BBC EastEnders’ Sharon Watts’ real life from staggering net worth to Holby City husband

EastEnders icon Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) very rarely gets a chance to catch her breath between the various twists and turns of her extraordinarily dramatic life, and the past few weeks have been no exception. Having barely recovered from the kidnap of her young son Albie, poor Sharon was in for yet another life-altering shock after taking the four-year-old to be checked over medically following his ordeal.

Thankfully, doctors found nothing to be concerned about, but did discover that the youngster had Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AAT), a genetic condition that can result in ‘a predisposition to liver and lung disease later in life’. Sharon was informed that both she and Albie’s dad Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters) would need to have the gene in order to pass it down to Albie, and so was stunned to learn that she was the only carrier.

With Albie’s parentage suddenly up in the air, it would appear that Sharon’s ex-husband Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) is the father, throwing a serious spanner in the works ahead of her upcoming wedding to Keanu. As Sharon prepares to say, ‘I do’, we take a look at actor Letitia’s life away from Walford, from her staggering net worth to her marriage to a Holby City star.

Marriage to Holby City hubby

Letitia, 56, was previously married to Holby City star Jason Pethers, who played Rob Greening in the hospital drama, with the lovebirds tying the knot in September 2002, at Marylebone’s All Saints’ Church. Sadly, their love story came to an end in 2007, with the pair reportedly divorcing on account of Jason’s hesitation to start a family.

Speaking with the Mirror at the time, Letitia’s mother-in-law Joan Pethers revealed: “They both wanted children but Jason wanted to wait until he could afford it. She had a lot more money than him. I think, like any man, he wanted to look after his wife. They were happy. It was no dramatic thing – they haven’t found someone else. I guess they just fell out of love for the time being.” Joan went on to add that Letitia, then 39, had been left heartbroken by the split, while Jason was still very much in love with her.

Reflecting on their ‘horrible and devastating’ separation during a separate interview with the Mirror, Hertfordshire-born Letitia shared that she and Jason were ‘in a good place’, despite having gone their separate ways. Expressing that she had no regrets about their time together, Letitia said: “I do not regret one minute of my time with Jay. I was in love – desperately in love – and I can’t reiterate enough how thankful I am that I did get married to that man.”

She added: “As a couple you can, hopefully, go down the same path together as long as you share the same desires and dreams. Unfortunately, many of us fork off in different directions. This is the first time I’ve ever talked about what happened, but I’m quite practical about this now. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about Jason. But sometimes you just grow out of each other, maybe. I did think that by waiting until a bit later in life for marriage I would know more and it would last. But none of us can predict. Of course, I didn’t want this to happen, and neither did he, but it did and though it’s upsetting, you just have to get on with it. You have to be strong.”

Impressive net worth

As one of the most recognisable faces in soapland, it’s only to be expected that Letitia is very comfortably off. Fans may be astonished to learn however that Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Letitia has amassed a fortune worth approximately £6.5million, thanks to her enduring success in EastEnders and lucrative pantomime performances.