Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has said that she’s ‘just surviving’ at the moment as she takes on jobs that offer no money.
The actress, who played iconic character Heather Trott on the BBC One soap from 2007 to 2012, has been open about her financial struggles and admitted that her finances will ‘take a long time to recover’.
‘Until I have steady work, I’m not rich or comfortable—I’m just surviving,’ she said. ‘I’ve been saying yes to everything for no money, but I need to start valuing my work and asking for fair pay. Even my agent insists on it.’
‘Still, I’ll never give in,’ the star told The Sun. ‘I want to keep singing. If people criticise me for singing in small restaurants, so be it.
‘At the end of the day, I’m an entertainer. Community has always been important to me, and I’ll perform no matter the crowd.’
Cheryl went on to say that no-one should be judged for trying to get back on their feet. ‘One thing isn’t better than another—we all have our paths’ she continued to the publication. ‘I will always sing my heart out and I’m working my way back up.’
Appearing on This Morning last year, Cheryl opened up about her struggles and how she was able to get help from a food bank, as well as from EastEnders legend Dame Barbara Windsor, who died in 2020 aged 83.
‘It was kind of like [the money] was frittered away [on holidays]. You think you’re going to be [in EastEnders] forever, but you’re not.
‘If the jobs don’t come in as quick as they were…it started to spiral
‘The perception is that you’re lowering yourself by doing something like [singing in a restaurant].
‘Heather was such a great character that she’s not easy to forget and my life paralleled her in some ways, going to a food bank is something Heather would have done. It shouldn’t be happening but it is.
‘The lovely late great Barbara Windsor was getting her chequebook out to help me. They helped me out a lot and helped my family.’
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