Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has revealed she struggled with her finances and was forced to use a food bank after leaving the soap.
The actress, 60, said it drove her to tears, adding: “It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. I found it so difficult to be that vulnerable.”
Fergison is best known for playing Heather Trott on the BBC show from 2007 until 2012.
She told the Sunday Mirror her battles with money started after she was diagnosed with womb cancer in 2015, which meant she had to walk away from her acting career.
She subsequently had to have a hysterectomy and then went through an early menopause that triggered mental health issues and self-harming.
Fergison said she was dousing herself in scalding water daily as she tried to “wash” away the cancer cells.
“I was damaging myself so badly,” she said. “As soon as I got the all-clear I stopped doing it. If you’re told you are ill, it’s not just about the physical issue – somehow, you need to figure out what’s going on in your head with it all.”
The actress said that by this February, she was penniless.
“I didn’t have any money to do a weekly shop. I was trying to pay too many debts,” she said.
“It was a really difficult time,” she added. “Lots of people can relate to it. You’re trying to find a penny. You’re literally looking down your settee to see if you can find a quid.”
Fergison said it was a long way from her time on EastEnders, when she “didn’t even look at the price of things”.
She said that she sought help at Citizens Advice, and a staff member from the charity subsequently took her to a food bank.
“I sat there and cried and cried. It was shameful. How could I have been on EastEnders? How could I have been earning that much money and now I am here?,” she asked.
More than half of low-paid Londoners have had to resort to using a food bank in the last year, according to the Living Wage Foundation.
Fergison, who lives in Cleveleys, was full of praise for the workers at the food bank, saying: “That day is one I’ll never forget – and I’ll never forget the people. I felt I’d had this amazing, biggest, warmest hug. That’s what it felt like.
“They were like angels. It was like a group of angels had come along and said, ‘We can cope with this for you Cheryl, we can do this for you’.”
The actress said she left there with four bags of groceries, and she has not had to return since then.
She is since making ends meet, including by singing in Chinese restaurants and performing in pantomimes for work.
She added that she hoped that speaking up about her financial struggles would help others.
“I hope other people can relate to it. I really want to stress that food banks are a service,” she said.
“They’re there for you to use so please do not feel embarrassed or that it’s a weakness. Whatever the reason, you deserve help. We have a right to be able to live like a human being and do it in a dignified way.”
Last month, a new report by anti-poverty charity Trussell said a record 9.3 million people – including one in five children – are facing hunger and hardship in the UK.
Helen Barnard, director of policy and research at Trussell, told BBC News: “Everyone’s story of being forced to turn to a food bank is heartbreaking and it’s brave Cheryl has spoken out to highlight this issue.”
She said food banks “try their hardest to provide a warm welcome”.
But she added it’s “just not right” that anyone has to turn to a food bank to survive.
BBC News has contacted Fergison’s representatives and Citizens Advice for a comment.