EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison reveals she had womb cancer

Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has revealed she was diagnosed with womb cancer in 2015, describing how it made her feel “as if it had all come to an end”.

The 58-year-old actor, who played Heather Trott on the BBC One show from 2007 to 2012, described how she found out about it during a smear test.

“I’d gone for a regular smear test – which had been clear – but I’d started having a lot of backache and then I began spotting blood, which wasn’t normal for me,” she told The Mirror.

“I had been fitted with a coil to help with very heavy periods but somehow I just knew something didn’t feel right.”

Fergison underwent several tests and a biopsy, and four months later, she received a cancer diagnosis.

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

The actor was then recommended a full hysterectomy, and she recalled how it made her feel, knowing she could have no children with husband Yassine.

“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,” she said.

“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,” she added.

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant said it was time to talk about her diagnosis.

“The time is right to talk about it. My family and I have been through a lot but we’re still here”.

“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.”

Fergison said she confided in some of her EastEnders co-stars, including Dame Barbara Windsor and Steve McFadden.

“Their support meant the world to me,” said Fergison, recalling McFadden arranging his home in Cornwall for her to recover in after her hysterectomy and Windsor’s insistence on helping out financially.

“I was in shock and said no but Barbs was insistent – I wasn’t earning. They sat there and wrote a cheque. I was sobbing but Barbara hugged me and said: ‘Don’t worry. We’re always going to be here for you.’”

Further backache last year led to a scare, as Fergison worried it was a sign that her cancer had returned, but her doctors said the “initial treatment had got all the cancer”.

Now recovered, Fergison focuses on eating healthy and exercising regularly, saying: “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.”