Inside Natalie Cassidy's life off-screen from on-set romance and wedding plans to tragic loss

EastEnders fable Natalie Cassidy precocious announced she was leaving the BBC soap aft 30 years, but what is the star's beingness similar off-screen?

Natalie Cassidy is possibly champion known for playing the relation of Sonia Fowler successful the BBC soap EastEnders, having made her archetypal quality successful the London-based programme erstwhile she was conscionable 10 years old. The histrion has appeared connected the soap connected and disconnected for the past 32 years, but she confirmed she'd discontinue earlier this week overmuch to the disappointment of her fans.

Sonia's last scenes volition beryllium filmed successful February, but viewers volition person to hold and spot whether the well-loved quality gets killed disconnected successful classical soap benignant oregon exits successful different memorable way. In a heartfelt connection announcing her determination to permission Walford down her, Natalie said she was "extremely sad" but besides "very excited" to beryllium moving on.

While she lone confirmed successful her connection that she was heading to "pastures new," the mum-of-two has a beauteous hectic beingness off-screen. When she's not moving connected EastEnders, she's signaling her podcast series, Life With Nat, wherever she chats distant to family, friends, and the occasional personage impermanent astir their lives.

As her Instagram bio states, Natalie describes herself arsenic a "mum, fiancée, auntie, actress, podcaster, and joker." The prima besides collaborates with brands and companies arsenic an ambassador.

Away from her non-acting enactment commitments, Natalie lives with her fiancée, cameraman Marc Humphreys, and 2 children, Eliza and Joanie. She antecedently described Marc arsenic her "soulmate," and the brace met successful 2014 erstwhile helium worked connected respective episodes of EastEnders.

They got engaged successful 2015, conscionable a fewer months earlier announcing they were expecting a kid together, who they named Joanie.

Natalie's eldest child, Eliza, has a antithetic begetter to Joanie. Her dada is Adam Cottrell, who was successful an on-and-off narration with Natalie for respective years from 2009 earlier splitting for bully successful 2013 "after a batch of misery".

Marc restored Natalie's religion successful romance - but the mates are yet to necktie the knot. Speaking connected the Memory Lane podcast, the histrion opened up astir wedding plans. She stated: "Do you cognize what? It's a batch of money. No, I archer you what it is; it's clip and budget. It is due to the fact that I go, 'I'll lone bash thing small; I don't request to...'

"I volition bash it small, but I privation to beryllium astatine The Ledbury. Oh, I privation a Michelin prima repast oregon I'm conscionable a spot of a snob genuinely. I'll privation the champion flowers, and I volition privation a decorator suit."

In September, Natalie opened up astir her idiosyncratic beingness with OK! Magazine. She revealed that "everything is precise hectic" and addressed dealing with "mum guilt".

"I get mum guilt each the time, 100 per cent," she admitted. "And I deliberation that's wherefore we request to speech astir it more. I don't deliberation you recognize until you person children. People saying, 'Don't person children if you privation a career' is ridiculous. It's an ignorant happening to say.

"We're not surviving successful the 1950s, Dad doesn't spell to enactment portion Mum stays astatine home. But we don't person the infrastructure to enactment families who request to work. The childcare close present conscionable doesn't work. So each of that needs to beryllium looked astatine and changed."

The 41 twelvemonth aged does person a nanny to assistance with her childcare responsibilities. She explained: "Obviously, you wage a terms for having [a nanny], but we wouldn't beryllium capable to bash everything without unafraid and coagulated childcare. We stock our responsibilities connected the days that we can, and it's rather arsenic divided betwixt us."

Family has ever been important to Natalie, and she took attraction of her father, Charles, during his last days successful 2021 aft helium moved into her location erstwhile his wellness declined. "I bought my existent location for him truly due to the fact that it has an annexe," she explained.

Recalling that time, Natalie said: "I was lone a carer for him astatine the precise extremity of his life. I look back, and I don't really cognize however I did it, but I had assistance from my mother-in-law. The juggling of antithetic generational attraction is simply a full different shot game, really."

Natalie's narration with her precocious begetter strengthened pursuing the tragic nonaccomplishment of her mother, Evelyn, who died from bowel crab successful 2002 erstwhile Natalie was 19 years old.

"That was an property wherever you don’t privation to beryllium astatine location and you don’t privation to beryllium with your parents," she told OK! "I felt robbed of having the clip wherever you travel backmost successful your 20s and you privation to beryllium with your mum."

The prima added: "I’ve ever felt precise blameworthy that she near the world reasoning that I didn’t care. I cognize she knew that I did, due to the fact that she’d been a young miss herself and understood, but that was a hard happening to woody with. And that I inactive woody with to this day."