Sam will spice up 'Enders

[carmelina]

STUNNING actress Samantha Janus will join EastEnders this summer — as one of the Mitchell clan.

The blonde beauty, 34, will play Ronnie — the cousin of bonehead brothers Phil and Grant Mitchell.

Ronnie will turn up with sister Roxy when Phil, played by Steve McFadden, marries Stella.

Mum-of-two Samantha recently appeared in West End musical Guys and Dolls and has starred in TV shows including Game On.

Sassy Roxy will be played by Rita Simons, 29 — the niece of Apprentice star Sir Alan Sugar.


_________________________________________________________________________

[Skylace]

I had heard about this. I'm not sure. Another Mitchell?

[carmelina]

I'm actually looking forward to them arriving, should be a breath of fresh air. Especially since the show is lacking strong female characters at the moment.

[Skylace]

That's very true carm. I guess I'm just worried about more Mitchell's.

[tasst]

It's amazing how the clan's just keep getting bigger and bigger.

[faceless]

The smartest move they've had in ages if they want to increase viewing figures!

She looks a bit like Sharon eh?

[Aja]

pix not working face

[faceless]

sorted

[pirtybirdy]

Gee, I wish I had that body.......come to think of it.....wouldn't mind the face either....lol! lol!!

[HandoGod]

Wonder how Rita Simons got the job??? I'll wager it has nothing to do with her being the niece of Apprentice star Sir Alan Sugar. ;)

Cheers for the heads up with all the spoilers and all.

[faceless]

TWISTED SISTERS
By Nicola Methven Nicola.Methven@Mirror.Co.Uk
12/07/2007

WATCH out, Walford - a couple of tough nuts are headed your way. Mitchell sisters Ronnie and Roxy may be all blonde hair, stilettoes and short skirts but they're about to make their hardmen cousins Phil and Grant look like pussycats. They don't pull their punches and with a villain for a dad - Archie, the brother of Peggy's late husband Eric - they know how to fight dirty. The sisters, who have been running a bar in Ibiza, arrive in Albert Square on July 24 to run the Queen Vic for their Aunt Peggy - who's a bit tied up with Phil after his wedding hell. And they soon make enemies, goading Jane about her fling with Grant in front of Ian, and winding up Bradley about Stacey. Expect the sisters to really get things sizzling!

TOTTERING out of a cab in huge silver platforms and a teensy ra-ra skirt, hellraiser Roxy Mitchell takes one look at Albert Square and sighs, "We gave up Ibiza for this?" And cousin Phil Mitchell is equally unimpressed by the sudden arrival of the blonde bombshell and her sister Ronnie. "We're his annoying, irrelevant, irritating little cousins," says 30-year-old Rita, who plays Roxy. "He's got lots of issues and we're just in the way." In fact, she reckons it's Phil himself who's in the way. "The Mitchell boys have had their heyday, but Grant has disappeared and Phil's a family man now," adds Rita. "The girls are coming to regain the Mitchell territory in Walford. The boys are the old school - we're the new generation."

The apple of her tough dad Archie's eye, nothing scares her. And just like her cousins, Roxy isn't shy when it comes to fisticuffs - Phil is one of the first to feel the force of her fury when he gets a bottle on the back of the head. "Roxy doesn't fight like a girl, with hair-pulling and scratching - she throws proper punches," says Rita. "If it's got a pulse Roxy will fight with it, and Ronnie will be watching approvingly in the background. She also likes to use her feminine wiles on the men, but she doesn't sleep with them. The women in Walford assume she's a tart but Roxy is very fussy about her men, probably because she was treated as such a princess as a kid. She wants the best."

All the flirting and fighting she does as Roxy is a far cry from Rita's own life as a married mum-of-two. She has been with her hairdresser husband Theo for the past decade and had their twin girls, Jaimee and Maiya, 17 months ago. Since becoming a mum she has had to give up her party animal past. "Having the twins has calmed me right down," she says. "These days I'd rather be in bed at 9pm!"

At the time Rita, who has had bit parts in Mile High, Dream Team and London's Burning, was still trying to make it as a singer, in Girls@Play. She had just decided to concentrate on acting when she got the part in EastEnders. "It was just amazing - not only did I get a great role, but the exact job I'd always wanted," says Rita, who was sworn to secrecy when she got the part. My grandpa had passed away three weeks before the girls were born, and I truly think he's watching over me anyway, so I went and had a chat at his gravestone."

When she finally told her husband he was over the moon. Rita says: "Theo's supported me financially though thick and thin, and he's always told me to pursue my dream. I was doing music for so long, but he knew that acting was where my heart lay, so he told me not to take an office job. Now it's paid off for him, and he gets a break."

The pair had been dating for seven years when Rita popped the question. "I proposed to him," she grins. "We'd been waiting for the right moment and one day I thought, 'What am I waiting for?' I got him a ring and gave him a Post-it note that said, 'Must marry Rita.' "I didn't want it to be cheesy - that isn't me."

THE comparisons between the fictitious Mitchell sisters and real-life gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray don't surprise Samantha Janus. "There's a reason you've got two women who are so co-dependent and dysfunctional - and it's no coincidence that they're called Ronnie and Roxy," says 34-year-old Sam. "They are chilling, dark and absolutely in touch with what the other is doing. Although they dress flirtatiously they are male in their outlook, physically intimidating and laddish. There's nothing cutesie about them, they are quite scary at times. The fans are going to love us."

She plays older sister Ronnie, who is bold and brassy, but an ice-queen with men. Sam explains: "There's a secret which will come back to haunt her. She's damaged and one day she will have to face her demons." The girls' mum left home when they were very young, so Ronnie became a surrogate mother to Roxy. The sisters' relationship was further complicated by their criminal dad Archie. He favoured Roxy, so lots of sibling rivalry is bubbling under. "They have this mad loyalty thing which makes them typical Mitchells," says Sam. "Of course, it's only a matter of time before they turn on each other. The worst thing would be if one betrayed the other."

But tough as her character is, Sam admits it was daunting walking on to the EastEnders set for the first time seven weeks ago to meet the cast. "These are iconic roles and we were nervous," she admits. "Such iconic women have run the Queen Vic, like Barbara Windsor and Anita Dobson. It's not a place to hide away, you've got to come in and nail it." Getting that East End accent right was also a challenge. "They said I sounded too middle-class, so I had to rough it up a bit," she says. "I sounded like Dick Van Dyke for the first two weeks."

The character of Ronnie is a world away from dippy Mandy in 90s sitcom Game On, which made Sam's name. After that she went on to make the gritty ITV cop drama Liverpool One - where she met her current partner, actor Mark Womack. At the time their romance caused controversy because both were already married, but eight years on their relationship has endured and they have two children - son Benji, six, and two-year-old Lily-Rose. "When I'm on TV I'm sure Benji will be acutely embarrassed," says Sam. "I'll be wearing short skirts and big dangly earrings, I don't think he'll be best pleased. Things like that matter to a six-year-old."

And she laughs off rumours that her relationship with Mark was under strain because of her "close friendship" with Don Johnson, her co-star in musical Guys And Dolls last year. "I couldn't believe I was being accused of sleeping with a 57-year-old," says Sam. "But he thought it was great, saying, 'Hey babe, it's all publicity.'" In fact, Mark has offered to be a stay-at-home dad for a while. She says: "Lily-Rose is too little to have both of us away. That's a lot to ask of somebody and we all know men aren't great at multi-tasking, but he's doing phenomenally well. I'd love us to get married but he hasn't asked - with two kids when would we get round to organising it? Seriously, maybe next year. I'd like to sneak off and do something small and intimate, not have loads of people and a big meringue dress."

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[eefanincan]

Sounds like an interesting pair.... thanks for the read Face.

[carmelina]

Watch out Walford – the Mitchell sisters are in town!

Next week, Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell – Samantha Janus and Rita Simons, respectively – descend on Albert Square this week, when they turn up late for Phil (Steve McFadden) and Stella's (Sophie Thompson) reception, unaware of the events which unfolded at the countryside wedding venue.

After tidying themselves up in the taxi and immediately catching the eyes of Bradley (Charlie Clements) and Deano (Matt Di Angelo), the sisters barge into The Vic, instantly comparing the party to a morgue. The regulars, meanwhile, look on in astonishment.

The pair soon have their feet under the table with Peggy (Barbara Windsor) when they suggest that they look after the pub while she, Phil and Ben head off on holiday to see Grant. Shirley (Linda Henry), however, isn't best pleased with the arrangements.

And it's not long before the Mitchell-Beale feud is re-ignited, either.

Digital Spy caught up with Sam and Rita to talk about filming their first scenes, joining one of television's most well-established, well-known families and how they'd like Ray Winstone to play their on-screen father!

How did you both meet?
[SJ] "We met in a room at Elstree where they film the show and we both had a couple of independent meetings with the producers and the writers because they were so anxious to get the chemistry right. It's kind of like lovers; they're so co dependent they really needed to click. So we met in a room at one of the final meetings and both strangely enough…"

[RS] "…fell in love with each other straight away!"

[RS] "Yeh, we clicked. And when we read together for the first time we were aware that when you read, you have a pace and style in the way you deliver dialogue. It's either very tricksy, technical, fumbly, but we were coming at it from the same place so that was great and it worked for us straight away."

What were your first moment like on the Square?
[RS] "We were so racked with nerves I can't remember! It's so nerve-wracking to come into a show like this. It's impossible to be expected to be the best you can be on your first day because you're so nervous."

[SJ] "And also, we were having to come in and take over the Vic, so it wasn't as if we could come in and disappear under the Cafe counter."

[RS] "Because we're not just wallflower characters, we're huge characters and we were aware of that - there was a huge responsibility."

[SJ] "But we had each other, so it was a lot better!"

[RS] "I felt much happier that Sam was there, it made it a lot easier. But after two days there – the pace of the place is so fast – that you learn everything in a couple of days. By day three you know how it works, it's so fast."

[SJ] "Now we're starting to come into a time where we're delivering scenes and we know who we're playing. The danger is that when you've got quite heavy storylines, you have to be really careful about who the character is and how you're colouring them. You need to be quite ambiguous in the first couple of weeks because you haven't made important decisions yet. It's a really rocky time, you don't want to commit to yourself too much until you find out their pace and their style."

And didn't the writers model your character on the Krays? Was that pitched to you when you initially auditioned?
[SJ] "It's interesting, it wasn't actually pitched in terms of 'this is what we want'."

[RS] "It's kind of organic, it grew.

[SJ] "I suspect there must be definite intention with the double names. I don't think that's a coincidence; I think instinctively they probably had that up their sleeves but weren't wanting to say 'this is what we want' because that's a big thing to say."

[RS] "It'd be too obvious. If you're reading for a casting and it's that obvious, you re going to probably read it as a gangster."

[SJ] "And these are females and; they're inherently dysfunctional in an interesting way. They are quite masculine, they're physically intimidating. They use their sexuality to get what they want but they're also, they're physically scary - they're not scared of a fight, they re not scared of confrontation, verbal or physical but there's something quite chilling about them. They're quite dark."

[RS] "They'll stand up to a man as well as another man would stand up to a man. They really don't care. They'll front out any man."

[SJ] "There's a strange loyalty - there's the Kray thing – 'don't cross my sister'."

[RS] "If someone is to cross one sister, the other will get in their way."

How would you sum up Roxy?
[RS] "Roxy – we say she's the dumber of the two but not as much as she makes out."

[SJ] "She's the more honest; she says what she thinks, she wears her heart on her sleeve."

[RS] "Very, very honest. If there's anything to sum her up it's that she's so honest.

[SJ] "She's not guarded at all."

[RS] "She says what she thinks, which isn't that much all the time. She's a firecracker, impulsive, spontaneous."

[SJ] "Deeply vulnerable underneath, though, isn't she?

[RS] "Very vulnerable."

[SJ] "And it's not an obvious thing, but she has a great fragility."

[RS] "As much as she doesn't have any walls, that part of her she really hides. Nobody ever - apart from Ronnie - sees her soft side. And she doesn't soften very often. Everything is fun. She puts on a front of fun the whole time to cover up anything she might be feeling. I'd say mostly honest is Roxy."

And Ronnie?
[SJ] "And Ronnie is the complete opposite. She's not honest with herself and others, always hiding and guarding something. She's deeply damaged, she's been taught not to show her feelings. She's been taught to be a survivor. And the way she survives is by controlling: controlling her sister's life, controlling her own life and controlling others, and the minute she's taken out of that comfort zone, she starts to unravel quite quickly.

"She's definitely motivated by something that happened to her when she was younger that pretty much defines her - you'll find out what that is later on - but for me, that's certainly her badge, that's the thing that defines who she is.

What is their status within the family? They've been in Ibiza all this time haven't they?
[SJ] "They grew up in London - they're EastEnders. Obviously, their family have connections – there are three brothers: Archie, our father, being one of them; Peggy's husband, Eric, who's Phil, Grant and Sam's dad; and then Billy's father, Steven."

"The suggestion is that they've [the cousins] spent time together when they were kids at weddings and funerals etc.They didn't have a huge amount of contact with each other but these girls, when their family fell apart, their father became aggressive they bascically had to survive. Ronnie picked up Roxy and said 'we're out of here'. They've moved from bar to club to wherever to survive.

"And their latest venture, I think, probably wasn't going that well in Ibiza, so they packed their bags and do what they always do – move on to new territory. And this time around it's The Vic."

[RS] "They're constantly, from what we've gathered from the script, moving on. Any problem, move on. You pack your bags and you go."

[SJ] "But because there's family in Walford it's harder [to leave].

[RS] "They are opportunities for them to pack their bags and move on but they've not taken them because they enjoy it. Even down to their arguments in the Mitchell household – they love it. It's comforting to hear the rows and that's what they've grown up with."

[SJ] "And also with Barbara's character, Peggy – I believe probably the reason why they're hanging around so long is because she's becoming like the mother they always wanted. They haven't had a mother in their life for years and years and all of a sudden, they've got a woman saying 'I need you'. That's potent."

[RS] "That shows with Ronnie and her honesty. She just can't help herself throwing her arms around Peggy."

So do we find out why they left Ibiza?
[RS] "You will."

[SJ] "I don't think there's any major reason why they left. There are certainly things that happened to them out there which that will come out. There wasn't any major disaster that made them leave."

[RS] "There were a few factors - one of those factors is definitely going to be found out – we've already filmed that, so you'll find out about that. It wasn't just that alone though, it was many other things including a dysfunctional relationship among other things. So, in time, you'll find out bits and pieces and the jigsaw will come together."

Is there any chance of seeing your dad, Archie, around?
[SJ] "I bloody hope so! We'd both would love to get Ray Winstone or a similar iconic male like Terence Stamp or Malcolm McDowell. I would love the idea that this mad, iconic male comes back into our lives.

"It needs to be someone dark – someone that gives a really wiry performance."

[RS] "I don't know why I've got this thing about Bob Hoskins. I've always wanted him to be my dad."

[SJ] "Bob Hoskins, Terence Stamp or Malcolm McDowell I think…"

When the sisters walk into The Vic, do they see Shirley as a friend or foe?
[SJ] "She doesn't bother them, really. They've come across her type before. I think she's incredibly bothered. We've got some great one-liners towards Shirley. One of mine is 'that's right, Shirley, if you are one thing, you're a pro'."

[RS] "The line before is Shirley saying 'if you'll excuse me, I've got some demanding men that I need to satisfy' because they're all screaming for drinks at the bar."

[SJ] "You get to deliver these great lines."

[RS] "Also, the other day, Ronnie said to Shirley 'are you going to be alright running the bar?' Shirley said 'I might be a bit rough' and Ronnie said 'you can say that again'."

[SJ] "It's great, it's female bitchiness at its best. But what is great is that they're all strong female characters – you've got Barbara as Peggy – which is a great female iconic role – you've then got Shirley who's quite ballsy and then you've got us coming in. These are no ditzy, cutesy girlies, they are all in there."

[SJ] "Henpecking Phil straight away!"

And the men of Walford…?
[SJ] "Ronnie doesn't go near men. She's deeply damaged in that respect. The only person she lavishes time and attention on is her sister and she needs that in her life. Any man that comes along in Roxy's life, Ronnie is quite quick to - if it's serious - get rid of quite quickly.

[RS] "Roxy is very picky, very fussy. On the surface, she's a real good-time girl. Never commits to any of them. Yes, she will sleep around, she will have a string of boyfriends – but she'll never see any of them more than one day thereover, because she doesn't let them get close.

"Our dad [Archie] treated me like a princess and as far as Roxy's concerned, no man is good enough unless she's going to be told she's a princess.

[SJ] "And the minute anyone comes along and looks like he's going to be remotely serious she..."

[RS] "…Puts a stop to it..."

So who's the first on Roxy's radar?
[SJ] "She makes a play for Deano straight away. She says 'I fancy the dark-haired one'."

[RS] "You don't know how serious it is with Roxy, she just talks. So, as yet, no one she genuinely likes. There's no one serious, she doesn't care."

Thanks for chatting, Sam and Rita!

[faceless]

EASTENDERS ROXY'S DRUG SHAME
EXCLUSIVE Wild drug confession to pals of Albert Square's new blonde sensation EastEnders
By Laura Armstrong And Jenna Sloan
www.people.co.uk


New EastEnders beauty Rita Simons has confessed to a wild history of drug-taking, The People can reveal. Rita, 30, who helped viewing figures soar to 10 million this week when she swept into Albert Square as tarty Mitchell sister Roxy, claimed to pals she... Snorted cocaine through £20 notes at wild parties in the past. SMOKED cannabis EVERY NIGHT when she was younger to help her sleep. And her friends revealed how the pushy blonde had... Suffered wild mood swings and a ferocious temper and craved stardom and bragged about her dates with superstar Robbie Williams.

Friends insist the actress's drug-taking days are over but one said: "If EastEnders wanted to cast a wild child who knew all about crazy living in real life, they couldn't have picked better than Rita." Rita, who arrived in Walford on Tuesday with actress Samantha Janus as her gobby sister Ronnie, boasted of her drug-taking when she was lead singer with the five-piece band girls@Play.

A former singing pal told The People: "Rita claimed she would snort coke every time we went partying, although no one ever saw her do it. She would sneak off to the toilets and then come back and brag about what she'd done, telling us how she'd just snorted the coke through a £20 note. She would boast about cocaine whenever she got the opportunity and seemed quite casual about it. She would say that if anyone offered her drugs she would also take what was on offer." Rita - niece of TV's The Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar - boasted of more cocaine snorting when her band went on holiday to the clubbing resort of Ayia Napa in Cyprus.

The friend said: "I'm not sure if she actually did drugs but she certainly boasted about it and it was a crazy five days. "We went out partying every night. Everyone drank a lot and Rita kept disappearing and told us she was taking cocaine." Rita also admitted to a history of drugtaking on her web page before signing her £100,000-a-year BBC contract to star in EastEnders. The actress posted a questionnaire on her MySpace networking site where she told other web users she had been high "too many times". Next to the question "taken drugs?" she replied simply: "Yup."

The page was removed from the website just days after Rita signed her Albert Square contract. But Rita's friend claimed the actress told her she smoked cannabis EVERY night to help her get to sleep. "Rita would always have a spliff before she went to bed at night," revealed the friend. "She insisted that she couldn't get to sleep without one. Rita said she loved the way dope calmed her down so she could finally get to sleep. She said the dope loosened her up. I saw her smoke cannabis on loads and loads of nights. She asked me to try a joint on more than one occasion, but it just isn't my thing."

Rita, from Whipps Cross, north-east London, had a blazing temper during her days with the band who got into the Top 20 in 2001 with their single Airhead. The friend said: "Her moodswings often made her aggressive - whenever we got into arguments she would scream threats at us. Rita could be quite frightening when she wanted to be." The friend also explained that Rita's manic behaviour was fuelled by her family problems. The friend said: "Rita didn't speak to her dad and I think that caused real problems for her. She found it very difficult to deal with, although she never confided in me about the circumstances. She also had a very distant relationship with other members of her family, although her mum does spoil her. "She put on a larger-than-life persona to cover up her insecurities."

Rita - who married hairdresser Theo Silverston three years ago - also bragged about dating pop millionaire Robbie Williams when she was in the band. She first met Robbie at the trendy Eve Club in London's Regent Street. "I heard Rita take this phone call on her mobile telephone a few days later," said the friend. "She was giggling loads and seemed really infatuated by the caller. When Rita finally put the phone downshe shrieked 'That was Robbie Williams!' "

Rita met up with Robbie several times when she and the rest of the band - Vicky Dowdall, Lisa-Jayne White, Lynsey Shaw and Shelly Nash - played some concerts in Manchester but there was never a serious relationship. The friend said: "To be fair to Rita she never let on what happened between her and Robbie. Even though she normally loved broadcasting her every move to her friends, she never kissed and told on Robbie. That was never let slip." But the friend told how fame-hungry Rita would go to any lengths to be in the limelight.

The pal said: "Rita is a very intense person and she has to be the centre of attention. It's all about her as far as she is concerned. When she was in girls@Play she was always saying that music was her life, but I think she would have done almost anything to be famous. "She was quite ruthless and very determined."

Rita, whose godfather is Demon internet tycoon Cliff Stanford worth around £500million, says on her website she is glad to be out of the "shallow" music industry. Describing her ideal friends she writes: "Not into desperate people, not into arse-lickers or users. Definitely into funny people. I love to laugh. If you haven't got a sense of humour you might as well f*** off now! People that take themselves too seriously get on my tits." And earlier this year on her Friends Reunited internet entry she told old pals: "Nothing's changed...I still can't stay out of trouble."

The People can reveal Rita was also known for her rowdy parties when she lived in Borehamwood, Herts. One neighbour who as the one secret she did not wish to be named said: "On several occasions someone had to shout out of the window at her. "I heard a resident yelling 'Keep the bloody noise down' at one gathering she had. She didn't socialise with anyone round here, though. "Her mates would pull up outside in big, blackedout cars and they'd all drive off."

One regular was pop star Duncan James who used to be in Blue. The neighbour said: "He was round once or twice a week too. I was even told they had gone to Miami together a couple of years ago." Another neighbour added: "This is a quiet street so we were all surprised to see a pop star like Duncan James coming and going. Rita was a struggling singer when she lived here and she would sometimes be out of work for a while. But I won't be watching her in EastEnders after the problems we had with all the noise and the parties. When she moved out she didn't even mention she was going, she just left. It's been a lot quieter without her though, thankfully."

Rita has now settled down to family life with husband Theo and twin daughters Jaimee and Maiya, born 17 months ago. Last night a source close to the actress insisted: "Her days boasting about drugs are now well and truly behind her. Her singing career took place a good six or seven years ago, and whatever she got up to then, well, she has grown up a lot since those days."

An EastEnders spokeswoman said yesterday: "This is a private matter."

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tut tut tut... haha

[faceless]

Sport forced to apologise to Janus

Soap star Samantha Janus today won substantial damages and an apology from the Sunday Sport after it ran a false story headlined "EastEnders Sam's sex and drugs shame". The paper claimed, in a story published on July 22, that the BBC had "rocked by revelations" that the actor had participated in "coke-fuelled threesomes" and lesbian sex.

The article also alleged that Janus - who joined EastEnders in May as Ronnie Mitchell - had engaged in unprotected sex with male model Sean Moore and asked her then boyfriend Doug Harwood and a female friend to engage in a threesome.

"The truth is that, contrary to the article, at no time did the claimant and Mr Harwood have sexual relations in the presence of others, let alone indulge in a drug-fuelled orgy of the kind described in the article," advocate David Price told the high court today. "The claimant has not caused any embarrassment to the BBC and has never had sexual intercourse or any form of sexual relations with Mr Moore." The article was illustrated with two topless photographs of Janus that Harwood took. Price said they were taken on a private occasion and not intended for publication.

Janus took legal action against the paper and Interactive World, which provides digital content through mobile phones. The company has now merged with the newspaper as part of the newly formed Sport Media Group. "I agree with everything that Mr Price has said and offer the defendants' sincere apologies to the claimant," Adam Wolanski, advocate for the defendants, told the court. "The defendants accept that these allegations are false and the photographs should never have been published."

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