EastEnders’ Rita Simons’ heartbreak, insomnia and constant crying during divorce as she ‘lost a stone’
Rita Simons, who played Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders, has opened up about the personal battle she endured while going through a divorce from her husband Theo Silverston.
The 44-year old revealed her heartbreak and health battle as she split from her husband in 2019 after 14 years of marriage.
She told OK! magazine: “I was working non-stop and doing well but I was desperately unhappy – not that anyone would have known.
“I had so much going on at home I was driving myself mad working to try to forget about everything else.”
(Image: BBC)
The former I’m a Celebrity contestant also spoke of how the divorce led to a battle with her physical health and caused her to lose a stone in weight as well as suffering from “terrible insomnia”.
She continued: “I was physically ill every other week and I lost loads of weight.
“I lost a stone in the jungle and then another three-and-a-half pounds. I didn’t have a life.”
Rita went on: “Every night I would go on stage in the West End in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie having just had some fraught conversation with Theo, and later on having just received legal letters.
“And I would just cry, go on stage, come off, cry and respond.”
The actress, who now lives in Hertfordshire with the former couple’s twin daughters Jaimee and Maya, said she believed she was having a nervous breakdown but had to keep moving forward with her life.
She is now reportedly dating actor Ben Harlow who was her co-star in the musical Legally Blonde, and has previously spoken about his unwavering support for her during a difficult time in her life.
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Again speaking to OK! magazine about her new relationship, she said: “He is the sweetest, kindest man I’ve ever met. Anything I might get upset about, he manages to calm me down.”
Rita played a key role in EastEnders from 2007 to 2017, and has had several roles in the West End since leaving the BBC1 soap opera.
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