Tamzin Outhwaite on age-gap love: ‘My boy’s incredibly loyal – he’s got my back!’

She became a nation’s favourite playing Mel Owen in EastEnders over two decades ago, and also reprised the role in 2018. Off-screen, Tamzin Outhwaite seemed to have her fairy-tale ending when she married Miranda actor Tom Ellis, 42, in 2006.

But her world fell apart when Tom, who is the father to Tamzin’s two daughters, Florence, 12, and Marnie, eight, reportedly admitted to cheating on her while working in America. The pair embarked on a bitter divorce in 2014, and while Tamzin clawed her way back to happiness, she hinted at her devastation over the split when she shared a post about being “brutally broken” just two years ago as Tom announced that he was set to remarry.

But now Tamzin, 50, happily tells Closer she has “a partnership that has really come into its own” after she started dating actor Tom Child, 29, in 2018 – and she’s determined not to dwell on the age gap.

She smiles, “It was meant to just be a fling… then it went from being a fling to, ‘I don’t want to be away from you.’

“I’m attracted to people’s energy and their spirit, and everything that goes with a human. I don’t think about the age thing. I’m a very quick-thinking and probably quite annoying person. I’m onto the next thing very quickly in my head and my partner is the exact opposite.

“He’s a village boy and very mellow. It works well. I just sometimes have to be a bit more patient. Loyalty is a big thing to me. He’s incredibly loyal. I feel like he’s got my back, and that is such a lovely thing.”

Then she adds, “I think I’m in my twenties until I look in the mirror. So the best thing is not to keep looking in the mirror and keep living life as child-like as possible!”

Now Tamzin, who has said, “It takes a really special human to come in as a younger step-dad”, credits Tom for helping her raise her two daughters. She says she’s going to spend more time bonding with her girls in lockdown in the home they share in North London.

She explains, “This year, my resolutions are simple things, like I want to be a bit more understanding with my 12-year-old daughter who is going to become a teenager in the summer. It’s always a tricky time, and particularly right now.”

But the star is focusing only on the positives. “I am very proud of us. We haven’t argued much as a family and have had a decent time [in lockdown]. We’re all homebodies. We understand if we need our own time and will separate, the four of us, into different rooms. We’ll take ourselves off to our bedrooms to have some ‘me’ time. It’s no slant on anyone. You need to be on your own sometimes.

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“I can be up or down. Emotions are all over the place, but we’ve coped well. I haven’t been depressed though. There have definitely been days I have worried about people and situations, but never about myself. I try not to strive and just live in the moment. My priorities come into play – we need food, we need games, we need to look after ourselves. It’s all about self-care.

“Nature and the local woods, and London’s Hampstead Heath have saved me. I do at least 10,000 steps a day. I’ve kept fit with skipping, stretching exercises and doing zero-gravity Pilates classes – they’re hardcore! I’ve also been inspired by Zoe Ball and Natalie Cassidy [on social media] and I do Couch To 5K runs.”

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The actress recently hit the headlines after revealing she was selling clothes to pay her mortgage, as COVID ravages the entertainment industry.

She revealed, “I’m not snobby or proud about what I do. I love a car boot sale, but everything is online. I’m thinking, ‘How do I do that now? Maybe I should become an influencer because there is no acting work?’ There are other avenues but, of course, I am not going to retrain, as I love what I am doing.

“When this is all over, I’d love to take my girls, my man – and maybe even my dad if he can travel – somewhere hot. But it’s probably wise not to plan anything at the moment. I’m rolling with it.”

Tamzin stars in The Haunting Of Alice Bowles, available to watch at Original Theatre Company Online until 28 February 2021.

Get the best celeb interviews in Closer magazine each week.