- Struggled with cocaine addiction from 1988 to 2001, resulting in her spending time in rehab in order to beat her addiction.
- Gave birth to her 1st child at age 23, a son Kai Jordan Westbrook on November 23, 1996. Child's father is her now ex-boyfriend, Robert Fernandez.
- Daughter of Andrew (b. 1948) and Susan (née Maynard) Westbrook (b. 1953).
- Has an older half-brother Justin Drew (b. 1970) from her father's previous marriage as well as a younger brother, Andrew Jay (b. 1981). She also has a half-sister Georgia Elizabeth (b. 1997) from her father's 3rd marriage.
- Competed in the 5th series of Dancing on Ice (2006) in 2010, partnered with professional ice-skater Mathew Gonzalez, finishing 4th out of 14 celebrities.
- Began modelling at the age of 7 for the supermarket Asda, before going on to model children's fashionware in Next catalogues and then become the face of high street store "Tammy Girl".
- Attended The Sylvia Young Theatre School (1981-1989).
- Lived with a family friend for months along with her brother when she was 13 because her mother was suffering from cervical cancer and had to have a hysterectomy.
- Was in a relationship with pop singer Brian Harvey (1991-1995).
- Auditioned to replace Debbie Gibson as Sandy in the West End production of "Grease" in 1994, but Sonia was cast instead.
- Was offered the role of child-molester Natalie Buxton in Bad Girls (1999) but turned it down. The part was then given to Dannielle Brent.
- Married van driver Ben Morgan after being together just 8 weeks; she used his surname professionally during their marriage.
- Is one of 10 EastEnders (1985) actors to compete in I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2002). The others, in chronological order, are Sid Owen (Ricky Butcher), Elaine Lordan (Lynne Hobbs), Dean Gaffney (Robbie Jackson), Marc Bannerman (Gianni di Marco), Joe Swash (Mickey Miller), Lucy Benjamin (Lisa Fowler), Charlie Brooks (Janine Butcher), Laila Morse (Mo Harris) and Larry Lamb (Archie Mitchell). As of 2016 she and Elaine Lordan are the only 2 to have quit the show.
- Her former EastEnders (1985) co-stars Barbara Windsor, Michael Greco and Dean Gaffney were in attendance at her wedding to Kevin Jenkins.
- Is a close friend of former EastEnders (1985) co-stars Barbara Windsor, Gillian Taylforth, Ross Kemp, Letitia Dean, Adam Woodyatt, Michelle Gayle, Sid Owen, Patsy Palmer and Martine McCutcheon.
- Was involved in a car accident with boyfriend Robert Fernandez. Sustained severe facial injuries and a dislocated eye, but had no long-term or major disfigurement due to corrective surgery (1998).
- Participated in the 2nd series of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (2002) in 2003, but finished 9th after quitting the show because she missed her children.
- Had breast implants in 2000 after the birth of her son caused her breasts to decrease in size. However in 2002 she had to undergo emergency corrective surgery when one of her saline implants ruptured.
- Was given the nickname Winkle by her father Andy at an early age.
- Is one of 10 EastEnders (1985) actors to compete on Dancing on Ice (2006). The others, in chronological order, are Gemma Bissix (Clare Bates), Todd Carty (Mark Fowler), Bobby Davro (Vinnie Monks), Nadia Sawalha (Annie Palmer), Sam Attwater (Leon Small), Laila Morse (Mo Harris), Matt Lapinskas (Anthony Moon), Joe Swash (Mickey Miller), and Patsy Palmer (Bianca Jackson).
- Was replaced by Kim Medcalf as Sam Mitchell in EastEnders (1985) after being sacked by producers twice during her time on the show.
- Ranked #37 in the 100 Greatest EastEnders (1985) Characters of All Time for her performance as Sam Mitchell (2010).
- Her EastEnders (1985) character Sam Mitchell became the 22nd woman on the soap opera to give birth. Sam had a son Richard (played by Henri Charles), born on 1 September 2010.
- Released her autobiography, "The Other Side of Nowhere" (April 2006).
- Her favourite actress is Jodie Foster.
- Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 27, a daughter Jodie B. Jenkins on September 5, 2001. Jodie was delivered via emergency C-section as she was in a difficult position in the womb and was named after her mother's favorite actress Jodie Foster. Child's father is her fiancé (now estranged 2nd husband), Kevin Jenkins.
- Was engaged to Tom Richards, having been in a relationship with him since February 2014 (April-August 2014).
- Announced on 11 June 2014 that she had miscarried her future 3rd child, her 1st with fiancé Tom Richards, on Saturday 7 June. The baby was due in December.
- Was in a relationship with Robert Fernandez from 1996 to 1998. They have a son together.
- Separated from her 2nd husband Kevin Jenkins in January 2014 after 12 years of marriage.
- Revealed that despite being clean for 13 years she suffered a cocaine relapse whilst on holiday in Magaluf in April and has since taken cocaine an additional six times, even sleeping with a drug dealer during another Magaluf getaway, resulting in the break-up of her engagement to Tom Richards (17 August 2014).
- Ranked #47 in The 100 Greatest EastEnders (1985) Characters of All Time for her performance as Sam Mitchell (2015).
- Was in a relationship with George Arnold, who is 19 years her junior, from November 2015 until October 2016.
- Announced that she had once again suffered a cocaine relapse, having been clean for 2 years, upon discovering that her boyfriend George Arnold had had an affair with her best friend (3 October 2016).
- Took a 3-year hiatus from acting between 2010 and 2013 in order to run a pet grooming business with her husband in Los Angeles, California.
- Announced her engagement to her boyfriend of a few weeks, Alan Thomason, 11 years her junior, after he proposed on a beach in Benidorm (10 August 2017).
- Was diagnosed with osteoporosis in August 2016.
- Underwent a face lift in Poland in June 2017.
- Was expecting her 3rd child with fiancé Alan Thomason but suffered a miscarriage at 7 weeks pregnant in mid-September 2017.
- Was arrested in Essex by Hertfordshire police on April 10, 2018 in relation to allegations of malicious communications and witness intimidation and taken to Hatfield police station for questioning.
- In August 2018, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a hysterectomy in October 2018.
- Underwent a face lift in Turkey in April 2023.
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