All the signs Rita Simons and her husband Theo Silverstone secretly split in 2018
Former EastEnders star Rita and her hairdresser husband stunned fans on Saturday when they announced they were divorcing and had been living apart since 2018 – but a clue may have been in plain sight
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EastEnders star Rita Simons and her husband Theo Silverstone are said to have secretly split two years ago – and it is possible a huge clue had been dropped by the couple at the time.
The 43-year-old soap actress is said to be finalising her divorce from 43-year-old hairdresser Theo – who she has been wedded to since 2004.
The pair met when they were both 19-years-old after being introduced by mutual friends, and welcomed twin daughters Jaimee and Maiya in 2004.
The Daily Star reported on Saturday that the couple had split – with an agent for the actress stating: "Rita and Theo have been separated for almost two years and Theo moved out of the family home some time ago.
“They are currently finalising their divorce, and amicably co-parenting their two daughters."
Back in 2010, Rita hinted that her husband would become jealous of the romantic scenes she would play out on screen during her time on EastEnders.
She told the Irish Examiner at the time: “My husband absolutely hate it if I’m kissing other men. In fact, he turns away and goes, ‘La la la la la!’
“I always try to make him watch, but he won’t even discuss it. He’d also like to think I was a virgin until we met.”
In May 2018, seemingly months before the couple broke up, actress Rita – who played Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders between 2007 and 2017 – was full of compliments about her husband.
Discussing how she celebrated her 40th birthday the year prior, she gushed to the Belfast Telegraph: “My husband Theo is everything to me — he’s my rock and without him, I’d be completely lost. He, very sweetly, organised a big party for me but at the 11th hour, I made him cancel it, because I didn’t want to enter my 40s with a hangover.
“In the end, the two of us went to a spa in the countryside; we went on bike rides and had treatments like an old couple. Who’d have thought the girl who was once young, crazy and party-centric would do that?”
Although Rita quit EastEnders in 2017, she had a busy work schedule for months following her soap exit.
Between September 2017 and June 2018, she was in a UK tour of Legally Blonde The Musical alongside ex-Coronation Street actor Bill Ward and X Factor star turned actress Lucie Jones.
While in the months leading up to her appearance on the 18th series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in November 2018, it is possible the marriage collapsed.
A major clue may have been exposed at this time.
While booted out of the I’m A Celeb camp, as the fourth contestant to be voted off the show, Rita expressed her desire to be reunited with her family, but didn’t explicitly reference her husband.
She said during her exit appearance: “It’s so tangible that I’m about to see my family. My barriers have come down a bit and I just miss them all massively.”
However, it wasn’t her husband and kids that met the star on the infamous jungle rope bridge, but her mother, Susan.
She was then spotted victoriously celebrating her escape from the jungle with her mother at the nearby Versace Hotel in Australia – where she happily posed for photos with her mum.
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