Tamzin Outhwaite reveals eldest child, 17, is transgender
25 July 2025, 11:51
Tamzin Outhwaite says she regrets how she first reacted when her son told her he was transgender, initially calling it 'ludicrous'.
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Tamzin Outhwaite, 54, has revealed that her eldest child, 17-year-old Flo, is transgender in an emotional interview where she opens up on the journey her family have been through.
The former EastEnders actress shares two children with her ex-husband Tom Ellis, Flo and 12-year-old Marnie. The couple divorced in 2014, but continue to co-parent the kids.
Tamzin shared that she was "distressed" at first when Flo came out seven years ago, but says that - after family therapy and open conversations - she and her children are thriving.
Speaking on the Parenting Hell podcast, Tamzin admitted that she wishes she could go back to the time she was first met with the news about Flo's gender identity, after revealing that her mind initially went to the thought: "That's ludicrous."
"The way I reacted at the very beginning I would love to change," Tamzin said: "Because I think until you're going through it yourself with your child it's very difficult to judge other people or to judge a situation because you don't expect that to happen to you or your child."
She continued: "What I did initially, I was like 'don't be ridiculous', I didn't say don't be ridiculous but my mind went to 'that's ludicrous' and working back from that to talking through it."
Now, Tamzin is happy with having a son and a daughter, opposed to having two daughters, however, she admits that it wasn't that way to start with.
"I've got two kids and I did have two daughters and now I have a son and a daughter and that's quite easy for me to to say now but it wasn't maybe six or seven years ago," Tamzin explained.
Reflecting on the journey they have been through as a family, and the happiness both Flo and Marnie have found, she went on: "We live in a very happy household now, full of jokes, and it's my favourite place to be at home.
"You know they say that as a mum, probably as a parent, that you're only ever as happy and your unhappiest child and so with that in mind we have had some pretty unhappy years.
"Now we're in a really wonderful place as a family, Flo is in a wonderful place as a brilliant actor, singer, writer, director in his sixth form at school, and Marnie is thriving.
"So instead of just trying to get through difficult times we are now all thriving and the relief and joy is very tangible."
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Speaking about her son, Tamzin reflected: "It was about when Flo was about 10 or 11 and the maddest thing is, I suppose, is that it's not the most interesting thing about him.
"He's an incredible, 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 was some dark times."
She also shared that while Flo had therapy, the whole family did as well, in order to navigate what they were going through.
"Speaking to other people and realising you weren't alone was a really, really helpful thing," Tamzin noted.
Speaking of how she dealt with Flo one-on-one during this time, Tamzin said: "I became almost like a padded cell around Flo, almost going 'it's okay whatever you want, you want to do this, you want to do that, it's all okay', because I think if you push back on a kid they're going to want to do the opposite of what their parent says so I made everything a possibility. I didn't say you can't be that but it was a very distressing time."
Her youngest child, 12-year-old Marnie, has been the "most insightful" family member during this time, Tamzin said: "From pretty much day one when Marnie was six years old has said 'this is my brother Flo'."
Thankfully, Flo has experienced acceptance at understanding at school, something that Tamzin said wouldn't have always been possible.
She even shared her initial concerns about how her father would react to the news: "My dad's brilliant now and on board, but there was a time where I didn't want Flo to have the wrath of what my dad had to say about the whole thing."
