Dean

EastEnders legend Letitia Dean found love with Holby City star before they parted ways

EastEnders legend Letitia Dean was once married to a television star before their “upsetting” divorce.

Fans of the BBC soap will be delighted as Letitia has reprised her role as Sharon Watts and returned to Walford on Thursday (July 9). She is one of the show’s long-running characters, having appeared in the first episode, which aired in February 1985, as the adoptive daughter of Angie (Anita Dobson) and Den Watts (Leslie Grantham).

From that scandalous affair with the Mitchell brothers during the 90s, to plotting Ian Beale’s (Adam Woodyatt) murder, suffering the loss of her son Denny, and covering up Keanu Taylor’s death, there is nothing Sharon hasn’t been involved in.

Away from the drama of Albert Square, we take a peek at Letitia’s real life, including her marriage to a Holby City star.

Letitia’s rise to fame

Born in Hertfordshire, Letitia and her brother Stephen joined The Sylvia Mitchell School of Dance as children before joining the esteemed Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts at 10 years old. In her early teens, she became a professional performer and landed roles on hit shows including Brookside and Grange Hill.

The 58-year-old soap star, from Potters Bar, orginally played Sharon from 1985 until 1995, and reprised the role from 2001 to 2006. She then made an epic comeback to Walford in 2012.

Appearing alongside co-star Adam Woodyatt on the EastEnders spin-off show Secrets from the Square in 2020, Letitia revealed she lied to producers to get her role as Sharon Watts.

Letitia admitted: “I don’t really remember the audition that much. I know there were quite a few recalls. They were looking far and wide”, but there was one major problem.

The biggest requirement to land a role in the show was that the producers were looking for real Cockneys – people from East London who have a Cockney accent, so Letitia lied and said she was from the area.

Letitia continued: “We had to be born ‘within the sound of Bow bells'”, before adding: “I told a porky!”.

She added: “I said my parents had to go and work away, and I was staying with somebody in ‘the sound of Bow bells’. I do remember getting the job and getting the call. I remember that quite clearly. It was just so exciting.”

Is Letitia Dean married?

Letitia tends not to talk much about her relationships and generally keeps her private life out of the public eye.

However, in 2001, she hit the headlines when it was revealed she was engaged to actor and businessman Jason Pethers, who is perhaps best known for portraying Rob Greening in Holby City.

The couple got engaged after a few months of knowing each other and tied the knot at All Saints’ Church in Marylebone in 2002.

While there were many of her EastEnders castmates at the wedding, Susan Tully, who played Michelle Fowler, acted as her bridesmaid.

But it wasn’t meant to be for the TV stars as they split in 2007. The marriage reportedly ended due to a difference in their plans for starting a family.

Talking about their tough separation during another chat with the Mirror at the time, Letitia admitted that she and Jason are ‘in a good place’, despite having parted ways.

She revealed: “I do not regret one minute of my time with Jay. I was in love – desperately in love – and I can’t reiterate enough how thankful I am that I did get married to that man.”

Letitia added: “As a couple you can, hopefully, go down the same path together as long as you share the same desires and dreams. Unfortunately, many of us fork off in different directions.

“This is the first time I’ve ever talked about what happened, but I’m quite practical about this now. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Jason. But sometimes you just grow out of each other, maybe.

“I did think that by waiting until a bit later in life for marriage, I would know more, and it would last. But none of us can predict. Of course, I didn’t want this to happen, and neither did he, but it did and though it’s upsetting, you just have to get on with it. You have to be strong.”

At the time, Jason’s mum, Joan, said the couple decided to split because Letitia wanted children, while her husband preferred to wait before having them, the Daily Mirror reported.

She said, “They both wanted children, but Jason wanted to wait until he could afford it. She had a lot more money than him. I think, like any man, he wanted to look after his wife.

“They were happy. It was no dramatic thing – they haven’t found someone else. I guess they just fell out of love for the time being.”

Since their separation, Letitia has yet to go public with another romance.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Dean Carpentier popped up with the biggest swing of his life, and the Trojans won their biggest game in more than two decades.

USC baseball stormed back to defeat No. 5 overall seed North Carolina 9-5 in Game 1 of the Chapel Hill Super Regional, a loud start to the program’s first appearance on this stage since 2005.

Carpentier smoked a go-ahead grand slam off North Carolina (48-12-1) reliever Walker McDuffie in the sixth inning, turning a 5-2 deficit into a 6-5 lead and shutting down a previously charged-up Boshamer Stadium. The swing was Carpentier’s first career grand slam and just his 10th home run in his 132-game collegiate career, the defining moment of the day as USC (48-16) tied its largest comeback victory of the season.

“I was sitting on a slider,” Carpentier said. “He’s a slider guy. I got a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it and it found a way out of here.”

Ace Mason Edwards struggled through his shortest outing of the season, yielding three earned runs in just three innings with four walks. But the Trojan bullpen picked him up, and kept the game close enough for the offense to rally. Chase Herrell, Ben Cushnie and Andrew Johnson gave up just one run over six innings, with Johnson retiring the first eight batters he faced.

USC’s Adrian Lopez (5) celebrates during Game 1 of an NCAA super regional against North Carolina on Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C.

(Laura Wolff/For The Times)

“He’s done that now a couple of times with the bases loaded where he strikes out the side and gets out of it,” USC coach Andy Stankiewicz said of Edwards’ first inning. “It’s in there. That was huge. It was a big momentum swing to get out of that. Unfortunately it’s taxing though; it made him jump up in his pitch count a little bit.”

His successful but ultimately draining first inning led to UNC scoring four in the next two innings, knocking the Trojans into a huge hole and forcing its bullpen to stem the tide. But eventual winning pitcher Herrell picked up two innings with just one earned run given up. Cushnie retired the only batter he faced and the offense went to work from there.

“The job that Chase Herrell did, the job he did in College Station, it’s two back-to-back outings where he has been tremendous for us,” Stankiewicz said. “It’s always Mason and Grant [Govel] — which is great, they deserve all the recognition — but there’s more guys down there that are doing it.”

With the lead and all of the momentum after Carpentier’s grand slam, Stankiewicz pushed his chips to the middle of the table knowing the importance of winning the opener of a best-of-three series. He brought usual Game 3 starter Johnson in out of the bullpen, and he delivered a sensational performance.

Johnson retired the first eight batters he faced and ended up getting the final 11 outs of the game with just two singles allowed, slamming the door shut for his first save of the season.

“You saw the job that he did over in College Station,” Stankiewicz said of Johnson. “It was a big moment, and we needed that again today. He throws strikes, he’s unafraid, he attacks the strike zone and we felt like he was going to make the pitches.”

Johnson’s dominance meant the go-ahead grand slam would have been enough, but USC added three more runs in the seventh. Isaac Cadena drove one in with an RBI groundout, Jack Basseer plated one on on a fielder’s choice and Andrew Lamb — who started the scoring for USC with a solo home run off Ryan Lynch back in the third inning — tacked on one more with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt.

The Trojans have outscored opponents 64-19 during their five-game NCAA tournament winning streak. And are one win away from advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 2001. Game 2 is set for 11 a.m. PDT Saturday on ESPN.

Those words showed maturity but also the teenager’s high standards.

Corteen-Coleman perched herself next to England’s coaches on the balcony for much of her side’s chase. She believed her work for the day was done, but her most consequential moment was still to come.

Ten runs were still needed when she emerged as the last batter to join Dean.

Crucially, she helped Dean run twos and, with solid defence, bettered her previous high score of one not out in The Hundred to finish unbeaten on three and sealed the win.

“I am glad I looked calm because I definitely wasn’t,” she said.

“The main point for me was to keep it really simple.”

Corteen-Coleman did not, of course, complete the win alone.

Central was the role of Dean, who admitted to exposing her team-mate more than she intended by taking singles early in the over, but otherwise played the situation well.

Much has been made of Dean’s ability to hold her mettle in chases. There has been some success but failure too – notably in the Mankad ODI at Lord’s in 2022 and the second ODI of the Women’s Ashes last year.

This time, standing in as England captain for the first time, Dean dragged her side over the line.

If England’s training camp with the army last week was supposed to develop leaders, this was Dean’s Passing-Out Parade.

“I have worked on having that calmness and being ready in any situation but that mainly came from Deano,” added Corteen-Coleman.

“If I came out and she was panicking I would have been under the pump.”

Corteen-Coleman emerged with the words of coach Charlotte Edwards in her ears. She told her to back her strengths and keep a clear mind.

That was backed up by Dean in the middle.

“She came out with good clarity,” said Dean.

“I said, ‘Yorkers have been successful for them so they will probably look to get under your bat’.

“We decided getting forward was the best option.

“Tilly is really proactive with her thinking. She has a good cricket brain.”

OLIVIA DEAN is preparing to pull out the big guns for the follow-up to her year of triumph — by enlisting the help of hitmaker extraordinaire Nile Rodgers.

She’s become one of the UK’s favourite musicians thanks to the runaway success of her album The Art Of Loving.

Now I’m told Chic great Nile is keen to work with Olivia and personally reached out to her.

Their teams are looking for space in the schedules to go into the studio together.

A source said: “Nile has his finger on the pulse when it comes to music and thinks Olivia is just amazing.

“He was actually aware of her before her album dropped and is really keen to get in the studio with her.

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“She really does have the world at her feet and is pretty honoured that such a star wants to work with her.”

Nile has written, produced and performed on albums totalling more than 750million sales.

He has worked on tracks including David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Duran Duran’s The Reflex and Like A Virgin by Madonna.

More recently, he has contributed to Beyonce’s albums Renaissance and Cowboy Carter, and Coldplay’s tenth album Moon Music.

But Olivia doesn’t have loads of time in her diary right now, having kicked off a debut arena tour in Glasgow last Wednesday.

She has shows in London this week and will stay on the road across Europe and North America until the end of August, before jetting Down Under in October.

Released last September, The Art Of Loving has turned her into a global star, spawning the singles Man I Need, So Easy (To Fall In Love), A Couple Minutes and Let Alone The One You Love.

She proved to have the Midas touch, because after teaming up with Sam Fender on a version of his song Rein Me In, it spent eight weeks at No1 — and is on course to return there this Friday.

Olivia has also achieved career milestones including performing on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in 2024.

On how to build her career, Olivia previously said: “Make an album, play Jools Holland and play the Pyramid Stage.

“I’ve done them now, I need to figure out some new goals.”

With Nile by her side, I’m sure Olivia will continue to dominate.

MIS-TEEQ confirmed my story that they’re reuniting to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Lickin’ On Both Sides.

I revealed in January that Alesha Dixon, Sabrina Washington and Su-Elise Nash were discussing getting back together for a one-off performance.

And now Mis-Teeq’s Instagram page has kicked back into action, with a video showing their performances from 2001 – when the record came out.

The biography on their account reads: “25 Years. One Legacy.”

Watch this space.

COOPER: MY SLIM PICKIN’

COUNTRY singer Cooper Alan wants to do the unthinkable and drag Eminem into the world of cowboy music.

In an exclusive chat with Bizarre, the TikTok sensation – who has racked up 11.5million followers – revealed that the Slim Shady rapper tops his dream collaboration list.

Cooper said: “Eminem has always been my favourite. It would probably never happen, but that’d be really cool.

“Eminem on a country song, I think that would be crazy.”

He’s also got another surprise duet in mind, this time with with Scottish brothers The Proclaimers.

He added: “We’ve been covering their 500 Miles as our encore, so we’ll throw their hat in the ring too. Dream collab, The Proclaimers.”

I caught Cooper live in London last week on his To The Pub Tour, and the show was absolute carnage – in the best way possible.

The singer is wrapping up his first UK shows in Glasgow tomorrow, following the release of latest album Winston-Salem.

The New Normal singer had fans battling it out in a beer-chugging contest before pouring pints straight into the front row from the stage.

Laughing about the stunt, he said: “You’d think I’d be better at pouring the beer.

“But it comes out too fast, it goes all over their face.”

After testing their drinking skills, he was full of praise for our crowds.

Cooper said: “I was impressed with the British drinking ability, especially on a Tuesday night.”

That’s those Americans told.

If you want proper drinkers, come to Britain.

MEGAN DITCHES ‘CHEATER’

MEGAN THEE STALLION has broken up with boyfriend Klay Thompson after accusing him of cheating on her.

In a statement confirming her split from the NBA basketball player, she said: “I’ve made the decision to end my relationship with Klay.

“Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship.

“When those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward.

“I’m taking time to prioritise myself.”

The WAP rapper was with Klay – who’s yet to address the claims – for just under a year.

On Instagram she wrote: “Cheating, had me around your family playing house.

“Got ‘cold feet’. Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment of me during basketball season  . . .  now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’???”

FOO FIGHTERS celebrated the release of their album Your Favorite Toy with a launch party in London, then performed two new tracks on Saturday Night Live.

But it looks like the band, above, will be prevented from scoring their seventh No1 album, as Noah Kahan’s new record The Great Divide has sold three times more in the UK since they were both released on Friday.

MADGE BASQUES IN GLORY

SHE might be 67, but it’s clear Madonna can still party hard as she leaves a nightclub in bridal lingerie at 2am yesterday.

Madge, in shades and knee-high boots, hosted a bash at The Abbey in West Hollywood, where she played new track I Feel So Free and also premiered an upcoming song, believed to be called Freedom.

That could well be her third track with that title.

She recorded one for her 1994 Bedtime Stories album, though it didn’t make the cut at the time, and made another during sessions in 2014 and 2015, which wasn’t officially released but did leak online.

There was some chaos at the Los Angeles nightspot as fans grappled to get close to the superstar, who was standing behind the DJ decks.

Punters were pushing and shoving, with one woman pouring her drink over a man’s head.

Celeb fans Addison Rae and Julia Fox were also there.

Let’s hope they didn’t have soggy bonces.

BOY GEORGE FACES UP TO EUROVISION

BOY GEORGE is all set to make his Eurovision debut next month – but it sounds like he’s put less thought into his vocals than how he will react when the scores are revealed.

The singer is featuring on San Marino’s entry Superstar, by Senhit.

He said in an exclusive chat at the London Eurovision Party: “I’ve been to so many awards shows where I’ve been nominated, so I will be able to deal with nerves when it comes to the points.

“You have to learn that face where you’re like, ‘I’m so happy for everyone else’.

“But I’ll be so in it. I think Senhit will be more nervous than me.

“I won’t be nervous on the night, not really. There will be nervous energy and excitement.”

The Culture Club frontman joked he better not get stage fright, adding: “Probably on the night, I’ll be like, ‘Argh, this is huge.

“What if I forget to say the right words?’. I won’t have a lot to do, but sometimes not having much to do can be worse. But I think I’ll be fine.”

He has high hopes that San Marino can beat the UK entry Eins, Zwei, Drei by Look Mum No Computer.

George added: “I’d love us to win. San Marino is a small country. Ireland is not doing Eurovision this year so, they can vote for me as I’m Irish.”

THE ROLLING STONES are having fun with the promo for their new album Foreign Tongues.

They have turned their website into a CCTV geek’s heaven with ten cameras showing them at work.

Producer Andrew Watt, who worked on their last No1 album Hackney Diamonds, features in the videos, and helped shape the ten album tracks.

Insiders said there is a top-secret – and random – collab on the new record, out later this year. I’m told no one would ever guess.

SYDNEY CENTRE STAGE

HONKY tonkin’ Sydney Sweeny squeezed into this tiny corset dress to enjoy the world’s largest country music festival.

She was spotted in the crowd during the Stagecoach event in California.

The actress, who seemed to take inspiration from Madonna’s latest corset look, was seen on top of boyfriend Scooter Braun’s shoulders as they watched Ella Langley perform on Friday evening.

She was then back on Saturday for day two and got on the mic herself, inset.

Her lingerie brand Syrn hosted a pop-up where she belted out Sweet Caroline on karaoke and was joined by showbiz pals Diplo and Lance Bass.

Perhaps a music career beckons next .