EastEnders legend has barely aged a day 15 years after soap exit as she replaces Sheridan Smith in major TV drama
EASTENDERS icon looks ageless after leaving the BBC soap 15 years ago.
Kara Tointon, 41, defies aging as she stars in the second series of the Channel 5 drama The Teacher, alongside Corrie’s Will Mellor.
The actress will take over Sheridan Smith’s role as a teacher who was accused of sexual misconduct in the first series.
Kara portrays Dani an art teacher whose night of passion on a school trip with her colleague Jimmy (Will Mellor) leads to tragedy.
The gripping four-part series kicks off with Dani bidding an awkward farewell to her distant husband Tim (Emmett J Scanlan),
She then joins her lively group of pupils and fellow teacher Jimmy on a woodland school trip.
But things take a turn after Dani confides in Jimmy about her domestic woes, leading the pair to recklessly neglect their supervising duties for a steamy rendezvous in a boathouse.
They return to face every educator’s worst fear as a student goes missing.
The mum-of-two is best known for playing Dawn Swann in EastEnders from 2005 to 2009.
She was known for her spicy affair with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden).
Kara left the BBC soap in a dramatic way after her affair with Phil Mitchell was revealed to Garry, whom she was supposed to marry.
Garry forgave Kara and with baby Summer, they left Albert Square on a boat journey down the canal.
Since her departure from the soap, Kara has played Kate Middleton in The Windsors West End production and Maria in ITV’s live production of The Sound of Music Live.
She has previously starred in the Channel 5 drama, Too Good To Be True, where she played Rachel, a woman struggling to make ends meet until she meets a mysterious client.
In 2010, Kara won Strictly Come Dancing with her pro partner Artem Chigvintsev.
The pair got into a relationship after their win, but they parted ways after four years.
EastEnders stars who've been on Strictly Come Dancing
Throughout its 20-year history, Strictly Come Dancing has welcomed several stars from BBC soap EastEnders. Here's a look at how some of them did over the years.
- Christopher Parker (Series One): Christopher played Alfie Moon’s (Shane Richie) younger brother Spencer from 2002 to 2005. finished as runner-up in Strictly’s first series.
- Jill Halfpenny (Series Two): Jill starred as Kate Mitchell in EastEnders from 2002 to 2005. She triumphed over Denise Lewis and Julian Clary to win the second series of Strictly.
- Louisa Lytton (Series Four): Known for her role as EastEnders’ Ruby Allen, Louisa took part in Strictly’s fourth series. She finished in fourth place.
- Letitia Dean (Series Five): Letitia, who debuted as Sharon Watts in the show’s first episode, took to the Strictly dance floor in series five. She finished in fourth place.
- Matt Di Angelo (Series Five): Dean Wicks actor Matt also competed in series five of Strictly, finishing as runner-up behind Alesha Dixon.
- Gillian Taylforth (Series 6): Gillian, known for her long-running portrayal as Kathy Beale, took part in series 6. She ended up being the second person voted out.
- Jessie Wallace (Series 6): Kat Slater actress Jessie also competed in series 6, but was fourth voted out.
- Scott Maslen (Series 8): Scott, who plays Jack Branning, reached a respectable fourth place on Strictly.
- Kara Tointon (Series 8): Kara, who played Dawn Swann, won Strictly series 8 back in 2010.
- Jake Wood (Series 12): While his EastEnders character Max Branning was unlucky-in-love, actor Jake fared better with a fifth-place finish on Strictly.
- Kellie Bright (Series 13): Kellie – aka Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter – finished as the runner-up of series 13.
- Emma Barton (Series 17): Known for playing Honey Mitchell, Emma reached third place on Strictly in 2019.
- Maisie Smith (Series 18): Formerly playing Tiffany Butcher-Baker, actress Maisie was 2020’s second-place Strictly finalist.
- Rose-Ayling Ellis (Series 19): Rose won over viewers’ hearts when she soared to victory in 2021.
- Bobby Brazier (Series 21): Having joined the cast as ‘Freddie Slater’ in 2022, Bobby joined the 2023 Strictly line-up. He finished in third place.
- Jamie Borthwick (Series 22): Jamie, aka Jay Brown, won the 2023 Strictly Christmas Special – and has been signed up for the next full series.
Before that, the actress dated some of her EastEnders co-stars including James Alexandrou, who played Martin Fowler.
Kara also dated Mickey Miller actor Joe Swash, who is now married to Stacey Solomon.
Now, Kara shares sons Frey, five, and three year old Helly with chiropractor Marius Jenson, who is Norwegian.
The actress made the life-changing decision to move her family out of the UK and to mountainous Norway.
She said: “Now I have children so my priority is to be at home as much as possible. I live in Norway now – we’ve upped sticks and we’re there.
“I travel back and forth, and in a way, I suppose I just I go with the peaks and troughs willingly because it gives me the opportunity to be at home with my children.
“At the moment, we’re settling into Norwegian lifestyle and loving it, and, and so I’m lucky.
“As promiscuous as it is, I’m lucky that I get those big moments where I was getting back on a Saturday [to Norway] and going back on a Sunday to Dublin.
“It was intense for that moment, and but it was worth getting back just for that 24 hours.
“So it kind of in a way it works, but you’ve got to be able to make it work and find balance and I think we’re all in a search for balance in our lives consistently.
“We spent a lot of time there [London] last year and we decided this year to give it a go. I love the Scandinavian lifestyle.
“It’s very relaxed and having lived in London for most of my life, I think I just was finding family life really in intense.”
Kara previously told The Sun on Sunday: “I don’t think I look young, I’m ageing like the rest of us.
“Motherhood hits you like a punchbag, so there’s no beauty regime at the moment. I’m lucky if I make it into the shower in the morning.
“But it has been such an amazing dose of reality. It’s very grounding, motherhood, I can tell you that.
“Everything goes out of the window and you just have one focus.”
The Teacher airs nightly from Monday 9th September at 9pm on Channel 5.