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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Katie Wilson & Christopher Megrath

Patsy Palmer's massive net worth, on-set addiction, and Malibu home

Patsy Palmer ditched rainy London for a lavish pad in Malibu after an incredible run on EastEnders

Most will remember Patsy from her stand-out role in EastEnders as the loud mouth Bianca Jackson who wasn't afraid of causing a scene. The actress broke onto the scene with her start on Albert Square at the young age of 21 but has since become a household name.

She became such a star, she managed to bag her own series, EastEnders: Ricky and Bianca, alongside her onscreen husband, which aired in 2007. The star eventually dropped out of television due to addiction problems but is currently skating her way around the public's hearts on Dancing on Ice.

READ MORE: Paddy McGuinness has two words for Amanda Holden as she strips down to underwear

The 50-year-old has been showing off her ice rink talents for several weeks now but will soon return to her hot habitat of LA once the show wraps. Patsy ditched rainy London for California years ago where she lives comfortably with her family.

Where does Patsy Palmer live now and who is she married to?

For the past nine years, Patsy has been living in a lavish mansion in Malibu with her husband Richard Merkell and their three kids. The couple were reportedly friends for 14 years before getting together, the Mirror reported.

They married in 2000 and lived in Brighton before relocating to LA in 2014. Cab driver Richard is Patsy's second husband. She was previously married to Football Factory film director Nick Love for five months in 1998.

How many children does Patsy Palmer have?

Patsy and Richard share children Fenton, 22, Emilia, 21, and 11-year-old Bertie. Both Fenton and Emilia work as models and Fenton was recently accepted into prestigious American university, UCLA.

Patsy also has a 31-year-old son Charley, whose father is boxer Alfie Rothwell. He is also an actor and has appeared in films Dunkirk, Darkest Hour and Legend about the Kray twins, alongside Tom Hardy.

Her life now is a far cry from her drug-addled twenties in which she admitted regularly turning up to the EastEnders set high on Class A’s. She told Piers Morgan’s Life Stories she first tried drugs at the age of 12 and was soon taking ecstasy, cocaine and dropping acid as “that was just what kids did where I grew up”.

Things got so bad she said social services would have taken Charley away had it not been for her mum Pat looking after him. She said: My mum looked after my son, thank God. I’d say, ‘I’m just popping out’ and not come home for two days, sometimes longer. Just partying and drinking. I just didn’t know when to stop."

What is Patsy Palmer doing now?

After years of being clean – something she credits husband Richard for – Patsy rebranded herself as a wellness guru and launched Good and Proper in 2020.

The website sells plant-based essential oils and beauty products and encourages people to adopt a wellness-centric beauty routine, an everyday mantra practice called Manetra “that enlightens the whole person”.

According to Idol Networth, Patsy now has an estimated fortune of around £9.3 million from her work as an actress, lifestyle guru and DJ.

These days Patsy is more likely to be spotted practising yoga, going for beach walks or taking a dip in the swimming pool at her Californian home.

The family even have a telescope in their garden so they can look at the stars when they want to.

At the moment Patsy, who has previously taken part in Strictly Come Dancing, is appearing on ITV’s Dancing on Ice, which she decided to do because she turned 50 last year.

Speaking on This Morning, she said: "I thought I wasn’t going to do this because it’s going to be too hard! I was also thinking about my age and that I might hurt myself and I’m in LA, I didn’t know how it would work.

"But then I thought it could work out quite well. It’s definitely going to be a brilliant challenge. I always want my kids to see it’s good to be doing fun things, challenging yourself and getting out there. And to get nice and fit!"

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