Tamzin Outhwaite is among the celebrities set to star in Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof on BBC One. Airing on Tuesday night (April 12), the brand new six part series will see Tamzin and seven other celebrities put through a series of daunting challenges using Wim Hof's renowned ice water and breathing techniques.
Essex-born actress Tamzin is notably best known for playing the role of Mel Owen in EastEnders, making her debut on the soap back in 1998. The 51-year-old originally joined the cast as Mel Healy, before changing to Mel Beale after marrying Ian Beale, played by Adam Woodyatt, and later tying the knot to criminal Steve Owen, played by Martin Kemp.
Throughout her time on the EastEnders her feisty character was involved in many explosive storylines, including a one-night stand with husband Steve's nemesis Phil Mitchell and she was later kidnapped by her ex-lover Dan after Steve and Phil conspired to frame him for Phil's shooting.
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During nearly four years in Walford, Tamzin quit EastEnders in 2002 shortly after the departure of her on-screen husband Steve. In 2006 the actress stated that she wouldn't rule out a return to EastEnders, which finally happened years later in 2017.
Tamzin left the much-loved BBC soap for the second and final time in November 2019, when her character Mel was killed off after being hit by a lorry.
During her first break from EastEnders, Tamzin starred in a number of theatre and TV shows. She had a role in the ITV drama series The Fixer, played the lead in BBC crime series Paradox and BBC One comedy-drama series New Tricks.
After leaving the soap for good, in May 2020 Tamzin played Indie Hendricks in Dun Breedin, a project about women who were going through the menopause during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, she appeared on ITV's The Masked Dancer as the scarecrow after reaching the final and finishing in fourth place.
In her personal life Tamzin, who lives in London, married to actor Tom Ellis in 2006. Tom is best known for playing Gary Preston in BBC sitcom Miranda, starring in ABC's Once Upon A Time and most recently playing Lucifer Morningstar in the Netflix series Lucifer.
The couple were married for eight years and have two daughters together, Marnie and Florence, but in 2013 it was announced that they had separated and divorced the following year.
Tamzinis now dating documentary-maker Tom Child, who is 20 years younger than her, and they have been together since 2018.
Talking on Lorraine in 2020 Tamzin said she did not care what people thought about the age difference and the fact that her daughters like him is the most important factor.
Tamzinalso has a link to Holly Willoughby, who will be following her journey with her as a host on Freeze the Fear. Tazmin's cousin is Dan Baldwin, Holly Willougby's husband, who is a TV producer.
Speaking about her appearance on BBC's Freeze the Fear, Tamzin said: "The breathing was incredible - the things that came out of people's mouths: 'Take charge of your own life' is what Patrice kept saying and that’s a piece of advice I will take with me.
"The confidence they gave me to just be myself the whole time. I've learned something from every one of the people in there, but the experience itself, you could find something positive about all of it. You forgot sometimes that we were making a TV show because for me, it was a life changing experience that happened to be caught on camera."
