Tamzin Outhwaite has always been one of the UK’s most beloved television stars, but in her most recent interviews, the former EastEnders actress proves that her off-screen life is just as complex, heartfelt, and inspiring as any soap storyline.

Speaking openly on Parenting Hell, the BBC veteran shared unexpected details about her relationship with ex-partner Tom Child, a year after their six-year romance came to an end. While many would assume their chapter had closed completely, Tamzin revealed something that left fans both surprised and deeply touched: Tom still has a key to her house.

Yes, you read that right.

Tamzin, now 54, explained that despite their romantic split in the summer of 2024, their bond has endured—and evolved. “He lives literally around the corner,” she said, noting how often he visits her home and joking that “if there’s any food left over, he eats everything.” It’s clear that Tom, 20 years her junior, remains a regular fixture in her household—not just as a friend, but as someone her children, Flo and Marnie, still love dearly.

She calls him her “mate,” and affectionately described their post-relationship connection as mature, unusual, and deeply functional. “I didn’t want to never see him again,” she said on Hello! Magazine’s Second Act podcast. “So we’re mates, which feels very grown up.”

Tamzin’s home life sounds like a beautiful blend of warmth and chaos. “It’s an open house,” she laughed, filled with laughter, ex-nannies, her dad living in a separate wing, and yes—even her ex. It’s not traditional, but it’s hers. “I think I’ve created something that is the only thing I knew,” she reflected, crediting her own upbringing for the welcoming space she now fosters.

But Tamzin’s honesty didn’t end with her relationship.

In one of the most poignant and personal moments of her Parenting Hell interview, she opened up for the first time about her eldest child, Flo, coming out as transgender. With raw emotion and deep introspection, Tamzin shared the journey they’ve taken as a family. “I did have two daughters, and now I have a son and a daughter,” she said. “That’s quite easy for me to say now, but it wasn’t maybe six or seven years ago.”

Her vulnerability was palpable as she described the moment of initial shock, the internalized hesitation, and how she worked her way through it. “My mind went to ‘that’s ludicrous’, and then I worked backwards to talking through it.” It’s a journey so many families can relate to—one that moves from confusion to clarity, from fear to acceptance.

What matters now is the home they’ve built together: one of laughter, unconditional love, and emotional safety. “We live in a very happy household now,” Tamzin said. “It’s my favourite place to be.”

Tamzin also touched on her evolving identity as a single woman, expressing that while she remains open to future romance, she’s no longer interested in cohabitation. “I’m in a phase where I need to be on my own now,” she said. “I don’t want to share a bed. I want to be on my own.”

Tom Child was her first major relationship after her high-profile split from actor Tom Ellis, father of her two children. That marriage ended in 2014 after eight years, following allegations of Ellis’s infidelity. Since then, Ellis has remarried and now has a daughter with wife Meaghan Oppenheimer. But Tamzin’s life has taken a different path—one rooted in chosen family, open doors, and fierce independence.

She’s made peace with the past. She’s built something beautiful in the present. And now, she’s letting the world in—honestly, unapologetically, and on her own terms.

Could Tamzin’s open-hearted family style be a model for modern relationships? Or is she simply rewriting her own rules one laugh, one friend, and one key at a time?