‘I’m proud of my blended FAMILY’

Busy former EastEnders star Samantha Womack on her recent move to Spain, and why she still speaks to her ex three times a day

- SUE CRAWFORD

During her decade in EastEnders, barely a week passed when she wasn’t fighting with a member of her extended family. As infamous Ronnie Mitchell, her tumultuous storylines featured everything from murder and abduction to cheating and affairs.

But away from the dramas of soapland, the real life of Samantha Womack could not be more amiable. In fact, far from feuding, so friendly is she with Mark Womack, the actor husband from whom she split in 2018, that the pair speak on the phone up to three times a day.

Samantha explains, ‘Mark and I raised a family really well, so we agreed that we didn’t mind separating in terms of a traditional marriage, but actually I would really have suffered if we hadn’t maintained a friendship, because that was part of my life for 20 years.

‘We speak to each other two or three times a day. Mark will say, “can I pop round next week – can you have the two chihuahuas?” And I’ll say, “yeah, but can you have the cat next week?”’

Samantha’s new partner, former Coronation Street actor Oliver Farnworth, also gets on well with Mark and her two children and stepson.

‘We’re all actors and the kids are in full-time education,‘ Samantha says. ‘It’s a bit manic, so actually we really do need each other.