Cheryl Fergison: former Eastenders actress reveals secret cancer battle following diagnosis nine years ago

Former EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison has opened up about her secret nine-year battle with womb cancer.

The soap star, who played fan favourite Heather Trott from 2007 to 2012, has opened up about her diagnosis to The Mirror, with Fergison, 58, revealing that she was diagnosed with the cancer in 2015. She told the newspaper that getting the diagnosis was an “out of body experience”.

Fergison said: “Yes, there were some dark moments when I thought: ‘am I going to die?’ Am I going to leave my husband without a wife, my son without a mum? But I am strong and I’d knock those thoughts away. I was determined that it wasn’t going to beat me.” The London-born actress, who now lives in Blackpool with her husband Yassine El Jamouni, revealed that she knew “something didn’t feel right” after she had went for a smear test, which was clear, but ended up experiencing backache and spotting blood in the aftermath. She was then referred by her GP for further tests at a local hospital in Kent, with her diagnoses of Stage Two womb cancer coming four months down the line.

Fergison said: “I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn’t believe the doctor was talking about me.”

She added that the diagnosis affected “how I felt as a woman”, saying: “I’d not long married Yassine and suddenly any thought of having a child together had been taken away. We may not have gone down that route, of course, but we’d lost the ability to choose. It brought on early menopause too; in terms of how I saw myself as a woman, it felt as if it had all come to an end. It was a horrendous time.” The soap actress also said that she was determined to fight the cancer in a bid to stay alive for her then 16-year-old son Alex, from a previous marriage. She delayed telling him about the devastating news at the time due to him undergoing stressful school exams.

Fergison also said that she leaned on her former Eastenders colleagues, including Dame Barbara Windsor, Dame June Brown, Steve McFadden and Linda Henry, for support. She also counted close friends Paul O’Grady and Julian Clary as confidants at the time. She said: “Their support meant the world to me.”

The actress has now recovered from the cancer, with her new revelation coming as a way of raising awareness of the illness. She said: “The time is right to talk about it. My family and I have been through a lot but we’re still here. Listen to your body. Even if it’s the smallest concern - go and get checked because if you haven’t got health, you’ve not got no wealth. I’ve come through it and so can others. It’s all about living life now and I’m ready to fly.”