Thomas Stuart "Tom" Chambers (born 22 May 1977) is an English actor, known for his role as Sam Strachan in the BBC medical drama Holby City and as Max Tyler in BBC drama series Waterloo Road. He also won the sixth season of Strictly Come Dancing with his partner Camilla Dallerup.

Biography

Chambers was born and raised in a small village called Darley Dale in Derbyshire and was educated at Repton School.

In December 2000, Chambers came close to death when the British Airways flight on which he was travelling from London to Nairobi was disrupted in a hijack attempt. Paul Mukonyi, a 27-year-old mental patient from Kenya, burst into the cockpit of the Boeing 747. As the cockpit crew fought to restrain Mukonyi, the auto-pilot became disengaged in the struggle, the jumbo was knocked off course and it plunged about 19,000 feet (5,700 metres) with 398 passengers on board. The pilots recovered control of the aircraft and all passengers landed safely. Chambers described this as "the most terrifying experience of my life". It was this flight that caused him to seek out his teenage sweetheart, Clare Harding, and propose. The couple married in October 2008 in Derbyshire, having to change the date due to his commitments in Strictly Come Dancing. On New Year's Eve 2010, Chambers announced on his Twitter page that they were expecting a child. "We are indeed expecting a little Chambers around 24 May next year :)) very excited parents in the making we are... X" their son William Stanley Robert Chambers was born 29 May 2011.

In 2008, Chambers took part in the Great Walk to Beijing organised by singer Olivia Newton-John in aid of breast cancer awareness and research.