Popular BBC soap EastEnders has welcomed two new faces as Josh Goodwin arrives in Walford alongside his adoptive mother, Sandra.

Earlier this week on the BBC soap, Sandra (Dawn Steele) came looking for answers after Josh’s (Joshua Vaughan) twin sister, Jasmine Fisher (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness), was charged with the murder of their biological father, Anthony Trueman (Nicholas Bailey).

Denise Fox (Diane Parish) and her sister Kim (Tameka Empson) wasted no time in quizzing Sandra about her interest in Jasmine, but were soon taken aback by the teen’s backstory, reports The Record.

Sandra revealed she and her husband, Keith, had initially taken in both Jasmine and Josh when they were four years old. Zoe Slater (Michelle Ryan) gave the siblings up for adoption shortly after birth.

Kim then asked why she decided to give up Jasmine, to which Sandra replied: “There was an incident, and it was decided it was best if we separated the twins.”

When Kim tried to press Sandra on “the incident”, Sandra said she didn’t want to talk about it, adding: “I can’t allow myself to go there.”

Sandra said she then formally adopted Josh, leading to Jasmine deciding she never wanted to see either of them again. So far, Sandra is keeping the facts about Jasmine’s past close to her chest.

Who plays Sandra in EastEnders?

Dawn Steele is playing Sandra, and soap fans will recognise the actress thanks to her remarkable 25-year career.

The 50-year-old is particularly celebrated for her performances in Holby City as Ange Godard, Wild at Heart as Alice Collins, Monarch of the Glen as Lexie MacDonald and Shetland as Stella Quinn.

Dawn hails from Glasgow and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, going on to graduate with first-class honours in 1998. Her big break came in 1999 when she landed the role of Alexandra in Monarch of the Glen, and she’s gone on to find huge success as an actress.

The star now resides in Whitstable, Kent, with her husband, Paul Blair, and their daughter, Coco. Dawn tends to keep her personal life private, but occasionally shares snaps of her home by the sea on Instagram.

She can be found regularly swimming in the ocean or practising at-home yoga, usually accompanied by her beloved pet dog.

Who is Dawn Steele married to?

Dawn married Paul Blair in June 2017 in a stunning ceremony on the beach in Whitstable.

Previously talking about the special day, she told Daily Record: “It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was amazing. We married at a venue which is on the beach, it was so sunny and gorgeous and we really couldn’t have asked for more. Now people understand why we live in Whitstable.”

However, her wedding took place around the same time she was filming wedding scenes for River City. Dawn admitted she got “sick” of talking about weddings in the end, and her on-screen hen do even overlapped with her real-life celebrations.

“What was funny was things like Annie’s hen do, I literally took off the sash and the deely boppers for her hen do when I was filming and then got in the car and went to my own hen weekend and put a sash back on. It was just too weird,” she admitted.

Dawn’s health battles

Dawn has occasionally spoken about her personal life over the years, and she previously revealed she suffered a stroke at the age of 37.

The actress’s health scare occurred in 2013, and she was told she had a hole in her heart. Initially, Dawn thought she was having a migraine before discovering she had suffered a stroke. She said the ordeal “flipped everything on its head” and “life changed a lot”, in an interview with BBC South East Today.

At the time, she said: “I just have to be real thankful that I had nothing afterwards. I’m not learning how to talk again, I’m not learning how to walk.

“As soon as you tell people that you’ve had a stroke, everyone has a story. It’s made me look at life differently, and it’s made me be more appreciative, I think, and to try and live in the here and now.”

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer