Madame Blanc Mysteries guest star Lisa Maxwell keeps to herself these days, but she used to be on ITV’s biggest shows.
Once known for her long-running roles on both The Bill and later Loose Women, Lisa has been a TV star for decades. Apart from stints on Hollyoaks and Celebrity MasterChef, however, she’s not been on our screens much in the last ten years.
Here’s everything you need to know about Lisa Maxwell, including her career, personal life, why she left her biggest roles – and this guest part in Madame Blanc Mysteries.
Who is Lisa Maxwell?
Lisa Maxwell is an English actress, presenter and comedy star. Over a career spanning five decades, her biggest roles were in The Bill and Hollyoaks. She was also a Loose Women panellist for five years.
In 2024, she will guest star in The Madame Blanc Mysteries. She plays Nancy, a woman who is abducted at a surprise birthday party for a friend.
After excusing herself to a restroom, Nancy is snatched by a mystery gloved hand. Jeremy (Robin Askwith) then receives a photo of a bound Nancy from her kidnapper. It’s now a race against time for Jean (Sally Lindsay) and Dom (Steve Edge) to rescue her.
What age is Madame Blanc Mysteries star Lisa Maxwell?
Lisa Maxwell was born in Elephant and Castle, London on November 24, 1963. At the time of writing, Lisa Maxwell is 60 years old.
Lisa grew up on a council estate in Elephant and Castle, bagging her first television roles as an 11 year old.
Lisa Maxwell’s early career
A born entertainer, Lisa made her first TV appearance in 1976 aged just 12 years old. This was in the British sitcom The Many Wives of Patrick, starring Patrick Cargill.
She continued to have small roles as a child actor. By 1982, she beat off 3000 contenders to become a presenter of children’s music programme No Limits.
Her first adult acting role also came in 1982 with the Royal Navy film Remembrance. Timothy Spall and John Altmanwere her co-stars.
She also proved to be quite the comedian, making a name for herself in sketch comedy shows including The Les Dennis Laughter Show (1987-1991) and The Russ Abbot Show (1990). By 1991, her efforts were rewarded with her own sketch comedy show, called The Lisa Maxwell Show. Disappointingly for Lisa, this only lasted six episodes.
Which shows has Lisa Maxwell been in?
By 2002, Lisa was best known as DI Samantha Nixon in ITV police drama The Bill. Sam was an easy-going police officer, whose biggest storylines included being kidnapped by a serial killer. Lisa left the role in 2009.
From March 2009, Lisa became a regular panellist on daytime show Loose Women. However, she left the role in 2014, telling The Sun it was “not the same show and it’s not as much fun as it was.”
“It used to be about a group of women who all know each other really well and have lots of chemistry. It has become a lot more serious and less personal. I miss the laughs and I miss the show coming from the heart.”
“Now it’s just about giving political opinions. But I can’t do that and I think people watching can tell if you’re faking it.”
Next, Lisa appeared in the regular role of Tracey Donovan on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks (2016-2017). Tracey was the former wife of gangster Fraser Black and estranged mother to Clare and Grace. She was later found sleeping with the fishes by Grace in a shocking whodunnit.
She also appeared in Celebrity MasterChef in 2018, alongside Gemma Collins and Spencer Matthews.
Since then, Lisa’s appeared in an episode of Casualty (2022) and, of course, she’ll be a guest star on the latest series of The Madame Blanc Mysteries.
Why did Lisa Maxwell leave The Bill?
Lisa explained on The Paul O’Grady Show in 2009 that she had suffered two miscarriages in 2008 while on The Bill. These contributed to her decision to leave the police drama.
She said: “It was a really sad time for me and now I don’t mind talking about it. It’s not like a secret. In some ways I feel the more I talk about it, the better it is – because I kept it a secret at the time.”
Lisa said that she returned to work after the first miscarriage in Januar. She continued: “In some ways I think it was easier to be Sam than be Lisa. [I was] facing up to a lot of stuff and I just ignored the first one. I thought it was my last chance to [have] a child again – and I was quite kinda down about it but I soldiered on.
“[I] ignored it, like I do everything, and then I was lucky enough to fall pregnant again four months later – and then the same thing happened.”
Her co-star Roberta Taylor eventually convinced Lisa to take time off from the show. It was time that Lisa realised she needed, and she announced her decision to leave the show permanently in January 2009. Her on-screen departure aired in September 2009.
Is Madame Blanc Mysteries star Lisa Maxwell married?
Lisa married her long-term partner Paul Jessup in 2014 after 17 years of dating. She had popped the question to him two years earlier, the day before the leap year on February 2012.
Speaking on Loose Women, Lisa revealed: “I thought I’d say to him, once and for all, ‘Will you marry me?’ And he said, ‘Of course I will Nobby!'”
Paul is the former director of an events management company.
Does Lisa Maxwell have children?
Lisa and Paul have one daughter together, Beau Rose Jessup, who was born on October 11, 1999.
Beau, now 24, has followed in the footsteps of her mum and made quite a name for herself – albeit in a completely different business!
The Sun reported in 2019 that Beau had made £260k from a business helping Chinese parents find a culturally appropriate English name for their children. Beau is a fluent Mandarin speaker.
She started the business in 2015 after her dad’s Chinese business colleague asked her to suggest an English name for her daughter.
Beau realised more parents could be in need of this service, as it is custom for parents to give their child an English name as well as Chinese – and some were choosing strange names such as Mint, Apple and Tree.
She said: “My mum and dad are proud of me and always believed in the idea, although no one anticipated the scale of the success.”
Lisa says that Beau used her profits to fund a social anthropology degree.
What is Lisa Maxwell’s net worth?
According to Idol Net Worth, Lisa Maxwell has an estimated net worth of £11 million.
It sounds like she better improve her game now that Beau’s all grown up!
Read more: Loose Women’s Lisa Maxwell needs physio every week after prosthetic boobs ‘injured her’
Lisa Maxwell appears on The Madame Blanc Mysteries tonight (February 1) on Channel 5 at 9pm.
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