Lacey Turner will be discovering who her professional partner is on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, when she makes her dancefloor debut in tonight’s launch show.
The former EastEnders star will be supported by her husband, Matt Kay, and the three children that they share: Dusty, seven, Trilby, five and Gipsy, 19 months.
However, Lacey had a difficult journey to motherhood, with the actress tragically suffering two miscarriages before she welcomed her first child. The star has since taken an outspoken role in advocating for better support for parents who have had a miscarriage.
Read on for all you need to know about Lacey’s family life…
Lacey’s childhood sweetheart
Lacey walked down the aisle with Matt Kay in Ibiza on 5 September 2017, with the couple marrying in a private ceremony, a year after Matt popped the question in 2016.
The wedding was a star-studded affair, with many of Lacey’s EastEnders co-stars, including Barbara Windsor, James Bye and Jake Wood in attendance.
The couple are teenage sweethearts, having met each other at a mutual friend’s house when they were both aged 15.
Matt is clearly Lacey’s biggest fan, and following the airing of EastEnders’ live episode in 2025, which came just weeks after the couple had welcomed their third child, he posted: “Sorry, but these two were phenomenal tonight. If they don’t win an award for that I’ll eat my hat.”
© InstagramHe added: “I am absolutely bursting with pride for my wife and the incredible job she did at work this evening. Watching her collaborate with her co-workers and ultimately achieve her goals was nothing short of inspiring. She consistently goes above and beyond, and her passion for what she does is evident in every project she undertakes.
“I am so grateful to have such an amazing partner by my side, and I can’t help but admire her strength and resilience. She truly is incredible.”
Lacey and Matt’s three children
Lacey and Matt became parents for the first time on 12 July 2019 when they welcomed their daughter, Dusty. The couple’s son, Trilby, was born on 3 February 2021, with their youngest daughter, Gipsy, arriving on 17 January 2025.
As much as Lacey is doing Strictly for herself, speaking to the BBC ahead of the new series, she also said she was doing the show for her three children. “It’s mainly for myself and my children,” she confessed. “I want to show them that you can do anything if you’re brave and you work hard.”
© InstagramHowever, becoming a mother wasn’t the easiest journey for Lacey, who tragically had two miscarriages before welcoming Dusty. Speaking on the Happy Baby Happy Mum podcast, Lacey shared: “We tried for so long and it just didn’t happen and I thought okay, I didn’t realise it was such a small window, you just don’t really think about that.
“And then I started to have miscarriages and that’s when you go… I remember the first one, it was just terrible. I remember laying on the bed and I was just uncontrollably sobbing.”
© InstagramShe continued: “But I had this weird thing like, ‘Why are you crying? Why are you so sad for something you didn’t know? Something that is barely there.’ I think actually the part of it is the shock of, ‘This is actually happening to me’.”
During an appearance on Loose Women, she said: “The second time I had a miscarriage at exactly the same point, around seven weeks, although I was more prepared, it was more of a kick in the stomach.”
She also revealed that following her second miscarriage, she considered giving up on the idea of becoming a mother. She said: “Because it hadn’t worked and that’s the second time, so what do I do now? Is there something wrong, is this going to take us years? Will we ever get there?
“It got to the point where I said to Matt, ‘Let’s just forget it. We’ll get a puppy.’ As soon as we’d said that, we fell pregnant.”
Read the full article here
