EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison, best known for playing Heather Trott, has opened up about her painful split from her first husband in her explosive new autobiography, Behind The Scenes.
The 58-year-old actress, who recently revealed she suffered a stroke in May that’s left her walking with a stick, says she’s finally ready to tell her story.
“I have always worn my heart on my sleeve, so I hope my story is relatable. I’ve had to come to terms with a lot of stuff. I had to process it before I could talk about it. Now the time is right,” Cheryl told The Mirror.
Cheryl Fergison reveals all in new autobiography
Cheryl, who played Heather in Eastenders from 2007 to 2012, recounted the moment she first suspected her then-husband, Jay Saddiqi, was cheating.
In an excerpt from her book, she recalled climbing into his car when a strange scent caught her attention.
“I pulled the seatbelt across my body and then it hit me. A scent. Light, sweet, floral and powdery, but definitely not mine. ‘Jay, why can I smell women’s perfume on the seatbelt?’ I said, sniffing it again like a bloodhound. He snapped his head round, a flicker of annoyance flashing in his eyes. ‘You’re imagining things, Cheryl,'” she writes.
Jay tried to brush it off, blaming “aftershave” from workmates, but Cheryl wasn’t convinced. She added that she suspected he was cheating, but “tried to convince myself I was wrong”.
Cheryl finds husband Jay in ‘dingy, makeshift love nest’
Sadly, however, Cheryl’s suspicions were confirmed when a phone bill arrived showing repeated calls to an unfamiliar number. When she dialled it, a woman answered. But when she called back moments later, Jay picked up.
Determined to find the truth, Cheryl did what she called “solid detective work” and tracked down the place where he and the other woman were meeting.
“And there, perched on the dirty bed she shared with my husband, was a skinny blonde woman, sipping a bright blue WKD like it was the most natural thing in the world. Jay stood next to her, caught in the headlights, but still silent, still unwilling to give me anything. Not an apology, not an explanation, not even an ounce of shame.”
The place, she said, was nothing glamorous, just a “dingy, makeshift love nest” that made the betrayal sting even more.
That same night, Cheryl packed up her car, strapped their then-baby son Alex into his seat, and drove to London.
Cheryl divorced Jay in 2008 after eight years of marriage. She raised Alex, now 25, as a single mum while continuing her successful acting career. She is now happily married to second husband Yassine Al-Jermoni. The couple live in Blackpool.
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