Danniella Westbrook has met her AI twin, and the first thing she felt was jealousy.
The second thing she did was ban fans from having X-rated conversations with it.
The EastEnders actress has licensed a digital version of herself to AI platform OhChat, where fans can talk to the avatar at any hour and receive photo and video content back.
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It is built on Danniella herself rather than Sam Mitchell, the Walford character she first played in 1990.
No lewd questions, no drugs, one exception
Sexually explicit conversation is out. So are derogatory comments.
Drugs are off the table too, with a single carve-out she made herself.
“Although she is digital, she truly is an extension of me,” Danniella said.
“My twin has boundaries, though, so there will be no lewd questions or anything drug-related.”
“If it’s about addiction or getting sober, I’m happy to chat about that and be empathetic.
I’m happy to have fun and talk about most things, but I won’t allow X-rated conversations or anything derogatory.”
The face she would rather have
Danniella has spoken publicly about the surgery she has had over the years.
Seeing the twin, she said, gave her something to aim at.
“She’s amazing! I wish I could look like that in real life every day,” she said.
“Personally, I’ve been through a lot of surgery and I’m unhappy with how I look.
“The twin gives me a goal – something to aim for in terms of what I could look like – and this will help with my confidence.
“For the fans, it gives them more of a chance to get to know me and my personality through a personal and engaging interaction.”
Eight out of ten
She rates the likeness generously on looks and slightly less so on character.
“I’d say my AI twin is an eight out of 10 when it comes to accurately capturing my personality,” she said.
“It would be a 10 out of 10, but I think she is more sensible than me.”
Company, but nobody should confuse it
Danniella thinks the twin could be useful to people who find social situations difficult.
She is also blunt that nobody should mistake it for her.
“I think it’s really important that people know it’s not real,” she said.
“However, there are some lonely people out there who may not feel at all confident in social circles or have great difficulty being in and around people.
“If my twin is able to be a sounding board, a companion that can shed some positive light on people’s lives and give a sense of belonging, then I feel my twin is doing good.”
One limit she set without anyone asking: other people’s marriages.
“Every marriage or relationship is different,” she said.
“I wouldn’t want my AI twin to be an ingredient in breaking down someone’s relationship, though.”
Next in line: Kat Slater
Asked which Walford name should get the same treatment, she did not hesitate.
“I think Kat Slater would be an incredible AI twin – mouthy, trappy and a bit of a potty mouth!” she said.
“The way she dresses would definitely appeal too.”
Danniella has lived in public since she was 15, and says it left a mark on how she handles pressure.
“Quite simply, it has made me resilient, very tough and compassionate towards others,” she said.
“I haven’t known any different and it is all I have known since I was 15.”
“My children and building a legacy for them are my greatest achievements. If you don’t change, you don’t grow.
Sometimes you have to learn the hard way to learn the right way for you to function.”
Why It Matters
Celebrity AI twins mostly arrived through platforms built for adult creators, where selling access and intimacy by the message was already the business model.
OhChat sits in that lineage. What Westbrook has done is take the format and delete the part it was designed around, which turns the content policy into the product itself.
Her rules are the pitch.
For any creator watching this, the useful detail is the exclusion list. Licensing a likeness is no longer a yes-or-no decision.
It is a question of writing down what the model cannot say, in what register, on which subjects, and what happens when someone tries anyway.
A creator who signs without that list has handed over something they cannot easily take back.
AI companion apps have grown quickly over the past two years, and celebrity likeness deals have followed the money in.
Consent and likeness rules are still being written, which leaves the contract doing most of the work.
Danniella is writing her third autobiography and running her own celebrity talent agency.
She is also still going through surgery on her face, and wants to act again.
Her twin, meanwhile, is free 24 hours a day.
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