'EastEnders' Star Danniella Westbrook Hospitalized

She was poised for a dazzling comeback — but in a cruel twist of fate, the actress was rushed to hospital just days before filming, forcing her to give up the role that was meant to reignite her career.

She was finally ready to reclaim her spotlight after years of heartbreak, scandal, and survival — but a devastating health emergency has ripped the role of a lifetime away from Danniella Westbrook, leaving fans stunned and producers scrambling.

The 52-year-old former "EastEnders" star had been poised to make her blockbuster return in the gritty gangster film "Tales From The Trap," but instead of lights, camera, action… she found herself rushed to hospital in a terrifying turn no one saw coming.

Just as her dreams were being rekindled, her past health demons came roaring back.

On Friday, 5 December, Westbrook reportedly began struggling to breathe — the result of long-standing complications from her collapsed septum, an issue caused by years of substance abuse and her osteoporosis.

The beloved TV personality was immediately taken to hospital, where doctors intervened. The emergency medical scare was so serious, she was forced to withdraw from filming — and the role has already been recast.

But her meteoric rise came crashing down when cocaine addiction led to the collapse of her nasal septum.

"Danniella was rushed into hospital on Friday with breathing difficulties which meant she had to pull out of filming 'Tales From The Trap,'" a source told the Daily Mail.

In what was shaping up to be her most explosive role yet, Westbrook had been cast as a gun-dealing gangster granny, set to star alongside "Love Island" star Liv Hawkins, actors Terry Stone, Vas Blackwood, and Judith Shekoni, boxer Frazer Clarke, and Grime MC Amzzino.

But now, it's former "Slow Horses" and "The Bill" star Kim Tiddy who will fill the role.

"She was due to make her movie comeback as a gangster granny selling AK-47S to the gangsters," the insider revealed. "It's really disappointing as I am sure everyone was looking forward to seeing her play that part."

Still, producers are reportedly breathing a sigh of relief that they were able to bring in Tiddy at the eleventh hour.

"Luckily the producers were able to replace her with Kim Tiddy who has just featured in 'Slow Horses' with Gary Oldman and was on 'The Bill' for years," the source said.

Westbrook's story is as tragic as it is legendary. The London-born actress was catapulted to fame at just 16, dazzling fans as Sam Mitchell on the BBC's "EastEnders."

But her meteoric rise came crashing down when cocaine addiction led to the collapse of her nasal septum and her contract termination in 1996.

Remarkably, Westbrook did turn things around — again.

She later found reality TV stardom, reaching the final of "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2016, and also appeared on "I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here" in 2003, "Dancing On Ice" in 2010, and "Hollyoaks" in 2013.

Yet behind the camera, her life was spiraling.

During a brutally honest interview on "This Morning" in November 2016, Westbrook confirmed she had relapsed — and had even attempted to take her own life after her boyfriend, George Arnold, suddenly left her.

"Yes, I did relapse," she admitted. "I thought my whole world was over when he walked out, because he just got up, it was like he'd never been there. I tried to overdose a lot when George walked out."

The most harrowing revelation came when she admitted to taking "loads of tablets," saying she couldn't even think about what her suicide would have meant for her children.

"When you relapse and you take drugs, you don't see that," she confessed. "All you see is selfishness and a way out."

Remarkably, Westbrook did turn things around — again. "I'm concentrating on me right now: the recovery, the kids, and getting back to work and this new business," she said in the same interview. "I'm taking every day as a blessing."

And she meant it.

In June, she underwent yet another facial reconstruction, this time using rib cartilage to rebuild her nose. She was seen leaving the clinic with a bandage across her face, hand-in-hand with her new love — bare knuckle fighter Charlie Symonds.

Doctors reportedly used cartilage from her rib for a bone graft across the bridge of her nose in one of her most ambitious surgeries yet.

See her transformation through the years below.

1985

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1996

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2004

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2006

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2010

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2015

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2016

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2017

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2018

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2022

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2025

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