Teresa tore through the hearts of Albert Square, constantly causing drama with her siblings Beppe (played by Michael Greco), Gianni (Mark Bannerman) and sister Nicky (Carly Hillman).
However, she was best known as the impassioned girlfriend of Matthew Rose (Joe Absolom), and became tangled in his explosive war with boss Steve Owen (Martin Kemp).
Long-term devoted fans of the BBC soap will remember Matthew was wrongfully banged up behind bars for the murder of Saskia – who Steve mercilessly gave a fatal blow over the head with an ashtray – but Teresa continually pleaded for his release.
Though, once Matthew fled Walford, Teresa gradually made her way through the likes of bisexual Tony Hills (Mark Homer), Lenny Wallace (Desune Coleman) and had a sordid affair with married Ricky Butcher (Sid Owen).
But once her sister Nicky became the first of the Di Marco family to branch out of Albert Square, the rest of her family soon followed.
Teresa eventually left in 2000 and since turning her back on EastEnders, Leila has enjoyed a varied stage career – from starring the established works of Shakespeare to panto.
Leila eventually moved across the pond and has starred in online series GirlfriendVS, a drama following a girlfriend playing videos games for the first time.
The stunner regularly poses up a storm cosied up to her boyfriend Curtiss Frisle, who’s also an actor.
As for her on-screen family, actress Carly Hillman, who starred as Nicky, is currently the owner of her very own stage school and recently broke the internet with her very own sexy selfie.
Her brothers Gianni and Beppe Di Marco, played by Marc Bannerman and Michael Greco respectively, have both seen a revival in the limelight since leaving the soap.
Marc flirted his way through I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! with Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews in 2007, while Michael now lives in Los Angeles and recently starred alongside Kevin Costner in the three-part film Hatfields & McCoys.
EastEnders continues tomorrow night at 8pm on BBC One.
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