EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison reveals discovery of husband's affair in a 'dingy love nest'
EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has revealed all about her past marriage and how she found out her husband was having an affair.
Cheryl Fergison, best known for her role as Heather Trott in EastEnders, has released her new tell-all autobiography, Behind The Scenes, where she reveals her life off-screen was often more dramatic than her plot lines on the BBC soap.
The actress, who courageously revealed she suffered a stroke earlier this year that left her reliant on a walking stick, said: "I have always worn my heart on my sleeve, so I hope my story is relatable.
“I have 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."
A dramatic turning point came when Cheryl, who portrayed Heather between 2007 and 2012, realised her first husband, Jay Saddiqi - dad to her son Alex, 25 - was cheating, after climbing into the car, the Mirror reports.
In an extract adapted from her book, she recalled: "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.’"
“‘I’m not. It’s strong. I can smell it right here,’” I held the strap up to my nose again."
“Jay let out an exaggerated sigh, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘It’s probably one of the lads from work. Their aftershave or something. You’re being paranoid,'" the extract continued.
“‘Oh, come off it. Since when do the boys at your security firm smell like a duty-free perfume counter?’ He turned away, staring out of the windscreen. “Are we going shopping or what?”
“To this day, every time I get into a car and pull on a seatbelt, I sniff it. I began to suspect that my husband was cheating on me, but I tried to convince myself I was wrong.”
However a phone bill arrived in the post, listing calls to a number Cheryl didn't recognise. When she called the number, a mysterious woman answer. But when she rang back, the voice on the line was now Jay’s.
After some 'solid detective work' she found out where he and the woman were meeting and went there to confront her then-husband.
She describes what she saw as a “dingy, makeshift love nest.”
She writes: “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," she continued.
"That night, I packed up the car, strapped Alex into his seat and drove to London. Leaving my marriage and Jay behind."
Cheryl divorced Jay, an Afghan refugee, in 2008, eight years after tying the knot.
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