Celebrity Big Brother’s Danniella Westbrook: everything you need to know – from drug troubles to toyboys

Daniella bounces back from cocaine relapse with stint on CBB

Published on5th January 2016 at 2.40pm

Not many women can rebound from a £400 a day cocaine addiction, a collapsed septum and confessions of drug-use during pregnancy.

But thanks to Narcotics Anonymous, Danniella Westbrook is the latest blonde bombshell to reinvigorate her career as a reality TV star after being canned from Hollyoaks for “breach of contract”.

According to The Daily Star, the actress signed a £250,000 deal to join Celebrity Big Brother after previously failing to pass strict psychiatric tests.

Danniella will come face-to-face with fellow soap star, Stephanie Davis, in what fans are tipping to be a fearsome feud as the pair reportedly ‘hate each other’. We can’t wait for the fireworks.

Danniella may be clean and declared ‘psychology fit’ for our viewing, but here are some fast facts about her torrid past that is bound to haunt her in the CBB house…

Danniella Westbrook: fast facts

Danniella Westbrook peace sign

Born: 5 November, 1973 (age 42)
Place of birth: Walthamstow, London; grew up in Loughton, Essex
Spouses: Ben Morgan (m. 1998; div. 1999) and Kevin Jenkins (m. 2001; div. 2014)
Autobiographies: The Other Side of Nowhere (2006) and Faith, Hope and Clarity (2013)
Ranked #47 in The 100 Greatest EastEnders Characters of All Time for her performance as Sam Mitchell (2015).

Danniella Westbrook: filmography

1990 –2010 EastEnders (Sam Mitchell)
1993–1994 Frank Stubbs Promotes (Dawn Dillon)
2003 I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (Herself)
2010 Dancing on Ice (Herself)
2013 Hollyoaks (Trudy Ryan)
2014 Mob Handed (The Mother)
2014 Come Dine With Me: Celebrity Christmas Special (Herself)
2015 On a Prayer (Michelle)
2016 Celebrity Big Brother (Herself)

Dannielle Westbrook: trivia

Danniella in 2012

She started modelling aged 7 for the likes of Asda and Next, and joined the Sylvia Young Theatre School a year later to kick-start her dreams of becoming an actress (Denise Van Outen, Dani Behr and Nicola Stapleton were contemporaries).
Danniella was flung through a car windscreen in a dreadful car accident back in 1998 which left her with severe facial injuries, including a dislocated eye. Corrective surgery saved her from any long-term disfigurement. Her ex, Robert Fernandez, was reportedly driving at 85 mph.
Danniella became a born again Christian in 2010 after a brief re-location to Orange County, California, with her children and millionaire ex-husband, Kevin Jenkins. She retuned to the UK after only one year of running a pet grooming business. Allegedly still a Christian.
On a promotional tour for her autobiography in 2013, Daniella revealed that she had been kidnapped and gang raped by drug dealers after failing to pay then £5,000. She said: “They took me to a rented flat and gave me vodka, drugs and what I thought was ecstasy, but it was rohypnol and I was there for nearly three days.”
Not content with re-building her nose, Danniella underwent two boob jobs after motherhood left her “with nothing”. Daniella replaced leaking soya implants with saline in 2014 to ensure she can still be screened for breast cancer. Very wise.
The last year has been a tough one for Danniella, living in sheltered accommodation and earning a crust at an East End pie and mash shop. At Christmas, she tweeted ex, Kevin Jenkins: “All I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A DIVORCE #PLEASE"
But things are looking up for Danniella in 2016 – her CBB stint follows a new relationship with 23-year-old, George Arnold. The pair were loved-up on holiday in Tenerife a month ago and Danniella drove 190 miles to be with him at Christmas. Let’s hope her latest toyboy can erase memories of ex-fiancé, Tom Richards, who allegedly assaulted her and caused a drug relapse.