Roxanne Pallett’s darkest moments – homelessness, house fire, near-drowning and death

Roxanne Pallett has led quite a life since rising to fame on ITV soap Emmerdale in 2005.

Now 41, the actress was cast in the Dales as veterinary receptionist Jo Stiles and went on to marry Andy Sugden (played by Kelvin Fletcher) after he cheated on previous wife Katie (Sammy Winward). Roxanne departed the show three years later after her character was subjected to domestic abuse at the hands of Andy.

Roxanne went on to star in a variety of roles on both the stage and screen, but arguably the biggest talking point of her career came in 2018 in the Celebrity Big Brother house. There, she falsely accused Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas of assaulting her, calling him a “woman beater” and quitting the show in the aftermath.

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Dubbed “punch-gate” the actress later admitted to host Emma Willis she had made a “terrible mistake” and begged for forgiveness after the episode was the subject of more than 25,000 Ofcom complaints. Away from her career, meanwhile, Roxanne has been dogged by further dramas including being made homeless after her family home was devastated by fire – something which had a lasting impact on her.

Devastating fire

Roxanne recalled the blaze – which occurred when she was just 16 – in an interview with Daily Star in 2017. In a tear-jerking chat, she looked back on the ordeal that saw her dragged to safety along with her grandmother – only to realise her mum Monica was still in their Cumbria property as the fire raged on.

“I could hear the paramedics saying, ‘the third party hasn’t been found yet’, and that was my mum,” she told us. “Hearing that sentence damaged me more than the fire did.

“You imagine in that position you would panic and scream. But I was numb.

“It was like I had a ton of bricks on my chest. I just lay there in silence with tears running down my cheeks.

“I got a taste of what it would feel like to lose a parent. Something like that changes your outlook on everything.”

Thankfully her mum survived, but the family was left with nothing, as she told Chronicle Live in 2013. “We sat on two deckchairs in an empty rented council flat sharing a bag of chips and all we had was each other,” Roxanne said. “I promised her then that I would keep trying until I made it as an actress so I could make her proud and look after her.”

Bear Grylls Meltdown

Prior to her short-lived appearance on CBB, Roxanne featured in Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls where again her time was cut short, albeit in much different circumstances. On the opening night of the series, the smell of smoke from the campfire caused Roxanne to suffer a panic attack, prompting her to quit.

“Smoke that nearly killed my family… when I was 16, the smell is taking me back,” she said emotionally at the time. “It feels like it’s happening again. The smoke reminded me of gasping for air thinking I was going to die. I want to last the whole way.” Roxanne then called producers and begged to return home.

Saved from drowning

Also on the island, meanwhile, Roxanne went out fishing and got her legs tangled in a net and had to be rescued from drowning by TOWIE star Pete Wicks. “Thank you so much for rescuing me,” she gushed afterwards.

Looking back on the incident, Pete told Jeremy Vine’s show on Channel 5: “Roxanne left quite early on. She didn’t last very long actually. She was an interesting character, put it that way.”

Adding that Roxanne “fell out” with a couple of her campmates, Pete said: “She is an actress and she is dramatic but her behaviour wasn’t outrageous like it has been on Big Brother. We didn’t see that side to her in that amount of time, but certainly since what I’ve seen on Big Brother it’s outrageous.”

Suffering PTSD

In 2019 Roxanne revealed she had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Panic Disorder following her best pal’s suicide on top of all the other woes she had experienced including the death of her grandma.

In a lengthy Instagram post she admitted to her followers she had once “naively overdosed on a handful of tablets” as she struggled to cope. “I want to open up about some things you may not know, as I’ve found there’s a lot of judgement out there with little knowledge when it comes to the story behind the character – so here’s mine,” she explained.

“I was 16 when our family home went up in flames. It was traumatic to be trapped inside a burning house. Losing our home & all our belongings was one thing, but months later, cancer took my grandma who had raised me. It broke me. I didn’t have counselling. Instead, struggling to cope with my grief and upset, I took measures into my own hands and naively overdosed on a handful of tablets from a school friend who told me it would numb the pain.”

Roxanne went on to detail an “abusive relationship” after hooking up with the “wrong guy” which affected her trust in people. And in the wake of learning of the death her of friend, Roxanne said she developed several serious symptoms. “I became even more anxious and defensive,” she admitted. “I had all the debilitating symptoms: Panic, distress, irrationality, irritability, sweating, nausea, insomnia, fear, paranoia, insecurity, stress, chest pain, jaw tension, impulsiveness, defensiveness.”

She finally sought professional help in 2018, however. “I’m now on medication and I see a specialist for EMDR & CBT therapy,” she added. “I feel like I’m finally coming up for air. I now pause before reacting. I look to myself before others. I reframe.”

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk