Rosie Marcel: Holby City star announces retirement aged 47 amid struggles to find roles after show ends

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Rosie Marcel, best known for her role as Jac Naylor in BBC medical drama Holby City, has announced her retirement from acting.

The former TV star revealed she struggled to find work since the show's conclusion in 2022. Despite her efforts to secure new roles, Marcel revealed she hasn’t had a single offer in the past three and a half years.

The 47-year-old actress shared her decision on Instagram, writing: "Well, I guess it's out there now. No longer a secret that I've retired. Go to Metro online and read the lovely Calli Kitson's article. I'm pretty sure I didn't say 'whatever' that much...and I'm surely more erudite than that? Or maybe retirement and the dreaded menopause has well and truly kicked in! Either way. I'm happy. Truly happy. It's been a pleasure and a journey. I've given my bit. I'm happy with what I put out in the world.

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“Delighted with some lovely successes. Made some great friends. Lost some dear ones. Lost my mind several times but always got it back. Learnt some great lessons. Gave and got back a lot of kindness. Laughed more than I should have on set. Didn't laugh enough. What a bloody good bit of life I had. Ready for the next bit. Happy to just be me now."

Rosie Marcel has starred as Jac Naylor in the series since 2005 (Photo: BBC)Rosie Marcel has starred as Jac Naylor in the series since 2005 (Photo: BBC)
Rosie Marcel has starred as Jac Naylor in the series since 2005 (Photo: BBC) | BBC

In an interview with Metro, Marcel said: "I won't lie, it's been a really tough three and a half years. I haven't had a single job, and that's been really, really difficult. A lot of that is, I would imagine, people can't see beyond Jac. I think a lot of it is because of my age, I think it's my gender."

She explained further that several personal and professional challenges influenced her choice:

"I decided to retire. So I actually retired in May. In all honesty, so much changed in our lives in that time – my husband's gym burned down, obviously I lost my job, Ben nearly died, I lost a couple of babies, I got caught in a terrible accident on the A41, another accident with a guy who'd been stabbed by his son. Just this crazy three years of stuff happened.

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“And not getting any work as well, and getting to the last two for certain things, which was lovely and everything, but the reality of going up for a Netflix job and knowing I was up against 6,000 other people really forced my hand in some ways."

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