EXCLUSIVE: Actress Rita Simons, best known for her EastEnders character Roxy Mitchell, is engaged after a secret proposal from her partner Ben Harlow after "being together for a while"
20:00, 11 Jan 2025Updated 20:24, 11 Jan 2025
EastEnders star Rita Simons will walk down the aisle.
We can reveal the soap actress has secretly gotten engaged to partner Ben Harlow. A pal told the Daily Star Sunday: “Rita and Ben have been together for a while now and they’re blissfully happy.
“Getting engaged is the natural step for them to take. They’re both so excited. Rita is planning to announce the happy news within days. She wants to time it just right.”
Rita’s engagement comes seven years after her last marriage fell apart. The EastEnders star wed hairdresser Theo Silveston in 2004 and they had twin girls before separating in 2018.
The friend also said: “It’s lovely that Rita has found happiness again.” Rita and Ben met while starring together in Legally Blonde: The Musical in 2017.
Last year she opened up about their relationship on reality show Drama Queens and revealed it took a few years for romance to blossom.
She said: “We were mates and then a couple of years later he asked me out on a date and we’ve been together ever since.” Rita shot to fame as gobby Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders in 2007.
Since leaving the show she has joined rival soap Hollyoaks to play Marie Fielding. She is also known for her singing career.
She competed on the 18th series of I'm A Celebrity and was given the Most Popular Newcomer title at the 2008 National Television Awards.
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