Watch the trailer for The Teacher
Kara Tointon is the star of Channel 5's new steamy drama The Teacher - and she's had a busy life off-screen. The latest series focuses on Kara Tointon's Dani, who embarks on a spontaneous affair with a colleague but quickly spirals out of control.
As events take a sinister turn, the art teacher is forced to risk everything and lie to her own family and close friends. It is the latest role for Kara after her successful stint as struggling mother in Channel 5 drama Too Good To Be True.
The former EastEnders actress first appeared on our screens as an extra on the soap in 1994, before landing the role of Dawn Swann from 2005 to 2009. She was known for her spicy affair with Phil Mitchell before she left with her partner Garry on a boat.
The Strictly Come Dancing winner has also had a string of other notable roles and dated some famous stars. Here is what we know about the life of Kara Tointon.
What is Kara Tointon's career and most famous roles?
Born and raised in Basildon in Essex, Kara Tointon always wanted to be an actress.
Tointon is widely known for her role as Dawn Swann in EastEnders for four years. Dawn was central of many dramatic storylines in the soap, including being held hostage whilst pregnant by May Wright and Rob Minter, her relationship with Garry Hobbs and later an affair with Phil Mitchell.
Kara left Walford to expand her acting career and appeared in the final series of The Bill as Ami Ryan, and took to the stage to play Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, Evelyn in play Absent Friends and Giny in Relatively Speaking at the Wyndham's Theatre.
She played Kate Middleton in The Windsors West End production and Maria in ITV's live production of The Sound of Music Live. In 2010, Kara Tointon was paired with Artem Chigvintsev as they waltzed to win Strictly Come Dancing Series 8. The duo were awarded the first 10 of the series and regularly topped the leaderboard.
She also starred in ITV drama Mr Selfridge, and was recently seen in Father Brown and Channel 5's thriller Too Good to Be True.
The actress also presented her own BBC Three documentary about her own dyslexia called Kara Tointon: Don't Call Me Stupid. She revealed she struggled with reading and had the reading age of 12 as she investigated the impact of dyslexia on peoples' lives.
Is Kara Tointon married? Kara and her famous exes
The Basildon-born actress has enjoyed romances with her EastEnders co-stars. She was previously in a relationship with James Alexandrou, who played Martin Fowler. After their split, Kara moved on with James Bourne, a member of pop rock band Busted. Kara then dated co-star Joe Swash, who is now married to Stacey Solomon and played Mickey Miller in the BBC soap.
She acted alongside her then-boyfriend Joe Swash in a Snow White pantomime in Bristol's Hippodrome in 2009. However, rumoured disputes behind the scenes led to their split.
Yearning for marriage with her co-star, she eventually found romance on Strictly Come Dancing. In 2010, she joined the Strictly ensemble and paired up with professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev, but they parted ways after four years.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Kara revealed that she wanted to dedicate her attention to her forthcoming role in Mr Selfridge, a period drama. From 2015 to 2016, she portrayed Rosalie De Bolotoff.
Kara met Marius Jensen, a Norwegian chiropractor, in 2016 and they became engaged two years later. The pair welcomed two children, Frey, now five, and Helly, now three.
However, it was reported in October 2022 that Kara and Marius had separated before getting married.
Who is Kara's acting sister?
There is another successful actress in the family with Kara's sister, Hannah Tointon. The 36-year-old is known for her roles as Katy Fox in Hollyoaks, Tara Brown in The Inbetweeners, Kiki in The Hour and The Midwich Cuckoos.
The Tointon sisters have even starred together in Mr Selfridge's third series as Harry Selfridge's daughters. Hannah has also showcased her talent in the West End, taking over the role of Dawn in Waitress in December 2019.
Hannah has been living with her partner Joe Thomas, who played Simon Cooper in The Inbetweeners, in London since 2012. They got engaged in 2017 and welcomed their first child together in October 2022.
