10 Facts About…
YOUR INSIDE SOAP BRIEFING ON THE WOMAN BEHIND EASTENDERS’ KIM…
1
Tameka’s parents moved to the United Kingdom from the Ivory Coast, and she was born in London in 1977, where she grew up with her sisters. She gave birth to daughter Nylah in 2014, and so was written out of Eastenders for a while. Kim’s absence from the Square was explained when she was said to be on a cruise with a bloke she “met in a queue at a kebab shop”!
2
Tameka made her first appearance in Walford as brassy, fun-loving Kim for a guest stint in 2009, mainly to attend the wedding of her on-screen sister Denise to Lucas Johnson. However, Kim proved so popular that she was quickly invited back in a more permanent capacity the following year. Since then, Kim has given birth to baby Pearl, opened up a B&B, faced an HIV scare, married bad boy Vincent Hubbard, and suffered a tragic miscarriage.
3
Tameka keeps us laughing as Kim, and has won Inside Soap’s Funniest Female Award on five occasions
since 2011. But that’s no surprise, given she made her name on hidden-camera show 3 Non-Blondes, in which she and her costars Ninia Benjamin and Jocelyn Jee Esien played hilarious pranks on members of the public. Sadly, only two series of the show were produced, as the trio became too well known!
4
Tameka was a contestant on the 14th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, paired up with professional dancer Gorka Márquez. Despite being an early favourite, her journey was cut short when they were the second couple to be eliminated. “I can’t lie, I am gutted,” said Tameka. “I’m shocked I’ve gone so quickly when I had so much more to give.” Outraged fans launched a campaign for the star to be reinstated.
5
Although her Strictly Come Dancing experience ended early on in the contest, Tameka and her Eastenders pal Laurie Brett did much better in
2012’s Let’s Dance For Comic Relief. The pair took on the guises of Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, dancing to their hit song Telephone, and finished as runners-up to eventual winner
Rowland Rivron.
6
Although she’s best known as a long-standing Eastender, Tameka is a big star of the West End too, having been part of the original cast of the Madness musical Our House at the Cambridge Theatre from 2002 to 2003. She’s a self-confessed lover of musical theatre, and also enjoys performing in the annual pantos at the Hackney Empire. Oh yes she does!
7
Tameka’s favourite hobby is baking. “I’m a bake aholic, that’s what I am!” she once claimed. And it sounds as though she is something of a Mary Berry wannabe, revealing that her signature bake is lemon-and-ginger cupcakes. The star’s motto: “Eat cake – and work it off at the gym afterwards!”
8
Twenty years ago, Tameka starred in a commercial for Batchelors Super Noodles, in which her character goes off to fix her moaning boyfriend a tasty snack, only to find on her return that he’s wasted away! You’ll definitely remember this award-winning ad – but probably never realised it starred Tameka!
9
Tameka played a hairdresser called, er, Tameka in BBC2’S 2008 sitcom Beautiful People. Sadly, Tameka was killed off during episode five of the first series, and spent much of that episode playing a corpse – her golden hair tongs still clasped in her hands. Fortunately, star Tameka returned to play a more active role in series two, as her previous alter ego’s ‘identical cousin’ Johoyo, who took over the salon.
10
Prior to their work in Walford together, Tameka teamed up with Eastenders cast mate Linda Henry (Shirley) in the 1996 film Beautiful Thing. The pair featured in several scenes together, playing outspoken neighbours who aren’t shy about speaking their minds, and even come to blows with one another. Some things just never change!