Former EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has shared an update on her health eight months after suffering a stroke.
The 60-year-old actor, who played Heather Trott on the BBC soap, was left unable to walk or talk after being struck down with the illness in May 2025. She previously described it as “one of the lowest times in my life”.
She appeared on BBC Breakfast on Thursday (29 January) to talk about her recovery, telling hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty she is “recovering slowly”, but “a lot better”.
“It’s a long process, but my mind is positive now,” Fergison said. “It wasn’t in the beginning, but it is now. I’m happy to be here, to be quite honest.”
She suggested her stroke was a “build up” of “a lot of stress” she’s experienced in the acting industry over the years.
“My blood pressure was always high. Our industry is renowned for being quite a stressful business – it’s kind of feast and famine with us.
“If you’re not worrying about your job and what to do and how to be top of your game, you’re worrying about how to survive with money and things like that.”
Reflecting upon her symptoms before the stroke, Fergison said she had a “terrible headache” and fell on the floor.
The actor’s stroke was diagnosed by her son Alex, who works with elderly people and recognised the symptoms. After being rushed to hospital in Blackpool, she underwent recovery to “retrain” her brain to coordinate her hands, balance and walk.
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“It literally changed my life from that day on,” Fergison said. “I could speak but couldn’t formulate many words in the hospital.”
“My right side, which is still quite heavy, wasn’t working at all. I couldn’t walk, and over these months, slowly but surely, at my own pace and with the help of all my stroke team and with the Stroke Association, who have been brilliant, I’m here and making a full recovery.”
She urged her fans to “start thinking” about their stress levels if they “want to live a healthy, long life”.
Fergison played the hapless Heather on EastEnders from 2007 to 2012. Her other credits include Little Britain, The IT Crowd and Doctor Who, in which she appeared in two episodes starring Christopher Eccleston.
Her stroke occurred after she underwent surgery for womb cancer in 2015, for which the late Barbara Windsor, who played Peggy Mitchell on EastEnders paid her medical bills and living expenses.
Fergison previously reflected: “I just remember, just weeping, and you have people like this and people don’t know the generosity of people and what they do, it’s amazing. I’m forever grateful.”
The actor had been singing in Chinese restaurants and performing in pantomimes to make ends meet and was taken to a food bank by Citizens Advice after she was left unable to afford her supermarket shop.
“It was shameful,” she said. “How could I have been earning that much and now I am here?”
