PATSY Palmer has embraced a dramatically different lifestyle since swapping the UK for Malibu in 2014.

EastEnders star Patsy, 51, has built a serene life by the beach, but that doesn’t mean she’s stayed out of the spotlight.

The actress moved across the pond with her husband and children in 2014 and has never looked back, living out her American dream with a stunning home to boot.

Patsy – whose eldest son Charley, 33, stayed in England to focus on his own acting career – now works as a successful DJ but still manages to enjoy a level of anonymity she could never achieve back in the UK.

From her headline-making Good Morning Britain walkout to her unconventional approach to parenting and even her unexpected Hollywood friendships, Patsy’s Californian life is far from ordinary.

Unconventional schooling

One of the biggest surprises about Patsy’s LA lifestyle is her children’s unconventional schooling.

Her teenage kids, Fenton, 24, and Emilia, 23, are both signed with LA talent agencies and have ditched traditional education in favour of online courses.

She also shares 14-year-old Bertie with her taxi-driver husband, Richard Merkell.

In an interview with ID magazine, Patsy revealed: “They get it all done. The schools are different in America, they’re a lot more relaxed. It’s so far to go anyway.

“If they have a casting in the day it’s going to be hard for them to get there. They don’t really like school anyway, I hated it when I was a kid, so I’m never going to push them.”

Fenton is interested in everything from scriptwriting to modelling, while Emilia is balancing her love of acting and fashion.

I want to go to design school, but doing the whole modelling thing is a big part of my life too. So we’ll see,” she said.

Famous friends

Since moving to Malibu, Patsy has developed a friendship with supermodel Cindy Crawford.

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This connection led to their children forming close bonds as well.

In 2017, reports surfaced that Fenton, was dating Cindy’s daughter, Kaia Gerber.

A source told The Sun: “Fenton and Kaia have been close pals for a while through their mums’ friendship and in recent months it has grown into something more.

“It’s very early days but they have grown close and seem very happy together.”

Both Kaia and Fenton have pursued careers in modelling, with Kaia making waves in the fashion industry and Fenton signed with The Dragonfly Agency in Los Angeles.

Reality rumblings

With their growing profiles, the family have even considered making their own reality show.

Patsy once joked: “It would be nice if they wanted nice things though, not like the Kardashians with all the horrible fighting.”

Fenton added: “We could make it so funny, though.”

But Emilia was less convinced, saying: “We could, but we wouldn’t be able to have control over it. They like to cause controversy.”

TV storm-off

While Patsy has settled into the laid-back Malibu lifestyle, she hasn’t entirely escaped the drama.

In 2021, she famously stormed off Good Morning Britain during a live interview from her home after objecting to a headline referring to her as an “addict to wellness guru”.

Despite her Hollywood lifestyle, the actress still makes regular trips back to the UK for work.

Celebrity Big Brother

Patsy, who is famed for playing Bianca Jackson in the BBC One soap, was last week said to be in “advanced talks” with show bosses to enter the Celebrity Big Brother house.

The TV star returned to EastEnders last year for the soap’s explosive 40th anniversary and had an extended guest stint.

But Patsy is set to leave later this month after she hinted she’d finished filming her final scenes.

She’ll join the likes of Mickey Rourke, Trisha Goddard and JoJo Siwa when the show returns on Monday.