Velile Tshabalala

Velile Tshabalala is an English actress known for portraying Kareesha Lopez in Kerching and Rosita in the 2008 Doctor Who special The Next Doctor Born in Whitechapel London Tshabalala was raised in Ilford She is of Zimbabwean descent Her father is a mechanical engineer and her mother is a health visitor She has one sister and two brothers She trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she attended weekend classes from the age of 14 For higher education she attended sixth form and completed her Alevels Tshabalala made her professional debut at the age of 18 in the CBBC sitcom Kerching She played waitress Kareesha Lopez who did very little work and was a stereotypical teenage girl She played several roles in all three series of the BBC Three sketch comedy Tittybangbang She appeared as a prostitute in the 2004 short film Streets In January 2008 she played a librarian in the ChuckleVision episode Jumping Jackpot She played Rosita in that years Doctor Who Christmas special The Next Doctor She made her pantomime debut in the 2008 production of Dick Whittingtons Cat at the Compass Theatre in Ickenham In 2011 Tshabalala very briefly appeared in the penultimate episode of series three of the E4 series Misfits as the gangs newest probation worker Laura However she only lasted for a matter of seconds after arriving at the community centre ultimately being killed after being bitten by a zombie In July 2014 she completed filming on the feature film The Journey In November 2021 it was announced that Tshabalala had been cast in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Viv the mother of established character DeMarcus Westwood Tomi Ade In February 2022 she starred as Gloria in Running with Lions at the Lyric Theatre London In 2024 Tshabalala began appearing as recurring character Stella Clayton in Eastenders Her day job is currently at the St Marylebone Bridge School working as a teaching assistant