Louisa Claire Lytton (born 7 February 1989) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Ruby Allen in EastEnders and Beth Green in The Bill. She also finished fourth in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 and represented the UK at the Eurovision Dance Contest 2008, finishing ninth. Her theatre credits include playing Betty Rizzo in the 2017 UK touring production of the musical Grease.
Early life
Born on 7 February 1989 in the London Borough of Camden, Lytton attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London. She is of Italian descent on her mother's side and her first cousin once removed is Lisa Maffia, a member of the So Solid Crew.
Career
EastEnders
Lytton made her first appearance in EastEnders on 18 March 2005, playing Johnny Allen's daughter Ruby Allen. In July 2006, weeks after winning the "Sexiest Female" award at the British Soap Awards, it was announced that Lytton would be leaving EastEnders in November 2006. On the exit of her character, Lytton had commented: "I've really enjoyed my time at EastEnders. It has been a great experience which I will never forget but I am now looking forward to trying new things and not getting typecast." Lytton's final scenes were broadcast in November 2006. On 1 December 2006, Lytton appeared on the ITV1 show Loose Women and confirmed that leaving EastEnders was not her decision. In August 2008 she stated she would like to return to EastEnders once she had left The Bill.
On 18 July 2018, Lytton was announced to be reprising her role as Ruby. Lytton revealed that she was shocked to be asked back to EastEnders after such a long time, and told Metro UK, "In my head, obviously I’d always have loved to go back to the show because it was where I started out, but it had been so long that it was never an option in my head anymore [...] I genuinely never thought about it being an option, especially because my dad had died in the show."
After a twelve-year hiatus, Ruby returned on 18 September 2018. Producers soon placed her at the centre of a sexual consent storyline, involving a special episode about the views surrounding consent. Lytton was nominated for two Digital Spy Reader Awards for the consent storyline, while Lytton and the storyline were praised by viewers and critics alike.
Lytton left the serial for the second time in late 2021, following the birth of her first child. In March 2022, Lytton admitted she may never return to the soap.
Strictly Come Dancing
In late 2006, Lytton took part in the fourth series of the popular BBC One reality television programme Strictly Come Dancing. Aged 17 at the time, she is the youngest ever contestant to have appeared on the show. Louisa's professional dance partner was Vincent Simone. After several impressive performances she was eliminated in the quarter-finals, finishing in fourth place out of fourteen, losing out to Emma Bunton in the viewer vote for a place in the last three. Despite this, Lytton appeared in the Christmas Special on Christmas Day with fellow contestants Mark Ramprakash, Matt Dawson and Emma Bunton, along with 2005's finalists Zoë Ball and Colin Jackson. This show was won by Jackson. Below is a scoring recap from start to finish.
Lytton began touring with 'Strictly' on 18 January 2008 with ex-EastEnders co-stars, Letitia Dean and Matt Di Angelo, and ended the tour with 11 wins under her belt. Along with her EastEnders co-star Christopher Parker, Louisa was vocal in her criticism of the media treatment of John Sergeant, which led to him resigning from the 2008 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing'. She said she was surprised that Arlene Philips was removed as a judge from the next series of Strictly Come Dancing due to her age and she was replaced by former contestant and 2007 winner Alesha Dixon.
Strictly on Tour 2008
She was one of the former Strictly Come Dancing participants to be asked to return for Strictly on Tour which took place in early 2008 and toured the country. She was asked to return due to her personality and popularity with the audience on Strictly Come Dancing. “I absolutely loved taking part in Strictly Come Dancing and jumped at the chance to take part in the live show, and thanks to my bosses at The Bill I've got the chance to get back out there and this time, fingers crossed, win it for the girls!". She won numerous times. She appeared on BBC Breakfast for a second time in January 2008 and a third time in September 2008.