Gillian Taylforth

Gillian Taylforth (born 14 August 1955) is an English actress who is best known as Kathy Beale in EastEnders (1985–2000, 2015–present), Jackie Pascoe in Footballers' Wives (2002–2006) and Sergeant Nikki Wright in The Bill (2006–2008). She has also appeared in film during her early career, presented on Loose Women and appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.

In January 2013, she was a contestant in Celebrity Big Brother. Later that year, she began portraying Sandy Roscoe on the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, making her final appearance in January 2015. Despite her EastEnders character being presumed dead after being killed off-screen in 2006, Taylforth made a shock return to the show in February 2015 as part of the 30th anniversary episode. The BBC later confirmed that she would reprise the role of Kathy permanently later in the year and she has appeared regularly from August 2015.