EastEnders’ Diane Parish has played the role of Denise Fox on the BBC soap since 2006 – but what do we know about the actress from her real life away from Albert Square?
She’s appeared in a number of hit TV shows throughout her career, but Diane Parish is best known for portraying long-standing character fan favourite Denise Fox in EastEnders, who has graced our screens in over 1500 episodes of the famous BBC series. It’s safe to say that EastEnders character has been through a lot over the years, having had several failed relationships and welcomed three children, and she became apart of the infamous Six that killed off Keanu.
While we know Denise well, actress Diane, 54, tends to keep her personal life out of the spotlight. Originating from Tottenham, London, Diane maintains her roots in North London. Away from the limelight, she enjoys a tranquil domestic life as the loving mother to two daughters, Kaya and Kenya.
In a candid response to whether she’d expand her brood, she told The Mirror: “No way! I’ve shut up shop. I’m done. I’m no spring chicken, you know. I feel very fortunate for having my lovely little girls. We’re a very happy family.” Not only is she a soap star but also an alumna of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Before she became a Walford favourite, Diane graced our screens as Beth Taylor on Lovejoy from 1993 to 1994, Eva Sharpe on The Bill from 2002 to 2004, and appeared in Casualty, Holby City, and had a leading role in the drama Clocking Off. In 1998, Diane took on the role of Lola Christie for a six-month stint. Lola featured in no less than 27 episodes. She was Mick McFalane’s love interest, played by Sylvester Williams, and was a singer in his jazz band.
In her personal life, Diane has experienced her share of ups and downs. She shares two children with her former husband Sebastian Parish, an IT specialist.
Despite being quite private about her personal affairs, Diane opened up during a 2018 appearance on Loose Women about her separation from Sebastian.
She confided to the panelists, “The last time I was here, I sort of got a bit ambushed with [questions about marriage] and, for the sake of my children, I didn’t want to go into the break up with me and their father, and I’m usually quite a private person.”
Diane continued, revealing her approach to protecting her daughters’ privacy and her own journey since the split: “I just wanted to protect my daughters by not discussing that, and I’ve been single quite a long time, I’ve been having fun, but I have now met the man of my dreams.” Now, it seems Diane’s heart has found happiness again, hinting at a very public engagement.
Diane opened up about her love life on Loose Women, sharing that after the tough breakdown of her marriage, she’s now found happiness with her “the man of her dreams” Gerry Zucarello. The couple, who met in 2017, quickly became serious, with Gerry proposing shortly after.
Despite announcing their engagement in 2018, it bizarrely didn’t catch the public eye until two years later.
The delayed reaction to their engagement news gave Diane and Gerry a good chuckle, as a source told OK!: “Diane and Gerry are just laughing about it really he’s been meaning to update his profile for months and now when he does, people didn’t realise the date and they got a huge spate of ‘congratulations!'”
“It’s lovely to be congratulated but they had all that a couple of years back when they actually did get engaged. They haven’t just made the decision now, they’re very happily still engaged and were initially a tad baffled by the sudden news coverage it created but that’s social media for you!”
Gerry works for car company Porsche and has three children from a previous relationship, according to The Sun. It was reported that he proposed to Diane while they were self-isolating together during the Coronavirus pandemic, but they kept the happy news under wraps.
