EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison reveals she has used food banks

EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has revealed she was so strapped for cash she was forced to use food banks. 

The actress, 60, confessed that her financial situation was so difficult at one moment that she had to seek professional help. 

Cheryl, who rose to fame playing Heather Trott in the BBC1 soap from 2007 to 2012, told the Daily Mirror that she was taken to her local food bank by a member of Citizens Advice after telling them she couldn't afford to eat.

The soap star explained that it was a far cry from her time on the hit show when she didn't even used to look at the price of things. 

She told the publication: '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?

'It was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I found it so difficult to be that vulnerable. But I didn't have any money to do a weekly shop. I was trying to pay too many debts.'

Cheryl's revelation comes after it was revealed that she had been selling old EastEnders scripts for quick cash, charging fans £50 per item, and singing in a Chinese restaurant to keep a roof over her head.

Despite earning a decent wage during her time on the show, the mother-of-one was diagnosed with womb cancer in 2015, which stopped her career dead in its tracks and she struggled to recover.

The star underwent a hysterectomy which she explained came with unforeseen  physical and mental side effects and the actress was struggling so much she began to self harm. 

Cheryl told the newspaper that she threw herself in scalding water multiple times a day in an attempt to 'wash away' her cancer.

But she said that as soon as she was given the all clear by her doctors she stopped hurting herself. 

But despite the change in her fortunes for her health, Cheryl's world was falling apart as she realised she barely had a penny to her name. 

But, refusing to let her difficulties overcome her, she reached out to Citizens Advice.

And she revealed that the experience was much easier than she thought and she was relieved to have finally found someone to help.

She said: 'If they did know who I was they didn't show it and that was what was wonderful. I thought it was embarrassing.'

The star praised the 'angels' who worked there and described the moment they took her inside and the help they offered her felt like 'this amazing, biggest, warmest hug'. 

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And the star left the centre with four bags of groceries, dog food and a bunch of daffodils.

After her harrowing experience, Cheryl explained she was motivated once more to turn her life around and revealed she is looking forward to starring as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, in Peterborough this Christmas.

And the production is a family affair with her son, Alex, 25, who she shares with first husband Jamshed Saddiqi, joining the cast in the role of Buttons.

Cheryl hopes that discussing her financial difficulties will help others be more open and seek help. 

The EastEnders star added that people even now are surprised to see her in her local Lidl store and don't expect her to shop in bargain supermarkets. 

Despite people's reaction, she said she no longer feels embarrassed and part of her new found confidence comes from the support of her former co-stars. 

Cheryl confessed that Steve McFadden, who plays Phil Mitchell is her 'rock' while the late Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell, even helped the struggling star out with her debts and supported her through her cancer treatment. 

Of Barbara, Cheryl described her as 'amazing', adding: 'Barbara and her husband, Scott, were writing cheques out for me to keep a roof above my head when I couldn't work and I was poorly.'  

She went on to say that one of the best pieces of advice Barbara ever gave her was to be kind to fans because they don't know what you're going through. 

Cheryl said it is advice she has heeded, even chatting to people in hospital while going through her caner treatment. 

For the future, the soap actress said she doesn't want to go back to worrying about putting food on the table and isn't ashamed of selling something people want - but her biggest dream now is to star in I'm A Celebrity.