EastEnders' Tamzin Outhwaite speaks from 'sick bed' after selling goods at car boot sale

Tamzin Outhwaite has fiercely refuted rumours suggesting she's "fallen on hard times" after being seen selling personal items at a car boot sale.

The 53 year old actress, known for her role on EastEnders, was spotted over the weekend at a Chigwell, Essex, market, where she sold an array of goods including t-shirts and posters. Eyewitnesses were surprised to see the celebrity amidst the stalls, with some commenting on the items she had for sale.

However, taking to social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Tamzin shut down claims and revealed her car boot sale is a family tradition.

Addressing her 270,800 followers, the actress revealed in a later tweet that she is currently in her "sick bed" after she clarified: "Our yearly car boot sale is a family tradition. Last Sunday 6 adults and 6 kids met up in our cars and took up almost a whole row. We had the best time. Teaching our kids who range from 15 down to 4 that selling your unwanted toys and clothes is a great way... save money. We had the best time and we are already planning another. I am currently filming for BBC so I haven't fallen on hard times, so to shame someone for teaching kids to be resourceful is pretty low. And I would never sell posters of me..."

She continued, detailing the day's success: "My kids made quite a bit of cash as did my brothers and cousin, and with my takings I got us a curry that night. If anyone knows of a great car boot sale we can do next please holla!!! " Fans have since rallied around Tamzin online, commending her approach to family and finances, with one supporter posting: "Brilliant good for you. A great lesson... And 4 seems a great family too."

"Good for you Tamzin. We love a good car boot," praised one fan, while another chimed in: "You don't need to explain to anyone should have turned up in your Mel Owen clothes and shouted out buy off a soap legend it be gone in minutes as you are a soap legend beautiful."

Another supporter added: "Surely in this day of recycle rather than just buy new this is a great thing to do. We have done it - keep sell or throw and I gave my kids the money that we made towards a new purchase they wanted. Kids grow up - toys change to devices - just well done you!".

In a follow-up message, Tamzin revealed she was a bit under the weather and had been tweeting from her "sick bed" as she planned to tune into Mark O'Sullivan's Channel 4 show, The Sitcom.

She penned: "Going to binge watch from my sick bed… thank you @immarkosullivan … I hear amazing things."

Mark replied: "Thank you! And sorry to hear you’re poorly."

The news of Tamzin's visit to a car boot sale comes after an insider told The Sun: "It was funny because she was selling weird-looking things including posters of herself," recounted a shopper from the weekend sale.

"She had quite a few of them. They showed her dressed as Superwoman or something similar. She had a load of T-shirts but people just weren't interested - she had a big old industrial light and lots of blazers, too."

Tamzin is an actress and presenter, who is best known for playing Mel Owens on the BBC soap EastEnders.

She has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, including army series Red Cap and crime drama New Tricks.