Inside Patsy Palmer’s Malibu life as wildfires rage near her home: How EastEnders star created her ‘dream’ Californian family life as she says she’ll ‘never move back to the UK’

Patsy Palmer is among the thousands of Malibu residents who have had their lives turned upside down by the devastating wildfires raging in LA this week.

The actress, 52, has been has lived in the United States for more than ten years with her children and husband Richard Merkell – moved in 2014 when her time on EastEnders came to an end.

Patsy often shares insights into her life on Instagram, posting beautiful photos of her breathtaking home, complete with uninterrupted ocean views and a pool.

The interior of her beautiful family home features neutral boho colors, while the exterior features a terrace where she practices yoga.

She shares three children, Fenton, 22, Emilia, 21, and Bertie, 12, with husband Richard and Charley Palmer Rothwell, 30 – her British-based son with former partner Alfie Rothwell – with whom she regularly shares beach photos.

But it remains to be seen what the fate of her beautiful home will be as fires blaze in the area.

On Thursday, Patsy shared her heartbreak as flames raged through her “hometown” Los Angeles.

She said in a post Thursday alongside a photo of the fires that her “brain was fried” and that many of her friends in the area where she lives had lost their homes.

Patsy had returned to Britain last Saturday before the fires broke out and said it was difficult being so far away while the fires raged.

Patsy wrote: ‘My heart is broken. My brain is fried today as I watch AGAIN the devastating scenes of the fires in my hometown. I just returned to my house just in case after the fires a few weeks ago and left for work in the UK again on Saturday and now this.

“My family is safe, but many of my friends have lost their homes again, which is extremely traumatic.

‘It’s really hard to be so far away from here. I pray and cry as I write this. I am helpless here, but praying hard. Please reach out if you need anything. Richard and children are safe and evacuated there. This is huge. Really didn’t expect this. Heartbroken. Pay attention to your safety.’

Last year Patsy admitted she would ‘never live in Britain again’ as she lives her ‘dream life’ in Malibu.

The star, who is now back on EastEnders and flying back to Britain for filming, said she “pinch[s]herself every morning.”

In conversation with DJ Lorcan and DJ YUKI on their podcast Shuffle Skip Repeat about the actress talked about her life by the ocean.

Patsy said: ‘It’s wonderful that we live in our own little bubble, Malibu is its own little place, we keep ourselves very much to ourselves and we have lots of English friends.

‘I pinch myself every morning when I wake up and see the ocean, it’s like a dream. But I created that.’

She continued: ‘I don’t think I would live in England again. I would like to experience something different in life, but I’m not sure I will.

“I’m very happy and grateful for where I am, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I don’t know what that might look like. It just depends on life and where it goes. I just think: do what makes you happy.’

Recalling a fun night out in Malibu, she exclaimed, “I met all my idols in one night.” I was the only one dancing, and then I got a tip over the shoulder and it was Pharrell Williams.

‘He asked if I wanted to dance with him. I also met Mary J Blige and Dr. Dre. It was amazing, I’m so grateful.’

Patsy lives with her children and husband Richard in the United States, after moving in 2014.

The actress has turned her attention to her career as a DJ and often travels to Los Angeles, where she has performed at local venue Sunset at EDITION.

Patsy also found a new passion when she launched her new wellness page on Instagram, Good and Proper, last year.

While traveling and encountering A-list celebrities like Mary J Blige and Cindy Crawford, Patsy previously shared The Sun’s fantastic magazine: ‘We just wanted to try something new, we have a fairly normal life in a special place.’

Patsy – who goes by Julie in the US – was thrust into the spotlight as Bianca in the hit BBC soap in 1993.

Hollywood Boulevard has been evacuated and 100,000 people have been told to flee as six wildfires rage as Los Angeles’ apocalyptic skies continue to fill with smoke.

Two new fires broke out overnight in the Hollywood Hills and Studio City, forcing emergency responders to redeploy their already scarce resources to the burned landscape.

The National Guard has been deployed and could send military personnel to help, amid revelations that hero firefighters are “triaging” homes and neighborhoods.

The LA Fire Department issued an evacuation order for people in an area within Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Mulholland Drive to the north, the 101 Freeway to the east and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the west – all iconic addresses in showbiz.

The latest fires have burned vast swaths of iconic real estate in Southern California, from Malibu to Santa Monica, and from Pacific Palisades to Runyon Canyon, impacting millions of people who have been overwhelmed by the unprecedented spread and massacre.

So far, at least five people have been killed in the disaster – which destroyed 2,000 structures and left thousands of people in the city with nothing but ash.

More than 130,000 people are under evacuation orders, while Mandy Moore, Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said they had lost homes. Billy Crystal and his wife Janice lost their home of 45 years in the Palisades Fire.