The new life of Beppe’s little sister Nicky di Marco Star 22 years after leaving EastEnders

Over two decades after saying goodbye to Albert Square, former EastEnders actress Carly Hillman, who played Nicky di Marco on the BBC soap, looks a whole lot different now she’s all grown up and has a brand new career in the entertainment industry

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Carly Hillman portrays Nicky Di Marco in classic EastEnders clip

Many EastEnders fans will fondly remember the di Marco family’s arrival in Albert Square in the 1990s.

When she first appeared on the BBC soap, Carly Hillman was a teenager and took on the role of Nicky di Marco – younger sister of protective older brothers Beppe and Gianni and best friend of longtime character Sonia Jackson.

During her two-year stint on the soap opera, Carly, now 38, navigated some hard-hitting storylines — including the time Nicky’s math teacher Rod Morris sexually assaulted her after Mama Rosa arranged some extra private lessons.

Nicky said goodbye to Albert Square in 2000 and chose to live in a hostel after her family refused to believe she had been assaulted by her teacher.

Two decades after her character left the screen, Carly is still working in the entertainment industry — but not as an actress.

Shortly after leaving the EastEnders, Carly appeared in Harry and Cosh in 2002 and later won television and theater appearances on shows such as Celebrity Britain’s Best Dish, Soapstar Superchef and starring roles at RJ Williamson Shakespeare Company, New Vic Workshops and Ian Dickens Productions.

Like many former soap stars, Carly also enjoyed many stints in the pantomime scene, appearing in The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Aladdin, Dick Whittington and Snow White alongside Danny La Rue, Jim Davidson, Bradley Walsh, Joe Pasquale and Stephen Mulhern on and other stars.

The former child star also pursued a musical career in the early ’00s – in 2003 he released the song Mutual as part of British R&B group Urban Lady.

In 2009, Carly took a break from her career to focus on her family life and welcome two daughters into the world with her husband Ben Probert.

In recent years, the brunette beauty has seemingly decided to focus her efforts on her singing career rather than acting.

According to her professional website, Carly “has been performing as a singer at weddings, birthday parties, private parties, christenings, restaurants, bars, corporate events, Christmas parties and holiday parks throughout the south east of England for the past five years.”

Carly currently performs in Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, London and Kent and her spectrum “encompasses R&B, soul, pop, disco, rock and ballads”.

The mother-of-two maintains a relatively quiet profile on social media – most recently on Instagram two years ago – but took to Twitter in December 2020 to pay tribute to her late co-star Barbara Windsor.

“So sad to hear the news about Dame Barbara Windsor,” Carly tweeted to her 438 followers upon learning of the Peggy Mitchell actress’ sad death.

“A wonderful woman who always had time for everyone. It was an absolute privilege to have met and worked with her. Another British icon has gone.”

Carly describes herself on Twitter as a “former Eastenders actress & female solo singer”.

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