Rachel Bright

Rachel Bright is an English actress, known for playing Poppy Meadow in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Career Bright was introduced as Poppy Meadow on the BBC soap opera EastEnders in two episodes on 11 and 13 January 2011, in scenes which were substituted for scenes cut from the controversial baby swap storyline, in which Ronnie Branning's (Samantha Womack) son, James, dies of sudden infant death syndrome and she secretly swaps him with Kat Moon's (Jessie Wallace) son, Tommy. A spokeswoman for EastEnders confirmed that the scenes had been edited following viewers' strong response to the story, but said that no complete scenes were removed: "Given the audience response to this storyline, we felt on this occasion that it was appropriate to respond and make some changes. The vast majority of material remains intact and we don't believe that those trims we have made will weaken or detract from the overall storyline for viewers."

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Bright stated that her first scene was her favourite throughout her tenure, as "all [she] could think was, 'I'm sitting on a bench in the Square!'". Kylie Babbington, who played Jodie Gold, revealed in May 2011 that Poppy would be returning and would have comical scenes. Bright made her return on 30 June 2011. Poppy and Jodie were reportedly used to add humour to the soap, in the style of reality-drama series The Only Way is Essex. On 24 October 2011, it was announced that the pair were to leave the show; they made their final appearance on 14 November 2011. According to an EastEnders spokesperson, there is potential for Poppy to appear again in the future. Bright rejoined the cast of EastEnders, appearing on-screen from 12 June 2012 until she left the soap again on 30 January 2014.

Bright appears as Anna in the 2012 UK feature film Life Just Is. From 2016 to 2017, Bright filmed the lead role of Jessica Slade in the British feature film King of Crime, alongside real-life partner Jonno Davies. The film was released in October 2018.

In 2021, Bright and Davies appeared together in an episode of Holby City playing Beth Miller and Leo Powell respectively.

Having had their wedding postponed three times due to coronavirus restrictions, Bright and Davies married at the fourth attempt at The Groucho Club in London on 10 July 2021.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2008 American Dream Molly Short film 2008 Sell Out Girl Short film 2008 Paintbrush Marisa Short film 2008 Canbury Rachael Short film 2010 Sometimes the Moon Is Velvet Hettie Short film 2010 Red Balloon Julie Film 2010 Silly Billy Kelly Short film 2010 Scrabble Rachel Short film 2011 No Escape Short film 2011–2014 EastEnders Poppy Meadow Regular role 2012 Eradicate Daughter Short film 2012 Life Just Is Anna Film 2012 Doctors Tara Pendall Episode: "Children of the Night" 2013 Don't Move Anna Short film 2015 Morning After Katie Short film 2015 Doctors Lisa Cartwright Episode: "Blind Spot" 2017 Tiebreaker Sara Short film 2018 Urban Myths Christine Whitehead Episode: "The Sex Pistols Vs. Bill Grundy" 2018 King of Crime Jessica Slade Film 2018 Frontline to Russia Kerry Miniseries 2020 Bone Breaker Emily Film 2020 The Beast Will Rise Monologue Webseries 2021 Holby City Beth Miller Guest role

Stage Polly in Electronica (Red Hedgehog, 2008) The Girl in Bus Stop Kisser (Camden Peoples Theatre, 2014) Lucy in Dracula (Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2014) Julia Simmons in A Murder Is Announced (Nationwide Tour, 2015–2016)