Centre The London Studio Centre, in North Finchley, London, is a British dance and theatre school providing courses in classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz dance, and musical theatre. It is accredited by the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical ...

to study drama and dance.

Career

Early career and ''EastEnders''

On graduation from the London Studio Centre she started her career in the theatre, taking roles in productions including '' Grease'' and ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before ope ...

'', and work at the

Stephen Joseph Theatre The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain. In 1955, Joseph established a tiny theatre in the round on t ...

, before landing bit parts in television series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' and ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a British sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang (Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey (Harry Enfield; series 1 only) and Tony Smart (Neil Morrissey; series 2 on ...

''. She found national fame in 1998 when she was cast as Mel Healy in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Her first appearance was aired in October 1998 and her final one was in April 2002. During nearly four years in Walford, Outhwaite's character was central to many storylines. Outhwaite left ''EastEnders'' in 2002, shortly after the departure from the soap of co-star

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also ...

, who had played her on-screen husband Steve Owen. She stated in 2006 that she would not rule out returning to ''EastEnders'' and her return was confirmed on 24 October 2017. Outhwaite departed the soap for a second and final time in November 2019, when Mel was killed off.

Further work

In 2007, Outhwaite appeared in a revival of '' Boeing Boeing'' at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

, as well as the film ''

Cassandra's Dream ''Cassandra's Dream'' is a 2007 thriller drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. Filmed in the United Kingdom, it was released in 2007 in Europe and in January 2008 in the United States. It was developed as a British-French-American co ...

'', which first premiered in June. In March 2008, she had a role in the ITV drama series '' The Fixer''. In 2009, she played the lead in the sci-fi crime series for the BBC entitled ''

Paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

'', which first aired on BBC One on 24 November 2009. In 2010, she appeared in '' Over the Rainbow'', a talent show casting for

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's stage production of '' The Wizard of Oz''. That same year, she was a member of the judging panel on the UK television programme '' Don't Stop Believing'' broadcast on Channel 5. In July 2013, Outhwaite joined the cast of the popular BBC One comedy-drama series ''

'' as DCI Sasha Miller, replacing Amanda Redman as head of the team in the show. Outhwaite had earlier appeared in series 9, episode 6 of the show, guest-starring as a different character who is brought to justice at the end of the episode. In March 2016, Outhwaite was cast to play Teresa Phillips in a revival of

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director o ...

's '' How the Other Half Loves'' at the

Theatre Royal, Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

. Outhwaite has done introductory segments of

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 ...

episodes of NBC's ''

Dateline A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization i ...

'' for British television audiences. In May 2020, Outhwaite played Indie Hendricks in ''Dun Breedin'', a project by

Julie Graham Julie Graham (born 24 July 1965) is a Scottish television and film actress. Career Graham has appeared in the Channel 4 ''Blood Red Roses'' (1986, filmed in East Kilbride). She also appeared in 1986 in an episode of ''Taggart'', “Death Call� ...

about women who are going through the

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often ...

during lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Because of this, her scenes were filmed at her own house. The episodes were uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

weekly. In 2021, Outhwaite appeared on '' The Masked Dancer'', masked as Scarecrow. She was unmasked in the final and finished in fourth place.

Personal life

Outhwaite resides in London. From 2006 to 2014, she was married to Welsh actor Tom Ellis, with whom she has two daughters. It was announced in 2013 that the pair had separated and that Outhwaite had filed for divorceKelby McNally
"Tamzin Outhwaite 'files for divorce from Tom Ellis, citing adultery'"
''Express'', 10 September 2013.(No author.

''Huffington Post UK'', 9 October 2013.Kelby McNally
"'We're all moving forward' Tom Ellis speaks out about Tamzin Outhwaite split"
''Express'', 19 September 2013. which was finalized in April 2014. Outhwaite is related to

Holly Willoughby Holly Marie Willoughby ( ; born 10 February 1981) is an English television presenter, author and model. She is currently the co-presenter of ITV's '' This Morning'' (2009–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' (2006–2011, 2018–present) alongsid ...

's husband, Dan Baldwin.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Outhwaite, Tamzin 1970 births 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School English film actresses English musical theatre actresses English television actresses English people of Italian descent English stage actresses English soap opera actresses Living people People from Ilford