Rita Simons, Theo Silveston and children - family facts

How did Rita Simons meet her husband?

EastEnders actress and I'm A Celeb star Rita and hairdresser husband Theo's relationship has been pretty private - all we know is that they met when Rita was 19 years old.

Rita Simons' wedding

In 2004, Rita and Theo tied the knot! This was 3 years before Rita's big break as Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders, so don't expect to see any celeb mag pics of their special day.

Jaimee and Maiya Silveston

In 2006, Rita gave birth to twin girls, Jaimee and Maiya. They're now 12 years old, as of 2018, and their mum's stint in the I'm A Celeb jungle.

We don't know too much about the twins' lives, though we do know they both love to sing, they both have private Instagram accounts, and occasionally appear on their mums' Instagram, which has 150k followers.

We also know that one twin has severe hearing loss. Maiya was born deaf, while Jaimee has no hearing loss. Maiya was diagnosed with enlarged vestibular aqueducts (EVA), though it took until she was about 6 months old for any sort of diagnosis. She can hear very little in her left ear, and nothing in her right.

The sisters have developed a unique private sign language to communicate, said mum Rita in an interview. Maiya also seems to know what Jaimee is saying, without even hearing it.

Maiya and Jaimee attended the same first school, and told the Daily Mail: "It’s very important to us that Maiya gets the chance to lead a normal life.

"She goes to a mainstream school and for the children it’s not a big deal – she’s just Maiya. She sits at the front so she can lip-read but otherwise she’s just another kid in the class."

Aged 6, Rita and dad Theo decided to learn sign language, and were looking at theatre clubs for Maiya to join - because she's so good at singing, acting and doing accents.

Aged 12, the couple made the decision to get cochlear implants for Maiya, and Theo documented on Instagram the pre-teen using them with her phone.

Rita on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here 2018

After her character Roxy Mitchell was killed off in a swimming pool accident on EastEnders, in 2017, fans might've wondered what Rita's been up to.

Well, since leaving the Square, Rita's been raising her 2 girls, filming numerous projects (including a movie) and has now popped up in the Aussie jungle, taking part in I'm A Celeb.

We've not heard much about Rita's family life on the show, so far, though we did see her well up after receiving a letter from Jaimee and Maiya as part of a care package.

The 41-year-old had tears in her eyes as The Vamps star campmate James McVey read out the sweet note, which came with a bar of chocolate!

Images: Getty Images, Instagram/Rita Simons, Instagram/Theo Silveston

Read more:

• Dec Donnelly's baby - all you need to know
• Rita Simons reveals post-baby exercise routine
• Holly Willoughby - how many kids does she have?