Danniella Westbrook

Who is Danniella Westbrook?

Danniella Westbrook 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/columella. She sought treatment and no longer uses drugs. She is married with two children, and has released two volumes of autobiography, The Other Side of Nowhere, in 2006 and Faith, Hope and Clarity in 2013.