EastEnders, Hollyoaks and I'm a Celeb star Rita Simons announces engagement

Rita Simons is known for playing Marie Fielding in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks and Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders, before being killed off along with her sister Ronnie on New Year’s Day 2017.

She shared a photo of herself, Ben Harlow and the ring to Instagram and wrote “… so this happened!” alongside some ring emojis.

Former X Factor star Fleur East, model and TV presenter Lisa Snowdon, TV presenter Denise Van Outen and actress Claire Sweeney were among the famous faces congratulating her in the comments.

Blue singer Duncan James wrote “Love u so much! Congrats to the both of u! Jadore !!” while DIY SOS star Nick Knowles wrote: “Huge congratulations xx.”

EastEnders star Diane Parish said: “I’m thrilled for you both.”

Simons, who was formerly married to Theo Silveston, made her Hollyoaks debut as Joel Dexter’s mother Marie in 2024.

In an episode of ITVBe’s Drama Queens, which follows the lives of a number of soap actresses, Simons said she met fiance Ben when she was playing Paulette in the musical Legally Blonde and said he was “my UPS guy, you know the one that goes ‘I’ve got a package’.”

“We were mates and then a couple of years later he asked me out on a date, we’ve been together ever since,” she said.

She appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2018, BBC One’s Celebrity MasterChef in 2021 and BBC Two’s Pilgrimage in 2023.