Danielle Amy Harold was born on 30 May 1992 in Lewisham, Greater London.[2][3] Before Harold's acting career began, she was featured in the television series Jamie's Dream School. Harold got one GCSE as she had lost a year of school due to an illness and missed out on being able to study for exams. On Jamie's Dream School, she was seen as one of the brightest of the students, and was rewarded by Jane Poynter and Robert Winston with the chance to stay in the biosphere which Poynter had lived in for two years. She was also given a tour of Cambridge University by David Starkey as he found her to be very intelligent and thought that it might be a good choice of university. However, she decided to study acting and auditioned for several roles.[4]
Career
EastEnders
In June 2011, EastEnders producers announced that Harold had been cast as Lola Pearce, the granddaughter of established characters Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) and Julie Perkins (Cathy Murphy).[5] She made her first appearance in EastEnders on 12 July 2011.[6][7] Harold's first major storyline involved her character's pregnancy at the age of 15. In July 2012, the character gave birth in a special live broadcast, coinciding with her on-screen grandfather carrying the Olympic Torch through Walford. Harold is the first EastEnders actress to portray giving birth live on air, and the second British soap actress, after Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine.[8] In June 2015, it was announced that Harold would be leaving EastEnders later that year.[9] In December 2018, it was announced that Harold would reprise her role of Lola Pearce. She returned to the series with her on-screen daughter, Lexi Pearce, in April 2019.[10][11] Then in 2022, it was announced that Harold would be starring in a brain cancer storyline for Lola, which resulted in the character's death on 31 May 2023. After which, Harold continued to appear as Lola sporadically via the character's video diaries until 25 December 2023, and made further appearances via video footage on 20 June 2024 and 11 September 2024.[12]
Other ventures
In November 2023, Harold appeared in an EastEnders special of The Weakest Link alongside several of her co-stars.[13] The same month, she was announced as a contestant on the twenty-third series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. She was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated, finishing in sixth place.[14] Harold is also set to participate in the sixth series of Celebrity Hunted in 2024, which she filmed in 2023 following her exit from EastEnders.[15]
