Soap star Cheryl Fergison opens up about using a food bank after cancer diagnosis
She played the role of Heather Trott in EastEnders
If you think back to some of the most iconic characters to appear on BBC soap EastEnders, Heather Trott, played by actress Cheryl Fergison, is certainly up there with one of the best.
Cheryl first appeared on the soap in June 2007 in a guest role, before becoming a huge hit with viewers and quickly becoming a permanent character until she was killed off by Ben Mitchell in 2012.
Now, as she prepares to play Fairy Godmother in panto this festive season, the 60-year-old has bravely opened up about the time she had to use a food bank after finding herself struggling with debt, after a womb cancer diagnosis in 2015 left her unable to work.
Appearing on This Morning on Tuesday 18th November, Cheryl told hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: “My life sort of paralleled her a little bit in some things, including things like going to the food bank, that’s the sort of thing that Heather would have done, I’m sure.
“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.”
Opening up further about the time she visited a food bank, Cheryl added: “They were little angels… 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.
“Then they filled my bags up with food, and they asked me if I had an animal… I said, ‘Yeah, I've got a dog, Rosie’ and they said, ‘Okay, well she needs to eat, so we'll get some food’... I think this is the bit that got me, I was sat there with a cup of tea, with four or five bags of food and the lady said, ‘Oh, we've got all these tins of Celebrations and chocolates - what we’ll do is we put some in bags, and you can go home and have a cup of tea, because there’s tea bags in there’. Adding: “‘Just have a little chocolate and have a little sit down and it might help you’.”
Cheryl, who appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2013, also spoke about how she found herself in debt, telling the hosts: “I think that's a perception for everybody, that when you're on the telly, you're earning loads of money all the time, and it's great. I was earning a good wage there but I've always lived in council estates, so I'd never really had money. We'd never really been brought up with money, we'd never managed money very well as a family. When I was in EastEnders, you suddenly get this money, and I thought, ‘I'm going to treat my friends and my family to holidays and things that they never had’... It was kind of frittered away.
“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’.”
Watch Cheryl's interview on This Morning below:
As well as telling her own story, Cheryl was keen to share some advice with viewers who find themselves in similar situations.
She sensibly said: "I would say nothing is embarrassing. 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. You know, watch Martin Lewis get some advice from him!”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV, ITVX, STV and STV Player.