A former Strictly Come Dancing winner looked unrecognisable as she got into character for her new Channel 5 drama.
The 41-year-old actress won the BBC competition in 2010 and lifted the Glitterball trophy with professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev.
Now, she seems a far cry from the glitz and glamour of the show, as she showed a serious expression in a new promo shoot for The Teacher, which aired this week.
She stars in the show alongside Irish actor Emmett J Scanlan, Will Mellor and Sheridan Smith.
The actress is also no stranger to soap operas and is best known for her portrayal of Dawn Swann in BBC’s EastEnders. But can you guess who she is?
A former Strictly Come Dancing winner looked unrecognisable as she got into character for her new Channel 5 drama
The 41-year-old actress (right) won the BBC contest in 2010 and lifted the Glitterball trophy alongside professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev (pictured in The Teacher)
That’s right, it’s Kara Tointon!
She is playing the role of Dani Oxley in Channel 5’s gritty new drama The Teacher, the first episode of which aired on 9 September.
Dani is an art teacher who is having trouble in her marriage and feels exhausted after turning 40, but then she makes a huge mistake.
On a school trip, she has a secret date with another teacher while in charge of a group of sixth graders. But when she returns, she discovers that one of the children has disappeared.
It is gradually discovered that the boy has drowned in a kayak, but many questions remain unanswered and the police begin a murder investigation involving Dani, her lover Jimmy (Will Mellor) and her husband Tim (Emmett J. Scanlan), who is also a teacher at the school.
The first series of the Channel 5 show, starring Sheridan Smith, was a huge success and fans will be instantly drawn into the mysteries of this dramatic four-part story.
In the drama, Kara looks very different to the sequins and sparkles of Strictly, after winning the show fourteen years ago.
She continued to have great success thanks to the fame of the show and achieving victory is one of the things she is most known for.
That’s right, it’s… Kara Tointon! She won Strictly in 2010 and lifted the Glitterball trophy alongside professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev.
Kara has found great success thanks to the show’s fame and achieving victory is one of the things she is most known for.
Stricly gave Kara’s career such a boost that she told You Magazine that appearing on the show changed her life.
She received critical acclaim when she starred in plays such as Absent Friends and Relatively Speaking, and appeared in the hit ITV drama Mr Selfridge, playing Rosalie, daughter of department store founder Harry Selfridge.
She was also praised for her singing and dancing when she played Maria in ITV’s The Sound of Music Live.
Such was the boost Strictly gave to Kara’s career that she told You Magazine that appearing on the show changed her life.
This also led to her having a three-year relationship with her dance partner Artem, but they amicably split in 2015 due to conflicting work schedules that prevented them from spending time together.
She now lives in Norway with her fiancé Marius Jensen and their children Frey, five, and Helly, three.
Artem, the former Strictly pro with whom Kara won the show, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in California last month.
The dancer was booked into the Napa County Jail in late August, according to online jail records.
Chigvintsev’s arrest came just days after he celebrated his second wedding anniversary with his wife, WWE star Nikki Bella.
Artem Chigvintsev (pictured), the former Strictly pro with whom Kara won the show, was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in California last month.
Mugshot of Artem Chigvintsev after being booked into the Napa County Jail Thursday morning
She posted on Instagram: “Happy anniversary my love. I can’t imagine my life without you. You are my everything.”
The Russian dancer joined Strictly during the eighth series in 2010, where he was paired with Kara.
The 42-year-old also reached the semi-final of the show in 2011 with actress Holly Valance, before partnering TV veteran Fern Britton in the 2012 series.
His last partner was Coronation Street star Natalie Gumede in 2013, and the pair came in second place.
Chigvintsev subsequently moved to the US version of Strictly, Dancing With The Stars, where in 2017 he teamed up with his future wife, Nikki Bella.
The couple have one son, who was born in 2020, just hours before Nikki’s twin sister Brie Bella announced the arrival of her second child.
The siblings starred on the E! reality show Total Bellas for five years.
Nikki Bella and Chigvintsev previously said they found out they were expecting just two and a half weeks after getting engaged in Paris, and are set to tie the knot in 2022.
