Looking like a bronzed goddess in a sexy Agent Provocateur cut-out swimsuit, former EastEnders actress Patsy Palmer caused a stir last week as she gave fans an insight into her glamorous LA life.
The actress – who shares Fenton, 21, Emilia, 19, and Bertie, 10, with her husband, Richard Merkell, 56, and also has 29-year-old son Charley with her ex, Alfie Rothwell – now resides in a luxurious ocean-front mansion. Her neighbours are the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Courteney Cox and Reese Witherspoon, while her friendship circle includes supermodel Cindy Crawford and the Kardashians.
The actress’ life in sunny California is a far cry from her East End roots. Patsy, real name Julie Anne Harris, grew up in Bethnal Green before shooting to fame as feisty single mum, Bianca Jackson – famed for her iconic silver puffer jacket – on EastEnders in 1993.
A source close to the former Bake Off contestant tells Closer, “Patsy is truly living the American dream and admits that even after eight years in California she still has to pinch herself that this is her life now.
“Her days are filled with beach walks, meditation, yoga and family time in the sunshine, and she’s never been happier.
“The kids are very settled, enjoying everything Californian life has to offer and they have no plans to move back to the UK – insisting this is their home for life.”
Patsy’s kids attended Malibu High School where their classmates included Cindy’s children, Kaia and Presley, and she became close with the supermodel, who’s known as “Malibu Royalty” – enjoying mums’ nights out and dinners at their beachside mansions.
And while most actors move across the pond in a bid to crack Hollywood, Patsy has left her acting roots behind – becoming a successful DJ and entrepreneur with her own wellness platform, Good & Proper.
But her life hasn’t always been a fairy tale. Before moving Stateside, Patsy overcame a 20-year addiction to drugs and alcohol – admitting, “I’m amazed I survived” after partying her way through the ’90s.
She started drinking at the age of eight, sniffing solvents at 11 and taking cocaine at just 13 – becoming a single mum to Charley in 1992, a year before landing the role of Bianca Jackson, which turned her into a household name.
After the breakdown of her first marriage to film producer, Nick Love in 1998, she lived in a one-bedroom flat with Charley, where her life revolved around drink and drugs.
In her 2007 autobiography, All Of Me, she wrote, “By my 20s I was bingeing my life away on cocaine, ecstasy and enough vodka and Laurent Perrier Champagne to quench a small village’s thirst for several hours.
“I would be out of my head for two or three days in a row – whole chunks of time were lost. I took so many drugs, I'm amazed I survived.”
It was only after a producer on EastEnders spotted her struggling that she went to rehab and finally got clean.
In a later interview, she admitted, “It was the producer who first sent me away to get help when she realised things were getting out of control. I was basically having a nervous breakdown.”
And after marrying London cabbie Richard in 2000, she got the stability she needed to stay sober – revealing how they don’t have any alcohol at home and she continues to follow the 12-step program with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
The source continues, “Living in California has really helped Patsy with her sobriety journey. She’s immersed herself in alternative therapies like yoga and meditation, which keep her on the right path.”
And while Patsy has turned her back on acting, it seems her children are keen to follow in her footsteps – with Charley being a keen actor and writer and Emilia and Bertie already doing castings after starting out doing modelling to make some extra pocket money.
“They’re immersed in the Hollywood life out there and have so many friends who are big-time producers in the TV and film industry.” adds the source.
Patsy recently revealed that she and her family are in talks to do a fly-on-the wall reality show, much like her pals, the Kardashians.
She said recently, “Yes, it’s happening. We’re talking about it seriously with an American production company.
“The Kardashians are great – I know a couple of them and they’re really nice people, but we’re not them.”
And pals say Patsy is hoping the show will increase her profile Stateside and help to turn her into “the next Gwyneth Paltrow”.
The source adds, “Patsy’s doing really well out there but she’s still fairly unknown and needs a little push.
“She’s hoping their new show will provide her a platform to carve out a name for herself in LA.
“With the kids getting older, it’s given her more freedom to work on her own personal dreams again and she’s hoping that this is just the start of what will be an incredible new adventure.”