Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian shares emotional video about quitting acting and leaving the UK

Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian has shared an emotional video with her fans. She has revealed that she is quitting acting and is leaving the UK. The actress who played Hollyoaks’ Becca Dean begun her video by saying goodbye to her London flat. 

In the video posted on her Instagram, Ali Bastian said: “And now… the back story. Saying good bye to my London flat was very emotional. I’ve lived there for about 18 years. I rented it first and then bought it a few years later. It was the most secure I had ever felt… I moved around a lot as a child and for many reasons often felt very unsettled.

Ali Bastian went on to say that “This flat was my life raft through highs and lows of my career, through the madness of covid, it’s where my babies came home from the hospital, took their first steps.. all the magical mess of life.. The good, the bad.. The hilarious and then the heartbreak. I never thought I would want to leave but life had other plans.”

Hollyoaks actress Ali Bastian then goes on to explain about her difficult second birth and postpartum period which led to her and her family taking a circuit break in Ireland. She explained that his break allowed her nervous system to have the “break it so desperately needed- I was certainly suffering a major burn out at that point and London life was just too much on top of everything else. When we came back to London there were more turbulent times to come and some tremendous losses that brought me to my knees. Too raw to go in to. Somehow I put one foot in front of the other for my husband and babies.”

Ali Bastian revals in the post that the “job of ‘performer and actor’ that I had done professionally since childhood has felt almost impossible to show up in, too vulnerable, too exposing.. I never imagined the career that I have loved, the thing that was my escape from a challenging childhood would feel so difficult.”

Actress Ali Bastian ends her post by explaining how an idea of moving to Ireland has now come true and said: “Slowly a plan was hatched and here we are now sitting in our little house, overlooking the ocean on the West Coast of Ireland…” She ended her post by writing “I can become a more connected and honest performer… Home. No longer needing to be a life raft but more a springboard into an exciting future.”

Ali Bastian has been inundated with comments following her Instagram post. One fan wrote “How brave to expose your soul like this… but so much admiration for doing it. Everyone thinks it wonderful for actors, all jolly and good times. They fail to realise you’re human too and life is the same for you too. So am sending love and positive thoughts as you take this huge step.. And may you find yourself again xx.”

Ali Bastian is married to Three Musketeers movie actor David O’Mahoney and the couple share two daughters, Isla and Isabella. Ali joined Hollyoaks in 2001 and left in 2007 when her character was killed off.