Tamzin Outhwaite

Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (/ˈaʊθweɪt/; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, including army series Red Cap and crime drama New Tricks. Tamzin Outhwaite played Rebecca Mitchell, the general manager of the five-star hotel Babylon, in the BBC drama series Hotel Babylon. She appeared in the first two series of the show, which ran from 2006–2009.

Tamzin Outhwaite
Outhwaite in 2015
Born	Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (1970-11-05) 5 November 1970 (age 54) Ilford, London, England
Occupations	Actress presenter narrator
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Tom Ellis ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2014)​
Children	2
Awards	British Soap Award - Sexiest Female (1999, 2000) National Television Award – Most Popular Newcomer (1999)

Early life

The only daughter of Anna (née Santi) and Colin Frank Outhwaite, born in Ilford, Essex, Outhwaite has two younger brothers. She was educated at Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green. Her mother is of Italian heritage.^[1] Her maternal great grandfather and his eldest son were born in Barga, Italy, and became naturalised British citizens in 1957, living first in Glasgow, Scotland, and then settling in Fishburn, England running an ice cream business.^[2]

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,^[3] and on leaving school in 1987, she joined the London Studio Centre to study drama and dance.^[4]

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!, and work at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, before landing bit parts in television series The Bill and Men Behaving Badly.^[5]

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, who had played her on-screen husband Steve Owen.^[6]

She stated in 2006 that she would not rule out returning to EastEnders^[7] and her return was confirmed on 24 October 2017.^[8] 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, as well as the film Cassandra's Dream, which first premiered in June.^[9] In March 2008, she had a role in the ITV drama series The Fixer.^[10] In 2009, she played the lead in the sci-fi crime series for the BBC entitled Paradox,^[11] 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's stage production of The Wizard of Oz.^[12] That same year, she was a member of the judging panel on the UK television programme Don't Stop Believing broadcast on Channel 5.^[13]

In July 2013, Outhwaite joined the cast of the popular BBC One comedy-drama series New Tricks 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.^[14] In March 2016, Outhwaite was cast to play Teresa Phillips in a revival of Alan Ayckbourn's How the Other Half Loves at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.^[15] Outhwaite has done introductory segments of true crime episodes of NBC's Dateline for British television audiences.^[16] In May 2020, Outhwaite played Indie Hendricks in Dun Breedin, a project by Julie Graham about women who are going through the menopause during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, her scenes were filmed at her own house.^[17] The episodes were uploaded to YouTube weekly.^[18]

In 2021, Outhwaite appeared on The Masked Dancer, masked as Scarecrow. She was unmasked in the final and finished in fourth place.^[19]

Personal life

Outhwaite resides in London. From 2006 to 2014, she was married to Welsh actor Tom Ellis, with whom she has two daughters. In 2013 the pair separated and Outhwaite had filed for divorce^[20][21][22] which was finalised in April 2014.^[23]

Outhwaite is cousin to Holly Willoughby's husband, Dan Baldwin.^[24][25]

Outhwaite acts as an ambassador for the Park Theatre in the Finsbury Park area of London.^[26]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Princess in love	Maid
2002	Out of Control	Shelley Richards
2004	When I'm 64	Caz
2005	7 Seconds	Sgt. Kelly Anders
2006	Backwaters	Lili Taylor
2007	Cassandra's Dream	Emma
2008	Radio Cape Cod	Jill Waters
2011	Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me	Patsy Morgan
2012	Great Expectations	Molly
2020	What a Carve Up!	The Journalist
	The Haunting of Alice Bowles	Alice Bowles
2021	Bull	Sharon
2023	Sumotherhood	Ambulance Worker	Cameo

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Mystery of Dr Martinu	Girlfriend	Television film
1995	Men Behaving Badly	Girl in Pub	1 episode
1996	The Bill	Liz Crane	Episode: "Hers"
1998–2002, 2018–2019	EastEnders	Mel Owen	Regular role; 617 episodes
2000	Da Ali G Show	Melanie	Episode: "Gail Porter"
2003	Final Demand	Natalie Taylor	Television film
2003–2004	Red Cap	Sgt. Jo McDonagh	Main role
2004	Hustle	Katherine Winterborn	Episode: "A Touch of Class"
	Frances Tuesday	Frances West	Television film
2005	Walk Away and I Stumble	Claire Holmes
2006	Vital Signs	Rhoda Bradley	Main role
2006–2007	Hotel Babylon	Rebecca Mitchell	Main role (series 1–2)
2007	The Catherine Tate Show	Shelley	2007 Christmas special
2008–2009	The Fixer	Rose Chamberlain	Main role
2009	Paradox	D.I. Rebecca Flint	TV mini-series
2011	Law & Order: UK	Miriam Pescatore	Episode: "Immune"
2012	Silent Witness	Beth Gilston	Episodes: "Fear: Parts 1 & 2"
	New Tricks	Victoria Kemp	Episode: "Love Means Nothing in Tennis"
2013	Foyle's War	Brenda Stevens	Episode: "Sunflower"
	Doctor Who	Captain Alice Ferrin	Episode: "Nightmare in Silver"
	Agatha Christie's Marple	Mrs. Rogers	Episode: "Endless Night"
2013–2015	New Tricks	DCI Sasha Miller	Main role (series 10–12)
2016	Josh	Valerie	Episode: "Bed & Breakfast"
2017	Inside No. 9	Connie	Episode: "Empty Orchestra"
	Murdoch Mysteries	Penelope Marsh	Episode: "Up from Ashes"
2018	Midsomer Murders	Samantha Adler	Episode: "The Lions of Causton"
2020	Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators	Jessica Duke	Episode: "Teach Me, Dear Creature"
2021	Ridley Road	Barbara Watson	All 4 episodes
2022	Death in Paradise	Holly Faircroft	Episode: #11.2[27]
	We Hunt Together	Shannon McBride	2 episodes
	Murder, They Hope	Diana	Episode: "Can't See The Blood For The Trees"[28]
2023	The Tower	Cathy Teel	Series two[29]
	Murder is Easy	Mrs Pierce	2 episodes [30]
2024	The Wives	Sylvia Morgan	6 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1999	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Female	EastEnders	Won	[31]
1999	5th National Television Awards	Most Popular Newcomer	EastEnders	Won	[32]
2000	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Female	EastEnders	Won	[31]
2000	6th National Television Awards	Most Popular Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[33]
2001	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Female	EastEnders	Won	[34]
2002	The British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[35]
2002	The British Soap Awards	Sexiest Female	EastEnders	Nominated	[35]
2003	9th National Television Awards	Most Popular Actress	Red Cap	Nominated	[36]
2006	12th National Television Awards	Most Popular Actress	Hotel Babylon	Nominated	[32]
2015	20th National Television Awards	Drama Performance	New Tricks	Nominated	[37]
2015	TV Choice Awards	Best Actress	New Tricks	Nominated	[38]
2018	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[39]
2019	The British Soap Awards	Best Actress	EastEnders	Nominated	[40]
2019	Inside Soap Awards	Best Bad Girl	EastEnders	Nominated	[41]
2019	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Best Soap Actor (Female)	EastEnders	Fifth	[42]