EastEnders’ Shana Swash gushes about her ‘normal’ job – after starring in the soap’s most controversial storyline EVER
EastEnders star Shana Swash has come a long way since starring in one of the soap’s most controversial storylines.
The 32-year-old actress played teenager Demi Miller, who shocked viewers by giving birth to a baby at the age of 13 after she arrived at the square with her family and their ice cream truck in tow.
She also appeared alongside her real-life brother Joe Swash, who starred as her on-screen sibling Mickey Miller.
But since leaving the soap in 2006, actress Shana has retired from acting and set up her own pop-up coffee shop in a North London trailer, telling The sun it was the lockdown that inspired her to start her own business.
She said: ‘I really fell in love with coffee and the lockdown gave me the push to get out of my comfort zone and start my own business.
Revolving: EastEnders star Shana Swash quit acting to set up her own pop-up coffee shop almost 20 years after starring in the soap
Shocking: The actress played teenager Demi Miller, who shocked viewers by giving birth to a baby at the age of 13
Honestly, I loved every minute of it. I’m on my own, running it full time on a daily basis and being your local barista in a park near where I grew up.
“It’s allowed me to meet a lot of people, like the really die-hard EastEnders fans, and I’ve become friends with them too.”
When Shana joined EastEnders she was 13 years old, and her character Demi immediately caused a stir due to her teenage pregnancy.
After the birth of her daughter Aleesha, she cut ties with the child’s father, Leo, but later the couple fled Walford together when she feared his family was planning to move to Scotland.
After Leo became addicted to heroin, he tragically died of an overdose and Demi was reunited with her family.
She left the square in 2006 when her mother Rosie decided to leave her father Keith and start a new life with her daughter in the Cotswolds.
Shana added that she has continued to act since she left EastEnders, with roles in Doctors, Top Boy and My Feral Heart which earned her a nomination for the British Independent Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress.
She next stars in Love Without Walls, a British indie film that follows the struggles of a young married couple after they become homeless.
Gushing: Shana launched her own pop-up close to a North London park, with her brother, presenter Joe Swash, a regular (pictured)
Bring the drama! She was part of the Miller family alongside Joe, who played Mickey, and starred on the soap from 2004 to 2006.
Shana said she even thought she was only 13 when she got the part, she credits her mother Kiffy for keeping herself, and Joe grounded.
She also admitted that when her character was axed by bosses, she found it “hard” to accept, but she would be open to reprising her role if she could show her nasty side as the nasty Square villain Janine Butcher.
Her brother Joe won I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in 2008, and is now married to presenter Stacey Solomon.
They have three children, Belle, three months, Rose, 15 months, and son Rex, four, and Joe also has son Harry, 15, from his relationship with Emma Sophocleous.
