Loose Women panellist Nadia Sawalha shot to fame as Annie Palmer when she joined EastEnders in 1997, and has been in the public eye ever since thanks to her successful TV career. And this week, the mother-of-two has opened up about how she coped with her sudden fame from joining the popular BBC One soap. Talking on her YouTube channel, Nadia Sawalha and Family, Nadia revealed that having a well known family helped her to deal with everyone suddenly knowing her name. The conversation came about as the presenter and her husband Mark discussed the tragic death of Love Island star Mike Thalassitis, and the pressures of suddenly being put into the spotlight.
Nadia Sawalha with her sister Julia and dad Nadim
Nadia explained: "Having been on a soap opera - I was in EastEnders 20 years ago - and I used to watch the youngsters come into it. You come in and then you film for six weeks, and for six weeks you are in EastEnders you are working as a soap star, but you are not yet a star. And then suddenly that episode will come out and the next minute you are ludicrously famous. At the time I was in it it had 20 million viewers, honestly to just have that sudden fame." She added: "I was very lucky because I came from a family that had always been in the film business. My dad [Nadim Sawalaha] was an actor and my sister [Julia Sawalha] was very famous in Absolutely Fabulous, so I had a bit of a sense of what it was like. But still it was a bit of a shock."
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Nadia's daughter Maddie is following in the family's talented footsteps
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The TV star's family are very talented indeed, with not only acting, but singing credentials among them. Nadia's oldest daughter Maddie is an aspiring singer, and recently showcased her talents on Loose Women. The teenager had written a song called Anxiety, which was inspired by her younger sister Kiki's own experiences with it. Over the weekend, Maddie sang at her first gig in London, and Nadia later revealed her pride for her daughter on Instagram. Sharing a photo of the pair, the doting mum wrote: "Words cannot express how blown away me and @mark_adderley were listening to @maddiemaddieee sing at her first London open-mic gig @tlvenue - a wonderful event! Check out our Vlog later to listen along!!!"
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