Esta TerBlanche

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Esta TerBlanche (born January 7, 1973 in Rustenburg, North West Province) is a South African actress, best known for her roles on television soap operas in both South Africa and the United States.

She first became popular when she was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991. From there, she was hired to play the role of Bienkie Naudé-Hartman on the series Egoli: Place of Gold. She first appeared on the series in 1992, and left the role in 1995 to move to the United States. She had become a household name in her native country, appearing on the covers of many of the most popular magazines.

In 1997, TerBlanche was cast in the role of Gillian Andrassy on All My Children, which gained her even more popularity. The role of Gillian, a princess, was very popular for TerBlanche. After much drama, Gillian married Ryan Lavery, played by Cameron Mathison, and it seemed that they would live happily ever after. After four years on the show, Gillian was killed off in 2001 in a surprising and highly controversial move. TerBlanche asked to be written out of the show so she could move back to South Africa. TerBlanche made a guest appearance on Egoli: Place of Gold in 2004.

A native speaker of Afrikaans, TerBlanche also speaks English, French, Italian and Russian.