EastEnders' Michelle Collins' off-screen heartache and why it took so long to find love

EastEnders star Michelle Collins is best known for playing serial dater, Cindy Beale, whose affair with Junior Knight will be exposed tonight in explosive scenes

Michelle Collins' love life is almost as a dramatic as her EastEnders character, Cindy Beale's.

All eyes will be on Cindy tonight as her affair with Junior Knight is exposed in explosive scenes - with Michelle, 62, telling the Mirror viewers will "hate Cindy" after the episode.

Off screen, Michelle's romantic life has also been full of drama, including the tragic death of her daughter's father as well as years "looking for love in all the wrong places".

The Hackney-born star discussed her struggle to find love previously, telling Kaye Adams' How To Be 60 podcast: "I just seem to be one of these people who it's taken me a long time to find myself. I was maybe looking in the wrong places, looking for the wrong people."

Michelle also admitted she'd been engaged "a few times" but didn't marry until a psychic told her she wouldn't find true love until she was 50.

So, as we settle in to watch Cindy's bombshell Christmas episode tonight, here's the lowdown on the actress' love life off-screen, including her tragic romance with Fabrizio Tassalini...

Tragic romance with Fabrizio Tassalini

Michelle's first notable romance was with her ex-partner Fabrizio Tassalini – who sadly died on October 31 2014 after losing his battle with liver cancer at his home in Melbourne, Australia.

During their relationship, the former couple welcomed a daughter together – Maia Rose – in 1996 despite splitting up in 1998 albeit remaining cordial in order to co-parent their little girl.

Michelle revealed she struggled with their separation and tragically admitted she contemplated suicide in the months shortly after.

She told The Mirror: "I felt like I’d been tipped over the edge. I felt like a failure and found myself sinking lower and lower as the days went on, until in the end I couldn’t seem to pull myself out of the hole.

"I remember swallowing some pills. There was no definite plan or explicit ­decision behind my actions. It just happened."

Michelle fortunately woke up and started being violently sick before phoning her Sunburn co-star Peter Polycarpou, who took her to the hospital.

The actress – who was in Cyprus filming the BBC show – remained in hospital for four days but managed to cover up the incident to Sunburn bosses, citing sunstroke as the reason for her ill health.

Michelle admits she 'probably never met the right man in her life'

Speaking about her life after Fabrizio, Michelle mused about whether it was possible to have a healthy romantic life as well as being a successful actress.

She asked Kaye: "Can you have a wonderful personal life and a wonderful career? I really don't know if that is achievable."

Admitting she had a "complicated love life", Michelle continued: "My life was a bit dramatic I suppose. I had a complicated love life. I worked a lot, but my personal life wasn't always great. I probably never met the right man in my life and I was a very strong woman."

Finding love at 50 after a 'psychic premonition'

Recovering from her heartbreak after Fabrizio, the star found love again with fashion retailer, Mike Davidson, 40, who she tied the knot with in 2022 in a low-key August ceremony.

She first began dating her now-husband in 2012 and officially announced she was engaged in April 2022, ten years later.

Michelle believes a psychic's prediction that she would meet her soulmate when she was approaching 50 came true.

The EastEnders star tied the knot with Mike after a decade together and recently revealed how she had almost given up on finding her perfect match when they first crossed paths.

Speaking to Prima magazine in the summer about discovering love later in life, she confessed: "I thought it would never happen I just didn't think I'd ever get married. But Mike and I will have been married for two years in August.

"I was almost 50 when we met. A psychic told me that I would meet the love of my life when I was nearly 50, and it happened."

After celebrating their second wedding anniversary, Michelle spoke of her love for Mike, telling the How To Be 60 listeners: "It's a case of somebody I can do nothing with. I can just be me and not worry that he thinks I'm boring, or that I think he's boring. Somebody to be bored with and to do nothing with. I think that is a true partner."

*EastEnders is on BBC One tonight at 7.30pm and 10.35pm

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