Laila Rouass

Early life

Laila Abdesselam was born on 22 June 1971 to an Indian mother and a Moroccan father, she grew up with six siblings in Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. She was raised Muslim but is now non-practising, although she calls the Islamic faith an important part of her identity.

Career

Rouass worked as a VJ on Channel V in India in the 1990s. While on Channel V, she appeared in a music video for the band Colour Blind, directed by the then creative head of the channel, Shamin Desai.

After moving back to the UK, Rouass became famous for playing the role of Bollywood actress Amber Gates in the cult ITV1 series Footballers' Wives between 2004 and 2006 and, albeit briefly, in the ITV2 spin-off series Footballers' Wives: Extra Time. She also played recurring roles in the British soaps Family Affairs and Hollyoaks, as well as appearing in episodes of I Dream, Casualty and Meet the Magoons. She starred alongside Meera Syal in the television adaptation of Syal's novel Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee.

Rouass was ranked No.87 and No.69 on FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2004 and FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005 respectively.

In 2009 she appeared as Egyptologist Sarah Page in the third series of the ITV science-fiction series Primeval. She left the show when the location of filming was changed to Dublin for series four and five, saying it would be hard to continue participating, for she was a single parent; and her character was subsequently killed off-screen between the third and fourth series.

In spring of 2010, Rouass announced that she would be making a film about Leila Khaled, who led the hijacking of a flight from Rome to Athens in 1969. Rouass stated she had funding for the film.

She played Maya Lahan, a regular character introduced in the ninth series of BBC One drama Spooks which broadcast from September 2010. She guest starred as the evil Colonel Karim in The Sarah Jane Adventures in October 2010. Rouass then joined the cast of the BBC medical drama Holby City, appearing from February 2011 as registrar Sahira Shah. She left Holby City on 17 April 2012, after just 14 months on the show, to take a break to spend time with her family. She returned to the role of Sahira Shah on 9 February 2021.

In 2014 She Appeared In Midsomer Murders as Stephanie King in The Flying Club & then return again as Vanessa Debouverie in 2022 episode A Grain of Truth

She is also currently one of the presenters of "The Channel 4 TV Book Club".

In July 2024, it was announced that Rouass would be joining the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Ayesha Siddhu, a woman from Suki Panesar's past.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

She participated in the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, a BBC One reality show, paired with professional dancer Anton Du Beke, and alongside Footballers' Wives co-star Zöe Lucker.

The pair made it to the last four before being voted off the show on 6 December 2009. She was unable to participate in the final on 19 December 2009 to reprise her partnership with Anton Du Beke due to a last-minute personal emergency.

Film career

Rouass' first film was City of Dreams produced by Feroze Nadiawala, in which she starred opposite Lisa Ray and Saeed Jaffrey. During the years that she was based in India, early in her career, she acted in some Indian films, Aditya Bhattacharya's Indo-Italian Senso unico (1999) and Dev Benegal's Split Wide Open (1999).

In 2000, Rouass starred in Jag Mhundra's controversial film, Bawandar (English title; The Sand Storm), about revenge rapes in Rajasthan, and she made her English-language film debut in 2002 with a small role in The Four Feathers opposite Heath Ledger.

She starred in The Hunt Feast (2004), and in 2006 she was cast in Aditya Raj Kapoor's film Don't Stop Dreaming.

Rouass also appeared in the independent British film Shoot on Sight (2007) opposite Brian Cox, Om Puri and Sadie Frost. In 2008, she appeared in two films, Freebird and the New Zealand funded Apron Strings.

Rouass appeared in the Harlan Coben Netflix original 8 part mini-series Safe where she played Lauren Marshall.

Personal life

In 1990, she married family friend Abdeslam Rouass, but the couple divorced in 2003 without having consummated their marriage. Rouass then lived with London businessman Nasir Khan, with whom she held a commitment ceremony in 2005 before family and friends. She later faced criticism for referring to herself and Khan as a married couple, even though the ceremony had no legal standing. She gave birth to their daughter Inez in February 2007, but ended her relationship with Khan shortly afterwards. In 2011, Khan was sentenced to nine years in prison for his money-laundering role in a £250 million VAT fraud conspiracy.

From 2010 to 2011, Rouass dated celebrity chef James Petrie. In 2012, she began dating professional snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan, to whom she became engaged in February 2013. Rouass and O'Sullivan appeared together as guests on BBC's Saturday Kitchen in February 2021. In February 2022, Rouass announced on social media that the couple had ended their relationship, but they subsequently reconciled before separating again in September 2024. They reconciled again in January 2025 and married in June of that year. She features in the 2023 documentary about his playing career, Ronnie O'Sullivan: The Edge of Everything.

In August 2017, Rouass was caught up in the Barcelona terrorist attack, writing on Twitter during the incident that she was hiding in a restaurant freezer.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

References

1. (1 October 2009). "Rouass hits back at fake marriage claim".
2. (29 September 2009). "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing, Series 7, Laila Rouass - launch interview". [[BBC]].
3. (19 June 1996). "The Language of Fashion". The Outlook Group.
4. Joshi, Namrata. (24 April 2000). "Givin' It A Good Shot". The Outlook Group.
5. Kilkelly, Daniel. (12 May 2010). "Laila Rouass explains 'Primeval' exit". [[Digital Spy]].
6. Walker, Tim. (10 March 2010). "Footballers' Wives star Laila Rouass films life of terrorist Leila Khaled". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
7. Wightman, Catriona. (16 September 2010). "'Spooks' – Meet The Newbies: Laila Rouass". [[Digital Spy]].
8. "The Sarah Jane Adventures – Death of the Doctor". BBC.
9. Kilkelly, Daniel. (7 November 2010). "Laila Rouass joins 'Holby City'". [[Digital Spy]].
10. [http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-tv-book-club/articles/laila-rouass The TV Book Club – Presenters – Laila Rouass – Channel 4]
11. "Laila Rouass makes EastEnders guest appearance". [[BBC]].
12. Conlan, Tara. (5 October 2009). "Strictly Come Dancing: BBC receives scores of complaints over racist remark". [[The Guardian]].
13. Conlan, Tara. (13 February 2022). "Laila Rouass on the Graham Norton Radio Show". [[The Graham Norton Radio Show]].
14. (7 March 2003). "Hollyoaks – Laila Rouass". [[Channel 4]].
15. Sehgal, Nutan. (23 August 2001). "Wisecracking their way to Bollywood". The Tribune Trust.
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17. Marks, Loma-Ann. (16 July 2008). "Laila Rouass". Open Magazine Ltd.
18. (2004). "Hunt Feast shooting in Syria with Iraq theme". FilmFestivals.com.
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20. (17 December 2010). "Laila Rouass". [[Channel 4]].
21. (6 June 2018). "Cast of Netflix's Safe: Your guide to the mystery drama starring Michael C. Hall". [[Daily Mirror]].
22. Wilson, Andy. (6 February 2021). "Ronnie O'Sullivan wife: Is the snooker star married to actress Laila Rouass?".
23. People. (6 September 2008). "TV Laila boots out cheating hubby".
24. Buxton, Olivia. (24 March 2012). "I had to quit Holby, I was missing my daughter grow up: Laila Rouass says you can't have it all".
25. (20 December 2011). "Gang of 15 jailed for £250m VAT fraud". BBC News.
26. Lubin, Rhian. (28 September 2016). "Laila Roauss opens up on life with Ronnie O'Sullivan".
27. (4 February 2013). "Snooker star Ronnie rockets to happiness after proposing to Laila Rouass". Hello.
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29. Kent, Sara-Aisha. (16 February 2022). "Snooker legend Ronnie O'Sullivan and Laila Rouass split after 10 years together".
30. Scheer, Victoria. (13 May 2022). "Laila Rouass shares how she got back together with Ronnie O'Sullivan".
31. (27 June 2025). "Ronnie O'Sullivan and Laila Rouass MARRIED: Couple finally tie the knot 10 months after split in low-key town hall ceremony in Shadwell". GB News.
32. Munro, Lucretia. (21 November 2023). "Actress Laila Rouass shares 'soul destroying' times with Ronnie O'Sullivan".
33. (18 August 2017). "Strictly Come Dancing and Holby City's Laila Rouass caught up in Barcelona attack – BBC Newsbeat". BBC Newsbeat.
34. "Laila Rouass makes EastEnders guest appearance". BBC.
35. (10 May 2003). "The British Soap Awards 2003". Celebrities Worldwide.
36. Wrightman, Catriona. (27 September 2011). "National Television Awards 2012: The nominees". [[Digital Spy]].