Newly-single Tamzin Outhwaite reveals she’s relishing her freedom after split from toyboy boyfriend

ACTRESS Tamzin Outhwaite has revealed that she’s enjoying the freedom of being single, after her relationship ended earlier this year.

The 54-year-old will soon be seen tripping the light fantastic on the BBC Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special with her professional dancer partner, Nikita Kuzmin.

After ending her relationship with her boyfriend, Tom Child, 33, after of six years together, the former EastEnders star says that she’s entered an exciting phase of her life. She said:

“I’m happy single. “There’s a lot on! Life is really busy, throwing a relationship into that is a whole other thing. Freedom fills up my cup, freedom to do as you please is a lovely thing. That makes me happy.”

Now Tamzin admits that she’s not immune to the charms of her handsome Ukrainian dance partner, Nikita.

It seems that her two young daughters, Florence, 16 and Marnie, 12 agree.

She told The Mirror: “We call him Prince Charming,” says Tamzin. “He just has the hair and face and the body and everything. He looks like Prince Charming.”

In the shows’ 20-year history, many couples have fallen victim to the show’s so-called “curse,” but Tamzin insists that she has no romantic intentions towards Nikita.

“Of course I haven’t!” she laughs. “He’s a 26-year-old man with a wonderful girlfriend.”

But she did praise his “great energy” after the pair will be seen dancing together to the Viennese Waltz on Christmas day.

The star went through a tumultuous time in her forties, when her marriage to actor and her children's father, Tom Ellis collapsed, after she’d reportedly discovered his affair with a co-star in 2013.

But now the mother-of-two says that the Strictly festive experience has brought some sparkle back into her life, despite the physical demands of learning the ballroom routines.

She says, “I thought, I’ll never get sucked into the Strictly thing, no way, it’s only a couple of weeks. But I fell hook, line and sinker into this little magic bubble!”

But despite relishing the experience, Tamzin doesn’t feel that her body could cope with the rigours of the main competition.

“I’m of a certain age and waking up the following morning in agony thinking, ‘Why didn’t I do this in my forties?’

"I’ve been holding the frame of a Viennese waltz, which I’ve never done, and my back was in such an alien position but it felt beautiful to do it.”

Even though she’s a seasoned stage and screen performer, the London-born star admits that she’d be simply too scared to sign herself up for the scrutiny of the full ballroom experience.

“It would terrify me,” she admits. “I don’t think my body would hold out. Maybe I should have done it when I was younger.”

The actress starred starred in a string of West End musicals including Oliver and Grease before landing the role of Mel Healy in BBC soap EastEnders in 1998.

Central to many key storylines, the role made Outhwaite a household name and after her exit in 2006, she went on to enjoy a varied stage and screen career.

She later returned to the soap for a stint from 2017 until 2019, with the door open for her character to make a comeback once again.

Most recently she enjoyed a starring role on hit Channel 5 drama, The Wives, with Jo Joyner and Angela Griffin which aired in September.

In the meantime the star has founded a charity- We Free Women- which offers free retreats for women struggling with the stress and strain of every day life.

The actress was inspired to start the initiate after her own experience of going through the menopause and juggling the care of her two children and her elderly father.