Music career and early acting work Before her acting career, Simons was in the group
Girls@Play, who had a couple of
hit singles before splitting up. Their songs included "Airhead" and a
cover of
Mel and Kim's "
Respectable". Simons then joined a different group called Charli with three other members, including Shar from the
Paradiso Girls, and released a single titled "Feel Me". Simons made appearances in the
Sky One dramas
Dream Team (2002) and
Mile High (2003; as Hannah), as well as the
ITV drama ''
London's Burning''.
EastEnders On 11 May 2007, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of
EastEnders as
Roxy Mitchell, alongside
Samantha Womack who played Roxy's sister
Ronnie Mitchell. Of her role, Simons said: "I've always watched
EastEnders and it's been my dream to become part of the Mitchell family." Simons temporarily departed from
EastEnders in late 2015 (the character departed from screens from 1 January to 4 May 2016), allowing the actress to take part in a
Snow White pantomime at the
Marlowe Theatre in
Canterbury, over the 2015–2016 Christmas and New Year period. In August 2016, it was announced that Simons was leaving
EastEnders along with
Samantha Womack. Her on-screen character Roxy Mitchell drowned in a swimming pool in an episode broadcast on New Year's Day 2017, along with her sister
Ronnie. Simons made a voiceover appearance in May 2019, during the return of Roxy's ex-husband
Sean Slater (
Robert Kazinsky), which saw him listen to a voicemail from Roxy on an old mobile phone. She made a cameo reappearance on 27 April 2023, as Roxy imagined by her daughter Amy during a family counselling session. Since Ronnie and Roxy were "killed off",
EastEnders fans have continued to campaign for the characters to be resurrected, including sending potential scripts and return plots to the show's bosses.
Other work Simons appeared as Paulette Bonafonte in the 2017–2018 UK tour of
Legally Blonde: the Musical in 2017. On 12 November 2018, Simons was confirmed to be participating as a contestant on the
eighteenth series of ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. She was the fourth to be eliminated on 4 December 2018. In 2019, Simons played the role of ‘Miss Hedge’ in the hit musical ''
Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre. She was to take on the role of Velma von Tussle in the 2021 revival of Hairspray at the London Coliseum. In 2022, she joined the cast of TV show, Professor T''. She participated in
Pilgrimage: The Road Through Portugal, aired in 2023, a
BBC Two series dedicated to a pilgrimage to
Fátima, Portugal, with six other celebrities. She was the only Jewish pilgrim and had the chance to visit a former synagogue in
Tomar. In 2023, it was announced that Simons would be joining the cast of the
Channel 4 soap opera
Hollyoaks. She made her debut as
Marie Fielding, the mother of established character
Joel Dexter (
Rory Douglas-Speed), in March 2024. In July 2025 it was announced that Simons would be leaving the soap. She departed in October following the show's 30th anniversary celebrations, when her character was seen moving into
Brookside Close under an alias. ==Charity work==