Charlie Brooks
Brooks attending the Mindful Drinking Festival 2020
Born	(1981-05-03)3 May 1981 (age 44) Ware, Hertfordshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–present
Known for	Role ofJanine Butcher inEastEnders
Children	1

Charlene Emma Brooks (born 3 May 1981) is an English actress, best known for her role ofJanine Butcher in theBBC soap operaEastEnders. Brooks has also performed in British television showsThe Bill,Wired andBleak House, as well as portraying Anna Fallmont in theNetwork 10 dramaLie With Me.

Brooks has also appeared on several reality television shows, winning theStrictly Come DancingChristmas Special in 2011 and thetwelfth series ofI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2012. She appeared as a contestant on theseventeenth series ofDancing on Ice in 2025.

Charlene Emma Brooks was born on 3 May 1981, inWare,Hertfordshire, England, and moved toBarmouth,Gwynedd when she was a child.^[1][2] Brooks attended Tower House School in Barmouth, and relocated to London to attendRavenscourt Theatre School,Hammersmith.^[2]

On television, Brooks has appeared in episodes ofThe Bill,London's Burning,Jonathan Creek andThe Demon Headmaster.^[2][3]

After her departure fromEastEnders in 2004, Brooks's first role was in the BBC dramaBleak House as Jenny. Brooks has appeared in commercials and voiceovers in the United Kingdom, Europe and the US.^[4]

In 2006, Brooks playedBeverley Allitt in aBBC1Docudrama entitledBeverley Allitt: Angel of Death, alongsideIan Kelsey. Producer Cathy Elliot said: "It's a very sensitive issue and of course it's terrible for the parents to have the whole thing brought up. Each time it's brought up it's painful, but a lot of parents realise it's important it's kept in the public domain and that people are aware that things have happened and that not a lot has been done since".^[5]

She has guest starred inRobin Hood andLove Soup.^[6] In theatre, Brooks, whilst on a break fromEastEnders in 2003, appeared in the playOffice Games alongsideAdam Rickitt.^[7] The play was Brooks'West End debut, and described as "a witty and intelligent political commentary".^[7] In 2007, she appeared inOur Country's Good at theLiverpool Playhouse.^[8]

When executive producerMatthew Robinson re-introduced the character ofJanine Butcher in 1999, after Alexia Demetriou had left the role, Brooks secured the role.^[4][9] Brooks remained in the role until May 2004.

In April 2008, Brooks returned toEastEnders for a guest stint. She was later confirmed to be coming back as a regular character.^[10] She said, "I had doubts to begin with, mainly because of Kiki [her daughter], as I know how full-onEastEnders can be, and then there's that stigma about going back to a soap. But I'm so pleased I did, it was the right decision. Especially with what's going on at the moment, I feel really lucky to have a job and I need the security because of Kiki. I was just going to go back for a year, but I had a meeting with the boss last week and we're going to go for another year. So lots more time to get up to much mischief".^[11][12] Executive producerDiederick Santer said, "I couldn't be more pleased that Charlie Brooks is re-joiningEastEnders. With her appearances last month, she reminded us what a fine actress she is, and what an intriguing, watchable and engaging character she plays as Janine".^[10] She temporarily departed in September 2012, and returned in April 2013 before departing again in March 2014.

In April 2021, it was announced that Brooks had agreed to reprise the role once again for a "huge storyline" and would return later in the year.^[13] She made her on-screen return in September 2021. Brooks appeared in her 1,000th episode as Janine on 10 February 2022.

In January 2019, it was announced thatAlex Oates's playAll in a Row, starring Brooks as Tamora, the mother, was going to be produced by Paul Virides Productions at theSouthwark Playhouse.^[14] The play is based on Oates' ten years of experience caring for severely autistic children and adults, and won the Top Five Play Reading at theBolton Octagon.^[15] The play is about the parents of a profoundly autistic eleven-year-old boy and how they are feeling the night before he is taken to a residential school, when social services feel he needs more support than can be given in their family home.^[16]

Criticisms of the play started to emerge when a video trailer for the production was released showing the autistic character, Laurence, portrayed by a puppet. JournalistFrances Ryan, without having seen it, criticised the play by calling it a "grotesque step backwards".^[17] TheNational Autistic Society, who initially decided to help the production by providing consultation, reacted to theTwitter furore by releasing a statement saying "while recognising some of the play's strengths, we decided we could not support the play overall due to its portrayal of autism, particularly the use of a puppet to depict the autistic character alone."^[18]

Brooks responded by saying: "I understand people's concerns, but I do urge people to come and see the play first before they judge." She also claimed that having a puppet character is essential and that Laurence, the puppet, is very playful. During rehearsals, Brooks visited theQueensmill School for autistic children inShepherd's Bush, talking to the pupils, their teachers and carers. Brooks concluded by stating: "This is a story that is rarely told. I just hope people will come and see it instead of sitting at home getting angry."^[19]

She wonI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2012, beating campmateAshley Roberts.^[20][21] Brooks also narratedBotched Up Bodies onChannel 5. In 2025, Brooks is set to appear as a contestant on theseventeenth series ofDancing on Ice.^[22]

Her fitness DVD became the UK's best-selling fitness DVD release, and Brooks was transformed from "podgy Janine to a sexy new mum".^[23]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCharlie Brooks.

• Charlie Brooks atIMDb 

• 1981 births
• Living people
• English child actresses
• British television actresses
• British musical theatre actresses
• British stage actresses
• British soap opera actresses
• British radio actresses
• I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) winners
• People educated at the Arts Educational Schools
• Actresses from Hertfordshire
• Actors from Ware, Hertfordshire
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• People from Barmouth
• Actresses from Gwynedd

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