EastEnders' Patsy Palmers life in LA from beating addiction to fleeing wildfire
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Soap legend Patsy Palmer has shared her heartbreak over the LA wildfires raging across her 'hometown'. The EastEnders actress, 52, relocated to Malibu in 2014 with her husband, taxi driver Richard Merkell, and their three children, Emilia, Fenton and Bertie. She frequently returns to the UK to film on Albert Square, and came back just last Saturday. Since then, devastating wildfires have ravaged her local area in Los Angeles and her family have been forced to flee.
She wrote on Instagram: "My heart is broken. My brain is fried today looking at the devastating scenes of the fires AGAIN in my hometown. I just returned home to my home in case after the fires a couple of weeks ago and left on Saturday back to work in the UK and now this. My family are safe, but lots of my friends have lost their homes again, which is extremely traumatic.".
She continued: "My family are safe but lots of my friends have lost their homes again which is extremely traumatic. Being here so far away is really really hard. I'm praying and crying as I write this. I'm helpless here but praying hard Please reach out if you need anything. Richard and kids are there safe and evacuated. This is huge. Really wasn't expecting this. Heartbroken. Stay safe.".
Swapping the cobbles for the States, Patsy turned her life around years ago and has never looked back. The star was just 21 years old when she landed the role of fiery market trader Bianca Jackson in EastEnders, but her life off-screen was almost as dramatic as that of her character. She lived in a tiny, damp flat in London's East End and was a single mum to baby boy Charley.
