Every so often a name appears in British entertainment coverage that seems to arrive from nowhere, only for a closer look to reveal a career that has been building quietly for years. Talitha Balinska is one of those names. Much of the public met her in the autumn of 2025, when television personality and podcast host Sam Thompson confirmed the two were dating. To the hundreds of thousands of people who already followed her online, she was known long before that as a DJ, producer and model with a growing reputation in the UK’s electronic music scene. Her story sits at the intersection of music, fashion and social media, and it is shaped by a family background that is both unusual and genuinely creative.
Early Life and London Roots
Talitha was born in London on 14 November 2000, according to reports that have appeared consistently across mainstream coverage, which makes her twenty five at the time of writing. She grew up in the capital and has remained based there throughout her working life, with the city forming the backdrop to everything from her club sets to her photoshoots. Accounts of her education suggest she attended a boarding school before going on to university in Bristol, graduating around 2023, though these details come from secondary reporting rather than from Talitha herself. Her online presence took shape during what would have been her student years, so by the time she finished studying she already had an audience waiting for whatever she chose to do next.
A Family of Creatives
Part of the fascination with Talitha comes from her family. Her sister is the actress Ella Balinska, born in London in October 1996, who became internationally recognised after starring in the 2019 reboot of Charlie’s Angels alongside Kristen Stewart and Naomi Scott. Ella went on to lead the Netflix live-action Resident Evil series in 2022 and played the protagonist of the PlayStation game Forspoken. Coverage of the family has generally described the two women as half-sisters, sharing a father.
There is a third sister as well. Esme Balinska is a musician who released her first single at sixteen and works in indie pop, and she has spoken about Talitha helping her with production. That detail says something the public profile does not always capture, which is that Talitha is as comfortable working behind the scenes on someone else’s record as she is standing in front of a crowd.
The Polish Side of the Family
The surname that draws so much curiosity comes from her father, Kaz Balinski-Jundzill, described in the British press as a Polish count and businessman, and at various points as a musician and entrepreneur. He was previously married to the chef, author and former model Lorraine Pascale, with whom he had Ella, and that marriage ended in 2000. He later married Sophie Anderton, a model who became a household name in Britain during the 1990s.
The Polish connection also explains the spelling of the family name, since Polish surnames ending in the masculine form are commonly adapted for women. Her mother, by contrast, has never been publicly identified in reliable reporting. Because Ella’s mother is well known, a great many websites have simply assumed the two sisters share both parents and written about Talitha’s background accordingly. That assumption does not hold up, and Talitha herself has kept the subject private.
Finding Her Sound Behind the Decks
Music is where Talitha has invested the most serious professional effort. She works as a DJ and producer in the electronic and house space, and her talent agency describes her as having emerged rapidly as a force within the UK scene, performing live sets at venues in Britain and overseas. Her approach is not limited to playing other people’s records. She produces her own material and has become known for reworking familiar tracks, at times layering her own vocals into them, which gives her sets a recognisable signature. Where many creators with large followings treat music as an extension of their online brand, she has moved in the opposite direction, using the audience she built online to support a career that stands on its own terms.
Building an Audience Online
Her social media presence began in April 2021 and grew quickly. She became known first for short lip sync videos, dance trends and beauty content, with one early clip passing a million views. Her main account now carries well over half a million followers and tens of millions of accumulated likes, while her Instagram feed mixes travel, fashion, event appearances and glimpses of her music work. What distinguishes her output is consistency of style. The material feels like it comes from one person with a particular taste rather than from a content strategy, and that coherence has made her attractive to brands looking for someone whose aesthetic is already defined.
Modelling and Commercial Work
Alongside the music, Talitha is signed to Premier, one of London’s best established model agencies, and has worked on campaigns for fashion and lifestyle labels including the online retailer ASOS. She has appeared at industry and brand events in London and become a familiar presence in that world, where her look and cultural relevance have made her a useful partner for companies trying to reach a younger audience. Her height is given as roughly five foot six in most coverage, though such details vary between sources. There is no verified public figure for her earnings, though her income clearly comes from a combination of DJ bookings, production work, modelling contracts and brand partnerships, all of which have grown as her profile has risen.
How She Met Sam Thompson
The relationship that brought her to wider public attention began with work rather than romance. Talitha and Sam Thompson first crossed paths in October 2023, when she modelled for a campaign for Dinelli Eyewear, the sunglasses brand Sam had launched the previous year with a former Made in Chelsea castmate. At the time Sam was still in his long relationship with the television presenter Zara McDermott, and nothing romantic developed between them then.
That relationship ended at the start of 2025 after around five years, and Sam spoke openly on his podcast about how difficult the months that followed were. Later in the year the two reconnected when she attended one of his live podcast shows at the O2 Arena as a surprise guest, with a mutual friend reportedly encouraging them along. Reports of them dating began circulating that September.
A Relationship in the Public Eye
Sam confirmed the romance on his podcast in October 2025, describing it at that stage as relaxed and not yet formalised, and joking that he had been out of practice at asking anyone out. Shortly afterwards the couple were photographed on a day out in Chelsea, and Sam announced the relationship to his followers with a video of the pair assembling a Harry Potter themed Lego set, his sister Louise appearing in the same clip. By late November they had made things official, with Sam explaining that he had asked her over a deliberately low key dinner.
The following February he told listeners he had said he loved her, recounting the moment with characteristic awkwardness and admitting he had not been able to stop saying it since. In April 2026 Talitha joined Sam and his family for a weekend in the Cotswolds, spending time with his sister, her husband and young son, and his mother, with photographs from the trip shared afterwards. Sam has since spoken publicly about seeing a long term future with her, including marriage and children, although no engagement has been announced. The most recent reporting continues to describe the two as a couple.
What Is Known and What Is Not
Talitha has handled her sudden visibility with a noticeable degree of restraint. She has not given extensive interviews about her personal life, has not discussed her mother publicly, and had kept her romantic history almost entirely private before this relationship. That reticence has created a vacuum, and a good deal of what circulates about her online is guesswork presented as fact, including confident claims about her family and her appearance that have no credible source behind them. Anyone encountering her story for the first time would do well to treat her own channels and established news outlets as the reliable record.
Looking Ahead
What makes Talitha Balinska interesting is not the relationship that introduced her to a wider public but the career that existed before it. She had already built an audience, signed with a major agency, worked on national campaigns and established herself behind the decks by the time her name began appearing in celebrity coverage. The attention has widened her reach and brought the scrutiny that follows, but the foundation was laid independently. With her music career continuing to develop and her commercial work expanding alongside it, she appears set to remain a familiar name in British culture for reasons that have little to do with who she is dating.
