Former EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison has opened up about her nine-year long-distance relationship with her Moroccan husband, Yassine el Jamoun.
The 58-year-old soap icon, who played the role of Heather Trott in the BBC soap defied critics by standing the test of time with her partner Yassine, who she met on Facebook and later married in 2011. The pair now live together in Blackpool with her son Alex, 24, whom she shares with ex-husband Jamshed Saddiqi, who she divorced in 2008.
Cheryl confessed that years of battling with the UK immigration system and visa applications left Yassine, who is 21 years younger than her, stranded in Morocco. But the actress confirmed they are still going strong after 12 years.
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She told OK!: “We try to keep our business private but yes financially it can be a strain to get these visas. But we’re here now, we’re in Blackpool – the Vegas of the north! – and we’re settled.”
(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
She added: “Obviously there’s always speculation when somebody in the public eye meets somebody else, whoever it is. But we have had things thrown at us that should never have been thrown at us; things that would have broken others. But we got through it.”
Cheryl explained that she kept the romance alive with Yassine by writing letters to him. She then jetted off to Agadir to meet Yassine and confessed it was love at first sight the moment they locked eyes at the airport.
(Image: Tim Merry/Mirror Express)
The soap star started playing her iconic role Heather in 2007. But she was shockingly killed off in 2012.
After EastEnders, Cheryl has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, starred in David Walliams’ sitcom Big School and featured in the BGT legend’s festive flick Hansel and Gretel After Ever After. She dropped the bombshell about her cancer battle this week, revealing her stage 2 diagnosis.
(Image: @cherylfergison1/instagram)
Despite receiving an all-clear smear test, back pain and spotting led her to seek further checks, and four months post-biopsy, Cheryl was hit with the devastating news that she had stage 2 womb cancer. After undergoing a hysterectomy, the TV legend revealed it had a profound effect on her perception of herself as a woman, calling it an “horrendous time”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
