She became a household name playing Bianca Jackson in EastEnders before fleeing to LA for a quiet life in 2014.
But Patsy Palmer’s kids had other ideas, and are becoming more famous than their mum in Hollywood circles.
Patsy, 45, swapped London for a life by the beach in Malibu, with husband Richard Merkell and children Charley, 25, Fenton, 17, Emilia, 16, and Bertie, seven, in 2014.
Her oldest son Charley Palmer Rothwell is Patsy’s son with ex Alfie Rothwell, a famous boxer, and followed in his mum’s footsteps by choosing a career in acting.
Since relocating to LA Charley’s career, which has already seen him grace our television screens in the UK, has steadily taken off, and he’s starred in some of the biggest movies of the past couple of years.
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He was in Dunkirk with Harry Styles and starred in Legend alongside Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour.
He was also in Netflix’s sci-fi movie iBoy opposite Games of Thrones star Maisie Williams and auditioned for Deadpool 2, though he narrowly missed out on the part.
Meanwhile younger brother Fenton Merkell, a model, has his foot firmly on the A-list ladder as the boyfriend of supermodel Cindy Crawford’s daughter Kaia Gerber, 16.
Patsy, who’s now following a career as the founder and president of Commonwealth Lifestyle Foundation, became friendly with Cindy after moving to LA, and Fenton and Kaia, also a model, have been dating for the past couple of months.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “It’s very early days but they have grown close and seem very happy together.
“You wouldn’t think it likely for sunny LA and rainy Walford to mix together.”
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Patsy’s only daughter Emilia Merkell, is in the same industry, also carving out a successful career as a model and signed to the same agency as Fenton. Both are signed to Dragonfly models.
Given his older siblings’ success it’s likely to only be a matter of time before little Bertie reaches the giddy heights of success himself.