EastEnders stars’ health struggles — miscarriages, cancer and bipolar battle

EastEnders stars have faced plenty of heartache in their own lives.

While their on-screen characters struggle with their ongoing health battles, several members of the cast have opened up about their real-life struggles away from Walford. From battling cancer to suffering from mental health issues, there is not much the cast have been through off-camera.

READ MORE: EastEnders fans heartbroken as BBC bosses mark seven years since Peggy Mitchell exit

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Daily Star has looked back at some of the devastating realities that previous and current cast stars of the soap have faced in their lives.

Samantha Womack

Rocking up to Albert Square in 2007, Ronnie Mitchell became an instant hit with fans right up until her tragic death in 2017. Five years after her exit, actress Samantha Womack revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Sharing a tribute to Grease star Olivia Newton-John, who passed away after a battle with the disease on August 8, 2022, the 50-year-old explained it was now her turn to fight the illness.

Alongside a picture of herself with the late actress, Samantha tweeted: "This was the most magical of evenings. Olivia and Chloe had come to see Grease in London and we had dinner together afterwards. I was so excited and in awe, she was my childhood. "I now start my own battle with this disease and am left feeling deeply moved. #OliviaNewtonJohn."

Thankfully, the former soap star confirmed she was cancer free five months after her she was diagnosed. During an interview with OK! Magazine, the blonde beauty reflected on the terrifying ordeal and revealed she was undergoing radio therapy "'to try and nuke any leftover cells."

"Now I'm just having some treatment as I go back to work, as a prevention… We're feeling a lot better than we were," she told the publication. Samantha added: "My treatment is ongoing for breast cancer. The surgery was quite difficult to recover from just because it's quite tender when you have lymph nodes removed. There's a few mobility issues at the beginning." "The first round of chemotherapy was pretty hardcore really, it was quite toxic,' before adding: 'I've got radiotherapy for a bit of time to try and nuke any leftover cells."

Luisa Bradshaw White

Luisa Bradshaw White starred as Tina Carter from 2013 until 2020, when she was brutally murdered by Gray Atkins (Toby-Alexander Smith). The same year she departed the soap, the 48-year-old bravely spoke out about living with Bipolar Disorder, publishing an inspiring essay on the subject to mark Mental Health Awareness week. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme changes in mood that includes emotional highs and lows.

She wrote in the essay published in The Metro: "I have Bipolar Disorder, which luckily I have been stable from from years, although I look back and am shocked I didn’t get diagnosed earlier as I see patterns of it throughout my whole life. "Bipolar took me to a land of hell, that I just couldn’t seem to get back from." The actress added: "My highs were so out of control and left me extremely vulnerable and my life was full of fear and anxiety. "That and persistent self love and self care. Through breathwork I learned to swap the agitated out of control constant rush of adrenalin (the bipolar high) for what I now call a spiritual euphoria, which was just infinitely better!"

Bill Treacher

Making his debut in the very first episode of EastEnders in 1985, Bill Treacher became known to the world as Arthur Fowler and was reportedly the first person to be cast in the soap. The actor portrayed the role for more than a decade, with storylines including a mental disorder and eventually dying of a brain haemorrhage in 1996. Bill continued acting after departing EastEnders but in 2015, revealed he was suffering from ataxia, a degenerative disease that affects speech and balance.

After first needing a walking stick, Bill used a frame before being forced into a wheelchair. Completely robbing him of his ability to walk, the disease sadly brought his 50-year career to an end. He previously said in 2015: “I’m not doing any work now, I can’t bloody well walk.” In 2022, Bill's heartbroken family announced the soap legend had passed away aged 92.

The statement read: "The family of the actor Bill Treacher are sad to announce that Bill died late Saturday night, 5 November 2022. He was 92 years old and his health had been declining for some time. He was much loved by his wife, Kate, his son, Jamie and his daughter, Sophie. Bill was a brilliant actor and a wonderful husband and father, plus a very fine human being. He will be hugely missed."

Barbara Windsor

Arguably one of the most iconic characters to ever walk the square, Peggy Mitchell was first portrayed Dame Barbara Windsor in 1994. During her 22-year run, the character was diagnosed with breast cancer twice and its return led to Peggy's suicide in 2016. In 2014, the soap icon was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative brain disease that affects someone's memory. She kept her fight with the illness a secret for four years before husband Scott Mitchell revealed all following rumours of her deteriorating health.

“Since her 80th birthday last August, a definite continual confusion has set in, so it’s becoming a lot more difficult for us to hide,” he said. "I’m doing this because I want us to be able to go out and, if something isn’t quite right, it will be OK because people will now know that she has Alzheimer’s and will accept it for what it is.” Barbara's health deteriorated during lockdown in 2020 and she was moved to a care home later that year. In December 2020, the national treasure lost her battle with the disease and passed away aged 83.

Rita Simons

Taking Walford by storm, Roxy Mitchell made her first appearance alongside sister Ronnie in 2007. During her 10-year stint in Albert Square, Roxy faced several hardships, most notably her battle with drugs which played a role in her tragic death. Actress Rita Simons, 46, has faced more than one health battle in her own life however and opened about her struggles following her divorce.

After splitting up with husband of 14 years Theo Silveston in 2018, Rita, who has battled anxiety and OCD from around the age of seven, fell into a deep depression. She told The Sun: "When I look back, I used to be quite aggressive, hardened and defensive, like I was on guard all the time. If something bad happened, I’d be the first to go, "Raagh!", and start screaming." Reflecting on some of her lowest moments, the I'm A Celeb star said: "It was a deep sadness, I would say a depression. I couldn’t see the wood for the trees. It was all kind of lumped into one big mess and I was very ill a lot of the time."

The mum-of-two added: "I lost a lot of weight. And I wasn’t telling people about the marriage because although my kids knew, I didn’t want them reading about it. That just ate me up, not being able to tell people what was really going on." Earlier this year, the actress revealed she underwent a hysterectomy after years of suffering from “debilitating” periods.

She told OK! Magazine: “I was in panto and I got to the point where I was telling my agent not to book me on dates where I knew I’d be on my period, because it was so difficult to work. It was debilitating and I knew I couldn’t go through that every month. My emotions got completely freaked out every month."

The doctor revealed the only option was to "remove everything" and despite knowing it was the best thing for her, Rita saw it as "an attack on her femininity" as her chance of becoming a mother again would be taken away. Back in 2021, Rita spoke frankly to OK! Magazine about scoliosis and the effects it has on her spine. Speaking openly she said: "I hate my scoliosis with a passion. It’s definitely getting worse and it makes everything I wear weird. I had an X-ray not that long ago and my spine is a big old S now, and I’m in a whole world of pain most of the time."

Lacey Turner

Lacey Turner has been an EastEnders favourite since she first made her way to the square more than 20 years ago. Opposite to her character, the 35-year-old has been happily married to husband Matt Kay since 2017 after first meeting when they were just 15 years old. The couple have since welcomed two children; daughter Dusty and son Trilby, but suffered two devastating miscarriages before.

The soap star revealed she received poor aftercare and doubts she would have any children had she not gone private. "If I’d not gone private I’d probably still have no babies," she told The Sun. There wasn’t really any aftercare. I was told that I’d had a miscarriage and that was it. She added: "I really felt quite overwhelmed and lost during our miscarriages. We found ourselves confused."

"We had no explanation, just a sudden feeling of the excitement of having a baby to feeling completely empty and lost. Lacey went on to say: "To go through that once is hard enough. Earlier doctors’ advice and support would have helped. We were lucky enough to go to a private specialist. Everyone should have that opportunity."

John Partridge

In his early 30s, John Partridge secretly battled testicular cancer after being diagnosed in 2004. The 51-year-old, who starred as Christian Clarke on the BBC soap from 2008 until 2016, spoke about his diagnosis on Good Morning Britain in 2018. "I went in for a hernia operation and it was found. I had a tumour the size of a grapefruit," he told the presenters. I had no pain, I didn't realise it was there. Had I not had this surgery for something else, who knows what would have happened."

"I went into reverse shock about it… I got the fear, is it going to come back, is it my lifestyle…'." The musical theatre star, who took part in The Real Full Monty in 2018 to raise awareness on the subject, revealed he kept his diagnosis a secret from his loved ones. He added: "As a man, it's… I'd lost part of that, my sexuality, my virility, my masculinity. "You remove a testicle… it was a long operation, I had over 120 stitches, there's a scar, it doesn't look particularly pretty for somebody like me."

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm

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