Rita gets a divorce
She’s been in a ‘pretty dark place’
It wasn’t just one Mitchell sister dropping bombshells last week – Samantha’s on-screen sister Rita Simons also revealed that her marriage had ended. The star, who played Roxy in the BBC soap, revealed that she and her hairdresser husband Theo Silverston had quietly split “almost two years ago” after 14 years together, and that “Theo moved out of the family home some time ago”. Her spokesperson added that they were “currently finalising their divorce” and were “amicably co-parenting” their 14-year-old twin daughters, Jaimee and Maiya.
An insider said that the actress, 43, and Theo had been “growing apart” from each other for a while. They added that “the split has been a big change for Rita, but she knows it’s the right decision.”
In May, Rita hinted at her marriage problems in an emotional Instagram post, in which she told fans, “Before lockdown, I was 100% a workaholic and 1000% stressed out. I was trying to deal with work and personal problems at the same time. I’ve been to some pretty dark places in the last few years both mentally and physically, but I don’t tend to shout about it.” She added that, during lockdown, she’d “had the time to heal and to spend more time at home with my kids.”
Here’s hoping those Mitchell sisters have managed to support each other – with the requisite amounts of advice and ice cream. n