Milanka Brooks: Actress who starred in TV sitcom 'Benidorm' sues UK gym chain after mum overheated in sauna and died

Milanka Brooks, who starred in TV sitcoms 'Benidorm', 'The Windsors' and 'My Family,' as well as satire ' Black Mirror ', is seeking damages over the death of her 75-year-old mum Mileva Brooks. Her mum died from heatstroke after using the sauna at an Everlast gym in Cheltenham in August 2022.

A coroner's inquest in September 2023 found that the pensioner died three days after being rushed to hospital when other gym users alerted staff that she had collapsed in the sauna and was experiencing breathing difficulties. Now the actress is suing the owner of the Everlast gym chain, Sports Direct Fitness Ltd, at London's High Court, seeking up to £100,000 in compensation over her mum's death.

Mileva Brooks, who lived at Lypiatt Terrace, Cheltenham, had joined the gym six months earlier. Roland Wooderson, assistant coroner for Gloucestershire said that the former model had "died from the effects of heatstroke” after being "found unresponsive in the sauna of the gym". He had earlier heard medical evidence that Mileva's body temperature was 39.2 degrees centigrade when it was measured by paramedics who attended the scene.

Milanka Brooks, 41, found fame starring in a number of TV sitcoms after being cast in multi award-winning BBC1 sitcom My Family in 2000 after graduating from drama school. She had a regular role in ITV's 'Benidorm', playing Johnny Vegas' fiancée, Ionela, played Princess Svetlana in Channel 4 ’s British Royal family parody ‘The Windsors,’ and Nigel Planer's wife Elena, in 2014 BBC2 comedy, 'Boomers'.

She then found success in a high-profile role as a blue-faced alien crew member, Elena Tulaska, in the multi-Emmy Award winning Black Mirror episode, USS Callister, in 2017. In online posts, the actress has spoken repeatedly of her and her mum's close relationship calling her "the light and inspiration of my life," her "partner in crime" and "best friend in the world".