Actors - Danniella Westbrook

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	Actors - Danniella Westbrook

Danniella Westbrook (born in Essex on November 5, 1973) is a British actress known for playing Samantha Mitchell in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders. She is probably more famous for her much publicised personal life rather than her acting credentials.

Life in EastEnders

Daniella Joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School at a young age and after appearing in several advertisements, was put forward for the role of Sam Mitchell, the younger sister of Phil and Grant, in EastEnders. Her audition was successful and she made her first appearance on the hit soap in 1990. During her intitial stint on the show Daniella became a regular on the London party circuit and was rarely out of the British tabloids. Press interest esculated due to her off screen and turbulent relationship with Brian Harvey, who was a member of British Boy band East 17. Despite featuring in some prominent storylines, rumours of Daniella's recreational drug taking and poor and tardy attendance on set, prompted the producers to ask her to leave the hit soap in 1993.

In 1995, thinking that Daniella had cleaned up her act, the producers asked her back to the soap a second time, only to ask her to leave again in 1996 for similar behaviour. Following this time Daniella was involved in a near fatal car accident, which left her with severe facial injuries, including a dislocated eye. Miraculously Daniella survived, and after corrective surgery sustained no long-term or majorly disfiguring injuries.

In 1999 the EastEnders producers wanted to reintroduce the character of Sam Mitchell back into the show. Although they initially considered recasting the role to another actress and despite all her past problems, the EastEnders producers gave Daniella yet another chance and she was asked back for a third time. During this time Daniella's excessive use of cocaine had completely eroded away her nasal septum. In order to hide this from the audience Daniella was only filmed in such a way that her septum would be hidden from view. In doing so Daniella was able to keep her damaged septum a secret from both the viewers and the press. However Daniella's Drug taking only worsened and in 2000 she was asked to leave EastEnders for a third and final time. Since this time the character of Sam Mitchell has been recast and was played by the actress Kim Medcalf from 2002-2005.

Cocaine addiction

In 2000 Daniella 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. Hounded by the press and with public concern at its peak, Daniella was checked into rehab and 6 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 Zoe Ball struggled to get coherent answers from Daniella, who appeared to be heavily under the influence of drugs (despite her claims of abstinence). Daniella has since been quoted as saying that the shocking image of her drug induced performance on 'The Priory' was the motivation she needed to prompt her to enter rehab in order to kick her drug habit, which she has now successfully done. Daniella has since undergone reconstructive surgery on her nose to replace her eroded septum.

Daniella has been painfully honest about her drug addiction, featuring in several documentaries, including an interview with British Journalist Martin Bashir for the Tonight with Trevor McDonald show. Her motivation behind this was to deter people from using drugs and to show the effects that drugs can have. It has been reported that during the worst period of her addiction, she was using 6 grammes of cocaine a day, and spending over £300 a day. She has estimated that she has spent over £250,000 on drugs and has admitted that during her lowest ebb she attempted to commit suicide several times. Since Daniella's recovery many Eastenders cast members, including Martine McCutcheon, Mike Reid, Barbara Windsor and Sid Owen, have stated Daniella's abuse had become so bad that they feared she would not live much longer because of it.

Recent work

In 2003 Daniella was a contestant in the British ITV reality series I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!. Despite being a popular contender for winner, Daniella found the environment too traumatic, saying that she missed her children and wasn't psychologically prepared for the hardship of jungle life. She quit the show before being voted off. She has also appeared in the reality series I'm Famous and Frightened! and Most Haunted and in the television comedy sketch show Bo' Selecta.

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