Sheridan Smith has candidly spoken about the anxiety and depression that forced her to take a break from the limelight last year.
The 36-year-old concerned fans when she suddenly pulled out of West End play Funny Girl in 2016, citing stress and exhaustion.
Now, in a new interview, the beloved star has detailed just what she was going through during that difficult period – and why she needed to escape the spotlight to focus on her well-being.
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Sheridan told The Sunday Times she’d battled with stress and depression for years, but it all came to a head when her father was diagnosed with cancer. He sadly passed away in December 2016.
The star recalled: “My life was falling apart. And I didn’t tell anyone.”
Discussing how the stress and depression affected her, she said, “You think, ‘That’s it, this is me. I’m unlovable, I’m inauthentic.’ And you can’t see that it will change.”
Sheridan admitted she didn’t really feel she could speak out, fearing people would see her as ungrateful given her huge success.
However, at the same time, she couldn’t just “pull [herself] together” without taking action.
“It just snowballs until it’s out of control. I didn’t want to talk about it at the time, because I just thought that’s exactly what people would say — ‘What have you got to be upset about?’
“And I was totally grateful, of course I was. But at the same time, I was totally terrified that I was going to come unstuck, that I couldn’t hold these feelings of insecurity in much longer without it coming to a head.”
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Sheridan chose to step away from her Funny Girl role in May 2016, taking a two-month break from the stage.
She received a standing ovation and ecstatic reviews on her return.
The star’s won a BAFTA and two Olivier Awards during her critically-acclaimed career. She recently won applause for her role in BBC One drama The Moorside, which was based on the kidnapping of youngster Shannon Matthews.