Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has opened up about using a food bank amid her debt struggles.
The actor, who played Heather Trott on the BBC soap between 2007 and 2012, shared her experience on today's (November 19) This Morning, admitting her own life "paralleled" aspects of her character's.
"Things like going to the food bank, that’s the sort of thing that Heather would have done, I’m sure," she said. "So, it's weird to know that what I portrayed is something that is happening to millions. It shouldn’t be happening but it is."
Related: Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison shares honest reason why she's selling soap scripts
Opening up about the first time she visited, Cheryl explained that the volunteers were "little angels", recalling: "It didn't matter if they knew me or not, they never ever showed it. They sat me down, gave me a cup of tea [and] I started sobbing.
"I sobbed and thought, ‘Why am I here? I've been on the television, I've been in people's front rooms but I am actually here now’. You hear these stories, and I've reported on these stories, and I've done these stories, but I am actually here now."
What to Read Next
The star went on to reveal that the staff gave her food for her dog, as well as chocolates and tea bags to have at home to help her distress, admitting that it "got" her emotionally.
"I said, ‘Thank you’ and then she just said, ‘And here's a bunch of daffodils to put on your table, to just look at them and feel brighter’," she added. "They had thought of everything. They are special."
Related: Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison reflects on trolling over age gap romance
Cheryl continued: "I cannot get that image and what happened to me and that day out of my mind, it was so bittersweet. I was going to Citizens Advice to ask them, ‘What can I do? This debt is just too much. I'm not sleeping. I'm not functioning very well’. My spark had gone."
The star also reflected on being diagnosed with womb cancer in 2015 and how that impacted her life financially.
"I was stressing to the utmost, sometimes claiming benefits when I was not well [with cancer] but tried not to, because I always see people and I think they're in a worse situation than me, so they need it more than I do. But, it got to the stage where I was kind of going, ‘Oh, I'll just borrow that, because I'm going to get a job. I know I’ll get another job’.”
She also revealed that the late Barbara Windsor and her husband Scott supported her financially, before sharing that she had to sell her house and start renting instead.
Cheryl went on to encourage fans in a similar situation to feel that "nothing is embarrassing", adding: "Talk to the people closest to you who can help seek out the services. Services are there for a reason. They're there to help us. Just go to these people. It's not embarrassing. It's not shameful. It's nothing.
"You're going to have tears, you're going to have all those things, but you are helping yourself and your close loved ones and you can't help those people unless you're okay in your mind with it, and you've got to get it straight."
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV1 from 10am.
If you would like more information or support about living with cancer or treatment, please click here for guidance from Macmillan Cancer Support, or click here to learn more from Stand Up to Cancer.
