Former EastEnders icon Martine McCutcheon admits she’s not slowing down as she approaches turning 50 next year; instead, the star is over the moon about her age
She stole every scene in EastEnders, topped the charts with her debut album, won an Olivier Award for her West End performance in My Fair Lady and headlined everyone’s favourite Christmas movie. Now, Love, Actually star Martine McCutcheon is gearing up for a new challenge – turning 50.
Alongside her enormous success, Martine has also endured her fair share of hardship. Last year, the mum-of-one announced her separation from Jack McManus after 12 years of marriage, in 2022, her beloved brother LJ passed away aged just 31, and she’s estranged from her mother Jenny. But with Christmas coming up fast and a new year on the horizon, Martine is looking forwards, not backwards.
“You can think about the things you didn’t do or haven’t done yet and let that frighten you. But I’m just thrilled that I’m fit, well, happy and I have my little boy,” she says. Icons like Oprah Winfrey, Kim Cattrall and Brené Brown have inspired Martine to embrace getting older, to feel confident in herself and to set boundaries.
“These trailblazing women have really changed the course and the tone of what 50 is for women,” she says. “They are not just speaking it, they’re living it.” Without the women who’ve gone before her, Martine believes she would have feared her landmark birthday next May. “I would have been quite scared,” she admits. “That judgmental little gremlin on my shoulder could have been going, ‘What about this? What about that?’ But I actually think because of the women who have been brave enough to 100% unapologetically be themselves, I feel less judgmental of myself.
“It’s such an exciting and liberating time, more than ever for a 50-year-old woman, to be working, living, socialising, loving and all of these things. I just feel really lucky that I’m in this time because even 20 years ago, it was so different. I feel excited about this next chapter because I know myself so much more. And I’m so not sorry for my own opinions, my own voice, my own limitations and inally being able to say, always with the most respect, ‘No, no, no.’”
Martine wants her sixth decade to be all about having fun after a recent conversation with a pal made her realise she doesn’t have a single hobby, having devoted her life to work, motherhood and other people. “I don’t feel I’ve ever really had enough time to exhale and enjoy the simple things,” she says. “I just want to have fun. I want to find out, away from career and family, what just brings me fun.”
One area Martine is keen to explore in 2026 is her spirituality. Since childhood, she’s always been known among her friends for her healing powers, and now she wants to educate herself about the power of crystals. “It’s crazy but I really want to learn about crystals. I’m not trained as a Reiki practitioner, but ever since I was a little girl I just can feel where people are holding blockages in their body,” she says. “So maybe I’d like to explore that more as well.”
Turning 50 will be a milestone, but Martine embraces change. Before this, the biggest change that had happened to her was becoming a mother to her son Rafferty, 10, whose arrival brought her peace after years of not feeling enough. “Growing up and being in the industry from such a young age, I was quite judgmental of myself and hard on myself. When I had my son I realised that you don’t have to earn love. You don’t have to justify any reason for doing anything. You’re loved just because you are. You’re enough exactly as you are. Always were, always have been.”
The emotional outpouring of love Martine felt brought her a contentment she hadn’t felt before. She explains, “When I held him in my arms the first time I looked at him, I finally got it. It was so potent and so factually true and it wasn’t to be argued with. It gave me a lot of peace and a lot of completeness.”
Now Martine is looking forward to spending Christmas with Rafferty and their friends and family. “Until you live it yourself you can’t truly realise how much you get to embody the magic and the innocence that is there when you share Christmas with children,” she says. “The hope and the big dreams rub off, it’s contagious. You’ve got this little bundle of joy that you just love so much and it’s just an absolute pleasure and it’s so rewarding. It’s true love.”
Thanks to her role alongside Hugh Grant in the very Christmassy Love, Actually, Martine has become a part of all our Christmases, appearing on screens all over the festive season. Now she’s recreated one of the most iconic scenes from the movie by reuniting loved ones ahead of Christmas at the airport with the help of Costa Coffee.
“For me, it was actually probably the most touching part of Love, Actually,” she says. “You can see the emotion oozing out of people when they’re connecting with loved ones again. It’s really important at Christmas to be thankful for the people that you love and that love you, and to connect with those people as much as you can.”
It’s 22 years since Love, Actually was released but for Martine it’s the gift that keeps on giving. “It was my dream, and that dream came true,” she says. “It’s a reminder that when you get jaded, when you get cynical, dreams can come true.” Martine was just 18 when she shot to fame in EastEnders as Tiffany Raymond. When she was killed off on New Year’s Eve in 1998, 12 million viewers tuned in. For Martine, her soap experience was exhilarating.
“It was rock’n’roll,” she says. “It was the 90s. The whole country was invested in things at the same time in their millions. It was so powerful.” EastEnders is filmed at Elstree Studios in North London, as was Top Of The Pops in the late 90s. It meant the young EastEnders cast could hang out with pop stars and Martine can’t shake the image of Patsy Palmer on a golf buggy while Liam Gallagher hitched a ride behind.
“One minute we’d be filming and the next minute I’d see Patsy, off on a golf buggy with Liam Gallagher hanging off the back,” she says. “It was just so much fun. It was a really fun, youthful, innocent time in a way.” After Tiffany was run over by Frank Butcher in the soap, fans saw her die in the road. But even an on-screen death doesn’t stop EastEnders bringing beloved characters back. This Christmas Pat Butcher will return as a ghost for the second time. So would Martine ever resurrect Tiffany?
“I love to play great, sweet, endearing characters, snooty, sassy little vixens like Tiffany,” she says. “If there was a flashback or a memory or whatever, and there was a way to know more and understand Tiffany more now, then I would be definitely, always be up for it. I mean, what an amazing character she was.”
Martine McCutcheon partnered with Costa Coffee to recreate the beloved Love, Actually airport scene, celebrating Christmas reunions. With Costa Club, every festive catch-up comes with a little extra magic.
Source: Mirror
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