Tamzin Outhwaite has reflected on her eldest child coming out as transgender, saying he’s now ‘thriving’ after a ‘long journey’.

The EastEnders actress, 55, has two children with Lucifer star Tom Ellis, 47, to whom she was married from 2006 to 2014. These are Marnie, 12, and Flo, 17.

Last July, Tamzin spoke about Flo’s identity publicly for the first time, saying he came out as trans when he was ‘about 10 or 11’.

‘I’ve got two kids. I did have two daughters, and now I have a son and a daughter,’ she told the Parenting Hell podcast. ‘That’s quite easy for me to say now, but it wasn’t maybe six or seven years ago.’

Now, Tamzin has shared how recent years have brought her family closer.

‘It’s been a long journey. A very long journey, but we’re in a great place now,’ she told The Mirror at the British Diversity Awards.

She added sweetly of Flo: ‘I’m just happy that he’s happy, and that’s how I feel at the moment. He’s thriving, absolutely thriving.’

Tamzin initially decided to open up about navigating parenting with a trans child to encourage compassion and understanding, feeling proud to use her platform for such a purpose.

Still, there are boundaries in place, which she remains mindful of.

‘I’m not allowed to talk about him [Flo],’ she said. ‘I was only allowed to talk about him on Rob [Beckett] and Josh [Widdicombe]’s podcast, Parenting Hell, because it’s his favourite podcast.

‘So I was allowed to talk about him with both of those two, but I’m not allowed to talk about him anywhere else, and I respect that decision.’

Appearing on the podcast last year, Tamzin declared that being trans is ‘not the most interesting thing’ about Flo as she showered him with praise.

‘He’s an incredibly funny, intelligent boy. And I’m watching him grow into a wonderful human who’s very talented.

‘And to see him thriving is just nothing but relief and joy for me, really. Because there were some dark times.’

She went on to share that therapy was a key tool in helping her understand things from Flo’s perspective because ‘until you’re going through it yourself with your child, it’s difficult to judge the situation’.

‘I think if you push back on a kid, they’ll want to do the opposite of what their parent says,’ she mused. ‘I didn’t say, “You can’t be that,” but it was a distressing time. We worked together as a family and with outside help.’

Tamzin added that ‘every child is different’ and it’s important to be ‘sensitive’.

‘The whole LGBT community get a bit of a hard rap at the moment – it’s quite tough, I think. It is a hot topic.’

She concluded about where things stand now: ‘Now we’re in a really wonderful place as a family. Flo is in a wonderful place as a brilliant actor, singer, writer, and director in his sixth form. And Marnie is thriving.’

Tamzin, who rose to fame as Mel Owen in Albert Square, is currently single, having split from much younger boyfriend Tom Child in 2024 after six years together.

However, she has insisted they are still ‘best mates’, since Tom was ‘around for the whole of, like, Flo’s transitioning period’, as well as Marnie growing up.

‘He is still a member of the family. We’ve been not together for over a year,’ she said.

‘The kids often say to him, “When you meet someone, or even if you have, how are you going to explain this situation to your girlfriends?”‘

As for her ex-husband, their soured relationship also seems to have healed after he ‘walked out’ on her and their kids.

The Miranda star, who has been married to Meaghan Oppenheimer since 2019, allegedly confessed to cheating on his wife with American actress Emilie de Ravin in 2013.

Marking 10 years since the breakdown of their marriage, Tamzin wrote on social media in 2023: ‘Ten years since the father of my kids walked out on us for the final time. I still meet new people on jobs who reveal more infidelities and lies he committed.

‘But thankfully my heart and soul are clear and clean and I could not be happier right now.’

The former soap actress soon deleted her post but followed it up with: ‘Thank you all for your messages re my now deleted tweet.I was marking the 10 year anniversary with pride, a feeling of triumph & genuine gratitude.

‘I understand it has triggered some people. For anyone struggling, the most important relationship you will ever have is with yourself.’

But last August, she re-posted pictures of Tom with their kids on Instagram after they joined him at the premiere of Netflix‘s The Thursday Night Murder Club.

Tamzin added: ‘My heart is bursting #suchaproudmama [love heart emoji].’