'I just want to be me' EastEnders' Luisa Bradshaw-White on being a gay role model
SOAP star Luisa Bradshaw-White has opened up about her upcoming wedding to fiancé Annette Yeo.
EastEnders star Luisa Bradshaw-White and her fiance Annette Yeo
The 40-year-old actress, who plays Tina Carter in EastEnders, stars in the week's issue of OK! magazine with her partner - who she has a civil partnership with.
After their civil partnership in March 2006, Luisa and Annette explain why they have decided to get married.
Explaining why they're now planning on getting married, Luisa said: "We know we’re going to grow old together – I don’t want anyone else. We’re getting married because we legally can now."
The couple, who have been together for 15 years, are now parents to two daughters - aged 12 and 13 - and couldn't be happier.
The happy couple have been together for 15 years and have two daughters
Luisa and Annette are planning to get married now that it's legal
We know we’re going to grow old together – I don’t want anyone else. We’re getting married because we legally can now
They were matched with their daughters when they were just three and four and Luisa told the publication: "We saw a picture and I burst into tears.
"I knew the girls were my children. I’d bought them clothes before we had even been approved to have them."
Luisa and Annette describe their parenting as a "team effort", and confirmed their girls will "both be bridesmaids" at their upcoming ceremony.
Luisa revelaed that she was keen to do a photo shoot for the magazine as she knows beinf openly gay may help others come out.
"People ask me if I want to be a gay role model and I say, 'no I just want to be me', and if I do help people to come out then that’s fantastic.
Luisa's EastEnders character Tina Carter is currently involved in a romance with Sonia Fowler
"That’s why it was important to me to do this shoot."
Her character in the BBC One soap is currently enjoying a romance with Sonia Fowler (played by Natalie Cassidy) and Luisa is more than pleased with the storyline.
"That was meant to be the long-term goal from when I came into the show, and that was the whole reason they brought Tosh in - to give some sort of backstory to Tina," she recently told Diva Magazine.
"And then keep the Tina/Sonia thing running for as long as they could. So it's really nice... we've known about it forever. It's really lovely, and [Cassidy] is lovely to work with."
The full interview with Luisa can be seen in this week's OK! magazine which is out now.