Actress Tanya Franks burst onto EastEnders back in 2007 as Lorraine Cross – the troubled sister of Tanya Branning (Jo Joyner). As she’s better known, Rainie left Albert Square until 2018 when she reappeared as the wife of her former brother-in-law Max Branning (Jake Wood).

Rainie hasn’t had an easy ride in Walford as she’s battled a crack cocaine addiction, been imprisoned for assaulting Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth), and is currently fighting for custody of her surrogate son Roland. After finding love with Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) the pair wanted to raise a family with Bernadette Taylor (Clair Norris) offering to step in.

However as EastEnders viewers will know, Stuart has now rejected the baby and has handed him back to Bernie leaving wife Rainie heartbroken as his behaviour spirals out of control. But who is Tanya Franks away from Albert Square? Let’s take a look at her life and career.

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Tanya was a star on the early noughties soap offering Family Affairs playing the role of Karen Ellis. She had storylines including a cancer scare, infertility, surrogacy, and a child custody battle which coincidently mirror those of Rainie on EastEnders.

The 54-year-old has also appeared in police drama The Bill staying for over a year as DI Rowanne Morell, before moving on to make appearances in Holby City and Doctors.

Tanya also played a promiscuous primary school teacher in BBC Three series Pulling before she first appeared in EastEnders in 2007. In between her multiple stints on the BBC soap, Tanya also appeared in Skins, New Tricks, and starred alongside Olivia Colman in Broadchurch.

Away from filming EastEnders, the soap star is also teetotal and doesn’t eat sugar or wheat either, something she has stuck to for over a decade now, also saying to The Mirror : “I had friends who were giving up alcohol and I didn’t want to drink when I was with them. And I’d started feeling lethargic on long days filming, and wondered if it was something I was eating. So I gave up lots of things. I’ve never looked back.”

Is your weekly dose of drama from Albert Square simply not enough? Do you find yourself scrolling through the social media pages of cast members, trying to guess what might happen next? Are you as well acquainted with the ‘Enders as you are your own family?

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Tanya marriage to fellow TV star

Away from Albert Square though, Tanya’s real-life partner is fellow actor James Barriscale, 52. He’s had a very successful career himself much like Tanya, having appeared in series like Casualty, Spooks , and Holby City. He’s also had guest appearances in EastEnders, and The Bill.

In addition to TV work, James has had roles in some well-known feature films, including playing the General in Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin alongside the likes of Michael Palin, Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor.

Who did James play in EastEnders and The Bill?

During his career, James has co-starred with partner Tanya on multiple occasions. He played the character of Gabriel Kent in The Bill, the adopted brother of David Kent who in a string of episodes stole his brother’s identity and progressed from being a bullying bigot to a psychopathic rapist and serial killer.

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