Patsy Palmer moved to L.A. with her family after quitting her role as Bianca on EastEnders but she was back on home turf last night to attend the National Film Awards.
And she wasn’t alone.
The actress made a rare public appearance with her teenage daughter, Emilia, who is carving out a career as a model.
Mother and daughter posed on the red carpet together before the event at the Porchester Hall in London.
While Patsy, 45, beamed for the cameras wearing a full-length blue gown, Emilia, 16, stood next to her in a black dress with floral detailing.
Patsy also shared a picture of the pair of them getting ready with her 56.1k Instagram followers.
She wrote that she loved being back in her home city “getting ready for @nationalfilmawards with my beauty @emiliamerkell.”
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Her fans gushed at how “gorgeous” and “stunning” the former soap star looked, with one writing: “Hope it was fantastic fun.”
Patsy swapped London for a life by the beach in Malibu, with husband Richard Merkell and children Charley, 25, Fenton, 17, Emilia, and Bertie, seven, in 2014.
She’d grown up on our screens playing Bianca Jackson between 1993-1999, where she was famed for her Puffa jacket and regularly screaming “RICK-KAY!” at her on-screen boyfriend, played by Sid Owen.
Patsy then returned for another stint from 2008-2014 along with Bianca’s new man, Terry, step daughter Whitney, sons Liam and Morgan, and daughter Tiffany.
Her character’s family are now meant to be living in Milton Keynes but Tiff has recently returned to Albert Square, prompting speculation that Patsy might at some point make a comeback appearance.
Patsy hasn’t been acting in L.A. but has instead founded the Commonwealth Lifestyle Foundation and acts as its president. It aims to empower women by bringing them together at special breakfast meetings.
While Patsy isn’t as well-known in the States as the UK, her children are rising in the showbiz world.
Her eldest son has followed in her footsteps to become an actor, and has so far had parts in films Dunkirk, Legend and Darkest Hour.
He was also in Netflix’s sci-fi movie iBoy opposite Games of Thrones star Maisie Williams.
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Meanwhile Fenton Merkell is also a model and he and Emilia are both signed up with The Dragonfly Agency.
What a talented family!
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