Laila Rouass Laila Rouass Laila Abdesselam Rouass (born 22 June 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in "Footballers' Wives" (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in "Holby City" (2011–12). She has also starred in "Primeval" and "Spooks" and been a contestant on "Strictly Come Dancing", in which she finished fourth. Rouass was born in Stepney, London to a Moroccan father and an Indian mother. Rouass worked as a VJ on Channel V in India in the 1990s. While on Channel V, she appeared in a music video for the band Colour Blind, directed by the
Holby City (series 13) cast in January 2011 as general surgical registrar, Antoine Malick. Laila Rouass was cast as cardiothoracic surgical registrar Sahira Shah, appeared from February 2011. Announcing her casting, Daniel Kilkelly of media entertainment website "Digital Spy" described Sahira as a rival for Jac and love interest for Greg, who shares a "dark history" with Hanssen. Rouass was able to relate to the role as, like herself, Sahira is a mother attempting to balance her personal and professional lives. Campbell stated that Rouass brought a "fresh new energy" to the series and that Sahira had been a "joy to create", commenting on