Kara Tointon is no stranger to small screen dramas but what is there to know about the star’s personal life?

Channel 5 thriller Captivated has dropped on Netflix and already fans cannot get enough of if with the limited series reaching the number two spot on the streamer’s most-watched list.

Originally debuting on Valentine’s Day last year, Captivated sees single mum Rachel (played by Kara Tointon) accept a job as a cleaner from mysterious millionaire Elliot (Allen Leech).

But everything isn’t quite as it seems as Rachel soon discovers that Elliot is keeping a dark secret.

As Captivated continues to entertain Netflix fans, here’s everything there is to know about actress Kara Tointon.

Tointon rose to fame as Dawn Swann, the step-sister of Joe Swash character Mickey Miller for four years, in EastEnders.

From her relationship with married man Rob Minter (Stuart Laing) to her brief affair with Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden), Dawn really made her mark in Walford.

Dawn got her happily ever after with Garry Hobbs (Ricky Groves) as the pair sailed off on a canal boat along with her daughter Summer in 2009.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Tointon’s decision to leave as EastEnders producers had decided not to renew her contract.

At the time, she told Daily Star: “I was heartbroken when they told me and I have to admit I did cry.”

Inside Kara Tointon’s life from EastEnders exit to health scare and surgery (Image: CHANNEL 5)

Actress Kara Tointon starred as Dawn Swann in EastEnders. (Image: BBC)

A year after her EastEnders exit, Tointon went on to join another hit BBC show, this time, Strictly Come Dancing for season eight.

She was partnered up with Russian-American dancer Artem Chigvintsev and the pair went on to win the entire show, beating presenter Matt Baker and celebrity psychologist Pamela Stephenson.

The 42-year-old actress started dating her dance partner Artem after the show and were together for more than three years before their break-up in 2013 or early 2014.

Actress Kara Tointon won Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 with Artem Chigvintsev. (Image: BBC)

Tointon was left heartbroken in early 2019 when her mum Carol Tointon died of ovarian cancer.

Paying tribute to her mum on Instagram a few months after her passing, Tointon wrote: “I miss you. I miss your voice. I miss your smile. I miss your smell.

“I miss your hug. I miss your jokes. I miss how you made me feel. I miss your everything.”

Earlier this year, Tointon had a double mastectomy and her fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure after discovering she had the rare BRCA1 gene which means she had a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

She explained to her Instagram followers: “We are finding out more and more about personal genetics and most people believe in surveillance, but after doing this for a couple of years, having MRIs, waiting for biopsy, we decided that this was the right decision for me and my family.

“I wasn’t an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made and I can now with hindsight talk about it properly.”

Actress Kara Tointon with her Hollyoaks actress sister Hannah Tointon. (Image: GETTY)

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Tointon has had several famous boyfriends over the years, most notably her EastEnders co-stars Joe Swash and Martin Fowler actor James Alexandrou.

She also had relationships with Busted singer James Bourne and her Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Artem Chigvintsev.

Tointon has been in a long-term relationship with chiropractor Marius Jensen who she shares two sons with but it’s unclear if they’re still together.

She is also the older sister of actress Hannah Tointon who is known for playing Katy Fox in Hollyoaks and Tara Brown in The Inbetweeners.

In recent years, Tointon’s life has looked very different as she and her family have moved to Norway which is where Jensen is originally from.

She told the Daily Mail:

“It happened really naturally as we were spending more and more time over here. It’s so easy to get back to London and it just seems to work.

“It’s such a beautiful country and a great place to bring up children and I’m definitely adapting to the Scandinavian lifestyle.”

A major reason why Tointon chose to make the big move was because she became a mum.

Opening up to Mirror, she shared: “Now I have children so my priority is to be at home as much as possible.

“I live in Norway now – we’ve upped sticks and we’re there. At the moment, we’re settling into Norwegian lifestyle and loving it, so I’m lucky.”