While millions saw her grow up on television in the early 1990s, she almost died of cocaine addiction a few years later.
One of the biggest soap opera stars in TV history, Danniella Westbrook, has a startling backstory.
A jaw that has fallen
Daniella Westbrook, then a household figure on EastEnders, enthralled viewers with her fiery portrayal and rose to prominence as one of the most adored soap performers in the United Kingdom.
Her ascent to popularity, however, came at a high cost behind the scenes. Due to years of battle addiction, the actress now has to deal with the brutal reality of her past, including crumbling bones, a collapsed jaw, and a fractured cheekbone.
How did this gifted actor get to be here?
dreamed of being famous.
Daniella Westbrook was born in 1973 and raised in the London suburb of Loughton. She had an ambition of becoming famous from an early age, and she had started modelling at the age of seven. Daniella’s mother was a shop assistant, and her father was a cab driver, therefore she didn’t have a showbiz background like many people in the entertainment sector do.
Her career nevertheless took off early. As a young model, she secured positions with well-known international companies including Opel and Coca-Cola. Daniella eventually found herself entering the performing field, which would soon make her a household name, when one opportunity led to another.
She appeared in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and played a young robber in Melvyn Bragg’s London Programme when she was younger. She also starred in Queen’s “The Invisible Man” music video and had a brief appearance in Grange Hill.
The most ironic moment, though, was perhaps when she was just 11 years old and made an appearance as a background extra in EastEnders, roller-skating around Albert Square.
She even had a picture in her local newspaper with the phrase, “Who knows? She might become the star of the show one day! They had no idea that it would turn out to be accurate.
A hazardous addiction
Daniella was on the verge of realising her childhood dream of becoming a famous person by the time she turned sixteen. The feisty younger sister of Phil and Grant, Sam Mitchell, was proposed for a significant role in EastEnders. In July 1990, she made her formal soap opera debut following a successful audition.
Daniella immediately won over fans with her innate charm and on-screen persona, participating in some of the most significant plot points of the show. However, she surprised many by leaving in 1993, eager to pursue other acting chances, after only three years.
But fame has more in store for her. She received another call from EastEnders producers in 1995, this time offering her a chance to play the part that had made her famous. It ought to have been her big break. However, Daniella was fighting a deadly cocaine addiction behind the scenes, which was gradually but surely starting to affect her life and work.
Actually, Daniella Westbrook’s decline started even before she was well-known. At the age of 14, she had her first cocaine experience during a night out at a club. At 16, she was already a regular on London’s party scene when she was cast as Sam Mitchell in EastEnders, and her drug addiction rapidly worsened. What began as a one-time treat quickly turned into a habit; Daniella later acknowledged using “half a gramme” of cocaine “maybe once a week.”
I used to frequent clubs where everyone was drinking Coca-Cola and it seemed glamorous, but it wasn’t at all. Simply put, I was incredibly impressionable, foolish, and easily influenced. At EastEnders, I believe someone should tell young people when they arrive, “Look, your life is about to change, you’re going to be invited places, and you’re going to be offered drugs,” she added.
devoted more than $300,000 on her addiction.
As the addiction increased, so did the repercussions. Her behaviour became unpredictable, she started to arrive late to work, and her once promising career was beginning to fall apart.
When her cocaine addiction reached a breaking point in 1995, she checked herself into London’s Charter Nightingale Clinic. Michael Jackson is among the well-known celebs treated at this rehabilitation centre.
When Danniella’s nightclub-fueled lifestyle peaked, she acknowledged spending an astounding $311,300 on her addiction. Her engagement with pop sensation Brian Harvey was ruined by her spiralling substance misuse, which added yet another tragic chapter to her demise. The cost, however, was not only monetary.
“I am a nightmare for all parents.” I’ve completed it everything. Daniella said, “I’m always saying I’m sorry to my parents,” upon her release from treatment in 1995.
She still used five grammes of cocaine every day during her first pregnancy, though. At her lowest, she said that she had attempted suicide several times while she was completely engrossed in her addiction.
Putting the TV away
Producers of EastEnders had had enough by 1996 and had taken the painful choice to remove her off the program. In spite of everything, Daniella was given another chance in 1999 when Sam Mitchell was brought back to EastEnders by the showrunners. They gambled on her again instead of recasting the part.
By that time, however, her addiction had degraded to an unsettling new level; years of cocaine misuse had ruined her nasal septum. In a last-ditch effort to keep her on TV, producers filmed her from perspectives that concealed the damage.
She was in and out of EastEnders during the 2000s, occasionally playing Sam Mitchell herself and other times being replaced by Kim Medcalf.
In addition to the serial opera, she continued to be well-known by participating in reality series such as Celebrity Big Brother and Dancing on Ice. Additionally, she continues to garner media attention in the UK even after leaving television in 2016.
Her struggles aren’t limited to her work. Danniella has experienced significant health challenges, including mental health disorders. She discussed her illnesses in an interview with Loose Women in 2017, stating, “I have borderline personality disorder, I’m bipolar, [paranoid] schizophrenia, I’ve got lots of different things.”
The health scares continued after that. She received treatment for womb cancer in 2018 following a false positive. The following year, fortunately, she received the all-clear. In 2022, she was admitted to the intensive care unit due to an unexpected episode of sepsis; nevertheless, she recovered completely with prompt medical attention.
A terrible vehicle accident
Additionally, Danniella’s personal relationships have been equally dramatic. Before dating Robert Fernandez, with whom she had a kid in 1996, she had a long-term relationship with East 17 singer Brian Harvey in the 1990s.
Tragically, however, Danniella was involved in a terrible car accident in 1998. At 85 mph, she was flung through the windscreen and had serious facial injuries, including a dislocated eye. Fortunately, she was spared serious disfigurement following corrective surgery.
She had only met Ben Morgan, a van driver, for eight weeks before they were married later that year. Their brief affair ended once they moved to Australia, and they got divorced less than a year later.
Then she married businessman Kevin Jenkins in 2001, a few months after their daughter Jodie was born.
For some time, Danniella appeared to be acclimating to a more sedate existence. After she appeared on I’m a Celebrity, Please, get me out of here! “These days, I live an ordinary life,” she said in 2003, even declaring that she was done pursuing stardom. I occasionally work, but I also take care of the laundry, make dinner for my family, and operate the school.
However, she and Kevin’s marriage ended in 2014. Danniella Westbrook’s life has never been typical, even though she may have moved away from the small screen.
Today’s Danniella Westbrook
According to 2025, Danniella still makes news, but more often now it’s because of her looks than her acting career. Over the years, she has had numerous plastic procedures, some of which have resulted in excruciating side effects. She is currently 51.
Following surgery in Turkey last year, she travelled to Portugal, where she battled excruciating agony. I could only travel to Portugal following a healthcare procedure. I was in excruciating pain—the worst I’ve been in days. She posted on Instagram at the time, “I literally feel like I have a hole in my head.”
Fans have been very critical of Danniella’s cosmetic treatments, and she has publicly acknowledged that she is nervous about the outcome. “I can’t lie,” she admitted after receiving Botox, fillers, and liposuction. I was so swollen after the liposuction, fillers, and Botox that I feared I could burst, and I believe the medical staff was fed up with me enquiring about whether this was typical.
Her surgeries haven’t always been cosmetic, though; years of cocaine usage caused her bones to deteriorate, necessitating jaw replacement. As she considered the effects of her previous addiction, she remarked, “I simply don’t look like myself anymore.” It’s obvious that using medications will cause me to age considerably more quickly, but I didn’t need that.
She even felt her cheeks blow out at one point. The glitzy appearance she used to have was drastically altered when she woke up and saw the left side of her face was totally sunken.
Even though Danniella was formerly regarded as a beauty icon, she has faced many emotional and physical challenges along the way. She is still well-known and is talking to her fans about her experiences in spite of everything.
