Danniella Westbrook says two more years of surgery and £500,000 could repair cocaine-damaged nose, fueling EastEnders comeback

Former EastEnders actress Danniella Westbrook says two more years of surgery, at an estimated £500,000, could repair the cocaine-damaged nose that derailed her career, and she hints a return to EastEnders could follow if conditions align. The 52-year-old has also launched a talent agency, Citing a renewed focus on rehabilitation and professional renewal, she says the surgeries are part of a broader effort to rebuild her life both personally and professionally.

Westbrook’s public battle with cocaine use has long been tied to the collapse of her face and health. At the height of her fame, the then-16-year-old played Sam Mitchell in EastEnders and became a household name, only to fall prey to a drug habit she began dabbling in around age 14. Paparazzi images from the turn of the century showed the extent of the damage: a nose with a missing septum and bone loss that years of surgery could not fully repair. Her family and fans have watched as her career stalled while her health and self-image suffered from the toll of addiction and related osteoporosis. The cost of chasing fame through the 2000s was heavy—westbrook reportedly spent hundreds of thousands on procedures in attempts to rebuild her face. The drama of her early life and the price of stardom would become defining elements of her public narrative.

In a retrospective arc that spans decades, Westbrook’s journey includes a 1990 breakout on EastEnders as Sam Mitchell, a character she says she would consider returning to if the show killed her off and gave her a chance to finish the arc she started. Her personal history reads like a cautionary tale: addiction began in adolescence, with reports she was using as much as 3 grams of cocaine a day and spending hundreds of thousands on the habit, while enduring a string of botched repairs that left her with lasting damage to her facial structure. The famous images from the British Soap Awards in 2000, showing the extent of the damage, remain a stark symbol of the period. She has described episodes of kidnapping and gang-rape by drug dealers, and moments of suicidal thoughts, underscoring the intensity of struggles that accompanied the addiction and the toll on her physical health. At times she weighed as little as six-and-a-half stone, and she would later stage multiple comebacks in different corners of the entertainment industry, including reality television and presenting roles. Despite years of sobriety at times, relapse would come before she ultimately declared herself drug-free again in 2021 after seeking help in Spain. The thread that runs through her story is a relentless push to reclaim agency over her life and career, even as she faced ongoing medical challenges and ongoing public scrutiny.

In recent months, Westbrook has moved into a phase of planned, extensive surgical work that she says will take place in Dubai at the start of the new year, followed by additional minor procedures. Her surgeon, Dr. Parviz Sadigh, has outlined a two-year rehabilitation plan, made non-negotiable by the residual impact of years of cocaine use and the complex repairs required to rebuild facial structure. The timeline envisions a full neck and face lift costing around £45,000, along with several supplementary procedures to restore nasal shape and airway function. As she works through this sequence, she is also turning her attention to a broader professional project: a talent agency, W.1 Elite, designed to provide a more supportive framework for clients in the entertainment industry. Westbrook describes the agency as a response to a perceived lack of care in management in the industry, emphasizing stability, a defined support network, and access to professionals such as accountants and on-call therapists for clients.

Her rehabilitation is not limited to medical work. Westbrook has undertaken a documentary project to map and explain the long arc of her surgery journey and the role of cocaine in shaping her face. She has been collaborating with a TV production company and the police to explore how addiction can affect facial anatomy, with the aim of achieving closure and helping others understand the risks associated with drug use. The project is described as a way to demonstrate that recovery is possible and that there is a life after drugs, a message she says she will continue to wave as part of her broader mission to support others facing addiction. She has stressed that she has no intention of returning to drugs and is focused on building a healthier life and career.

Beyond the surgical and professional frontiers, Westbrook has been candid about her personal life. She has described a difficult period of depression, for which she is taking antidepressants, and she has spoken about the support of her family, which has become a crucial anchor during this phase. She notes the lingering impact of her father’s death in 2024 as something that pulled her back from the brink and helped re-center her focus on recovery and her children. Westbrook shares two children, Kai, 28, and Jodie, 24, with different former partners, and says she now enjoys a more stable relationship with them and with her extended family.

Regarding her relationship status, Westbrook confirms she is not currently in a relationship, choosing to devote herself to her recovery and her professional ventures. She describes herself as “married to the business” and to her ongoing self-improvement journey, rather than to a partner. She acknowledges the emotional toll of years of public scrutiny but says her family has remained a constant source of support and resilience. The actress is hopeful that the confluence of medical progress, documentary work, and a new talent-management platform will enable her to reemerge in the public eye on terms that reflect the person she has become: someone who wants to use her experiences to help others and to sustain a long, credible career while staying clean and focused.

As she eyes a longer horizon, Westbrook remains pragmatic about the path ahead. She says she would return to EastEnders if the show opted for a storyline that would permit her to finish the arc she began decades ago, even as she emphasizes that recovery and responsibility come first. She has also announced plans to rehang mirrors in her home, a symbolic and practical step in reclaiming her self-image. Her mother’s suggestion to remove some mirrors was met with a simple, reaffirming response: that she feels better and that the ritual of looking in the mirror no longer triggers the same distress. With the forthcoming surgeries, a growing business, and a commitment to sobriety, Westbrook is positioning herself for a measured, durable comeback—one that she hopes will be defined as much by resilience and care as by any screen appearance.