EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy went out partying with co-stars at just 14.
The actress, who plays Sonia Fowler, was taken to a string of VIP nightclubs by pals Martine McCutcheon and Patsy Palmer.
She said: “Really, it wasn’t good, was it? I was about 14.
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“I’d be out in Sugar Reef. A different club every night.
“They’d go, ‘Hello Sonia, in we go!’. Table, all your drinks on it… shambles! We used to drink Champagne, vodka and Red Bull.”
Natalie partied with some of the biggest names in showbiz including David and Victoria Beckham.
(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)
She added: “Do you remember Pop? I used to go there with H from Steps and Adam Garcia. They were good times. I met Victoria and David at a Twice As Nice do after a Smash Hits party and I won an award.
“Oh, Gail Porter. I had some really good nights out with Gail.”
Natalie now regrets partying so much as it meant she spent less time with family.
Within a few years her mum Evelyn died from bowel cancer at 63.
(Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)
Looking back, she said: “Because you’re 19, you hate your mum and dad. You’re out all the time, you’re not interested in them. And then in your mid-20s, you come back, don’t you?
“You start having lunch with your mum, you go out with your mum, you do stuff.
“And I never got to do it. I never got to show her that I loved her. It is really tough thinking about the grief I put my mum through and never having the time to apologise.”
Natalie, now 39, is still playing Sonia and has seen EastEnders change over the years. When she mourned the death of screen hubby Jamie, played by Jack Ryder, in 2002 the show was getting big viewing figures but they have dwindled since.
(Image: Getty Images)
She said: “There aren’t that many people watching anymore. It’s great, but no one’s gonna get 25million viewers. It’s just not going to happen.”
Natalie recently revealed she was paid £100,000 to lose four stone for a workout DVD but now believes this was a mistake.
She opened up about her experience while on the Comfort Eating with Grace Dent podcast, explaining that the quick fix workout didn’t work and that she put the weight back on quickly after filming.
The actress said: “I was very overweight and they approached me and said listen, we’re going to give you £100,000, we’re going to get you really fit and you’re going to lose four stone.
“I was like ‘happy days, let’s go for it’. I just thought that’s a lot of money, but it wasn’t the right thing to do.
“It wasn’t – you are losing a lot of weight in a three or four-month period, 12 or 16 weeks, low calories and training every day.
“I got there, and as soon as that DVD came out, I ate for England. I put all the weight back on in eight weeks.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
