EastEnders' Chelsea Fox's real life from famous best pal to Hollywood fame

12 September 2023 , 17:00

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Zaraah has been playing Chelsea Fox since 2020 (Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

In 2020, Zaraah Abrahams burst onto our TV screens in the iconic Christmas episode of EastEnders, taking over the role of Chelsea Fox, the daughter of Diane Parish's Denise Fox. Since then Zaraah has been involved in some dramatic storylines as Chelsea, including her marriage to serial killer Gray Atkins and her involvement with criminal Ravi Gulati.

The part was previously played by Tiana Benjamin from 2006 to 2010, and before Zaraah joined, the 36-year-old actress from Brixton, London, had a regular role on Coronation Street as Joanne Jackson from 2005 to 2007.

Zaraah previously played Joanne on Corrie (ITV)

In order to take on the part, at 18 she moved from London to Manchester and previously told the Mirror how it was a "really hard" change at such a young age. She said: "It really was incredible [being on Corrie] and they are the nicest bunch of people ever. But moving from London to Manchester when I was 18 all on my own to do the show was really hard. I had no friends, nothing. I was thinking, 'Oh My God.' I felt like I was in this great show but why wasn't I happy?"

She spent a lot of evenings in her new city on her own, watching episodes of Countdown. "It was really tough. Eventually, I made friends that I am going to have for life and I found a flat and found where Sainsbury's was in Manchester," she continued.

While on the show, Zaraah became incredibly close with her co-star Tina O'Brien who plays Sarah Platt. "She's one of my best friends," Zaraah said. "We ring each other all the time and she picks me up when I haven't had any auditions. I do the same for her. She was in it from such a young age and she recognised she wants to be an actress and she's done Corrie now and she can do anything she wants to do if she puts her mind to it."

EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness

And the actress also has another famous best pal from EastEnders, with Shona McGarty who plays Whitney, sharing some insight into their friendship. She told Metro: "I love working with Zaraah - she's an incredible actress and one of my best friends, so it's not like work at all." She went on to share how they often give each other hand massages as Zaraah is "really good at them". Shona added: "We do TikToks all the time and learn little dances and songs. She's like my best friend ever!"

Shona McGarty, centre, is one of her best friends (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)

But EastEnders and Coronation Street aren't the only soaps the star has been in over the years. In addition to this, Zaraah has also appeared in Waterloo Road as Michaela White, and Holby City as Alisa Cole. Fans may remember she got her start as Magda in Girls in Love, a television adaptation of the book series of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. She was just a teen at the time.

However, her days of soap-swapping are behind her. Speaking to Inside Soap about the prospect of joining another, she said: "No thank you, I'll stick with EastEnders. I feel as though I've landed on my feet playing Chelsea. I love working in Peggy's because so many other characters come in and the boss is always changing."

The actress has also notably taken part in Dancing on Ice, competing in 2008 and coming in third place, before returning in 2014 for the All Star series. She was first partnered with Fred Palascak and claimed her boyfriend at the time wasn't worried about her falling for him, and instead encouraged Fred to 'hold her tighter' when skating.

Despite her career success, there was a time when Zaraah almost considered quitting acting for good, but then she was given a dream role by Hollywood director, Spike Lee, who told her she could be "the next Halle Berry". Spike spotted Zaraah in a short film called Black Girl in Paris and cast her as the lead in his movie, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus when she was 26.

Zaraah caught the attention of Hollywood director Spike Lee (Ash Knotek/REX/Shutterstock for NTA)

She wowed on Dancing on ICe (ITV)

This was perfect timing for Zaraah, as she'd become disillusioned and frustrated with her struggle to hit the big time. She said: "I did a short film called Black Girl in Paris which went to the HBO Festival where it was nominated for short film of the year. Spike saw it there then he emailed me directly and said he liked what he saw and that he had a lead part for me in a new film.

"When I got the email I stayed quiet for five minutes and my fiance said, 'Are you OK? You seem a bit quiet'. And I was like, 'Yeah, Spike Lee just emailed me'. So I told him what he said and of course I went to meet him. He was pretty scary. We met up and he gave me the script and I was shaking. I was so nervous. It was a bit awkward because one of the first things he did was point to my bag and say: 'That isn't big enough for a script'. I had two days to rehearse for my audition and that was it."

Zaraah landed the part of the agonised girlfriend of a troubled drug addict. Recalling working on the film, she added: "I was really nervous to go over to America but he sent me a lovely email saying he saw something in Halle Berry that he sees in me. That was incredibly touching and comforting – I don't know where he got it from but it was really nice to hear."

Courtney Pochin