She's appeared in a number of hit TV shows throughout her career, but Diane Parish is best known for portraying Denise Fox in EastEnders.

The actress, 53, grew up in London and attended the city's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

She went on to star in theatre productions and TV shows on the BBC including the likes of comedy drama LoveJoy and The Bill before joined the cast of the hit soap back in 2006.

She's continued to be a regular on our TV screens ever since.

Her EastEnders character has been through a lot over the years, having had several failed relationships and welcomed three children.

More recently she's been growing close with Ravi, confiding in him about the pressures of her home life and problems in her marriage with Jack Branning..

Episodes this week saw her struggle to resist his advances, even taking things to the next step with the murderer after a passionate kiss.

Away from the soap, Diane's real life off-screen is far less dramatic.

Here, we take a look into Diane's life away from the BBC soap, including her engagement and children…

Diane was previously married to IT technician Sebastian Parish and the couple share two daughters, Kaya and Kenya, together.

The mum-of-two revealed she and Sebastian had called time on their marriage in 2013, and did not speak publicly about the split at the time as she has always attempted to keep her personal life out of the spotlight.

Diane lives quite a private life and doesn't appear to use any social media publicly.

However, she often gives some TV interviews and divulges some more about her life on those.

During an appearance on Loose Women in 2015, Diane revealed she'd moved on from her ex-husband and had met "the man of my dreams".

"The last time I was here, I sort of got a bit ambushed with [questions about marriage] and, for the sake of my children, I didn't want to go into the break up with me and their father, and I'm usually quite a private person," she told the panellists.

Never miss a celebrity exclusive again!

Become an OK! VIP and get all of our exclusive interviews, videos and stunning photo shoots sent straight to your inbox every week!

You'll receive an email with stories exclusive only for OK! VIP members, including celebrity house tours, baby reveals, wedding snaps and so much more!

What are you waiting for? Sign up here

Diane added: "I just wanted to protect my daughters by not discussing that, and I've been single quite a long time, I've been having fun, but I have now met the man of my dreams."

It was later revealed that Diane's mystery man is Gerry Zucarello, who she has been dating since 2017. The couple had been spotted out and about together and had also shared snaps on social media looking loved-up.

Gerry works for car company Porsche and has three children from a previous relationship, according to The Sun.

He proposed to Diane while they were self-isolating together during the Coronavirus pandemic, but they kept the happy news under wraps.

Gary then updated his Facebook profile to say he was engaged, and Diane revealed the news on Loose Women.

However, Diane revealed she'd been left confused at headlines stating she'd just gotten engaged, as it had actually happened a while before.

A source told OK! at the time: "Diane and Gerry are just laughing about it really – he's been meaning to update his profile for months and now when he does, people didn't realise the date and they got a huge spate of 'congratulations!'

"It's lovely to be congratulated but they had all that a couple of years back when they actually did get engaged.

"They haven't just made the decision now, they're very happily still engaged and were initially a tad baffled by the sudden news coverage it created but that's social media for you!"

READ MORE

  • Click here for today's top showbiz news

  • Coronation Street icon Linda Baldwin actress unrecognisable after quitting fame

  • Win a £50 Just Eat voucher to celebrate the return of winter Love Island
  • Lisa Marie Presley's family life from famous movie star daughter to losing her only son

  • For the latest showbiz exclusives, sign up to our daily OK! newsletter

Source: Read Full Article