Martine McCutcheon links illness to unhappy childhood

Former EastEnders actress Martine McCutcheon believes the crippling illness and depression she has suffered from for the past seven years could be linked to her troubled childhood.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday McCutcheon, who appeared as Tiffany in the BBC One soap from 1995 to 1998, said over the past few years she’d piled on weight, suffered mood swings, became depressed, had to declare herself bankrupt and considered suicide.

I would pray to God I wouldn’t wake up. I would just say, ‘Please, whatever this is, it is making me feel so bad, just let it kill me. …I’ve had the worst seven years ever. It’s just been one thing after another. I have not been in a nice place in my head, financially nor with my career. – McCutcheon in The Sun

The actress told the tabloid she was eventually diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome ME.

Read More: Martine McCutcheon opens up about her depression

Martine believes her illness is the result of an unhappy childhood – when she was just two years old her father Thomas Hemmings dangled her over a balcony to make her mum Jenny Tomlin have sex with him.

There were lots of issues in my childhood, stuff to do with my dad I’d never really faced.

I wanted him to give me attention and my way of dealing with it was to try to make the whole country love me. – Martine

Martine has previously spoken candidly about her troubled childhood in her autobiography ‘Who does she think she is?’ which was released in 2000.

As her hospital bills mounted, she became reliant on a lucrative advertising deal with yoghurt makers Danone to pay off increasing debts.

However, the deal fell through when the firm couldn’t insure her.

They were incredibly supportive. But in the end they had to get someone else simply because of the insurance problems. – Martine

Martine declared herself bankrupt in January.