Former EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite has opened up about her love life following the end of her six-and-a-half-year relationship with Tom Child, who is 20 years her junior. The 55-year-old actress, best known for playing Mel Owen in the BBC soap, said she has learned valuable lessons and is now prioritising self-love over romance.
Speaking on HELLO!'s Second Act podcast, Outhwaite revealed she is content being single. 'It took me a long time in life to start having a love affair with myself instead of another man,' she said. 'Friendship is more important than romance right now. I don't know that I've got the time for relationships.' She added that the societal pressure to find a partner can be 'dangerous' and declared: 'I won't do it again.'
Outhwaite, who was previously married to Welsh actor Tom Ellis for 11 years, said she has no interest in dating men her own age. 'I feel like I'm 30, and I'll look at someone who is 40 and think, that's about right!' she quipped. Regarding men in their fifties, she joked: 'There are men in their 50s who really look after themselves, but I just haven't met them yet.'
The actress shares two teenage daughters, Flo and Marnie, with Ellis, who has since married American screenwriter Meaghan Oppenheimer. Outhwaite's recent TV credits include The Wives, Death in Paradise, The Tower, and Silent Witness. She will appear on ITV's Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on Sunday, 1 February.
