STRUGGLE WITH PAIN: Eastenders actress Cheryl Fergison shares HEARTBREAKING STORY that left her DEVASTATED and Losing Faith In Life

Cheryl Fergison is best known for playing hapless Heather Trott in EastEnders. But, as her explosive new autobiography, Behind The Scenes, reveals, her life off-screen was often more dramatic than her plotlines in the BBC1 soap.

“I have always worn my heart on my sleeve, so I hope my story is relatable,” says Cheryl, who has bravely revealed how she suffered a stroke in May, which has left her walking with a stick.

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“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.”

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One such bombshell moment came when Cheryl, who played Heather from 2007 to 2012, realised her first husband, Jay Saddiqi – father of her son Alex, 25 – was cheating, when she climbed into the car.

In an extract adapted from her book, she says: “I pulled the seatbelt across my body and then it hit me. A scent. Light, sweet, floral and powdery, but definitely not mine.

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“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.

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“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.’

“‘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?”

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“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.”

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Then, a phone bill arrived, listing calls to a number Cheryl didn’t recognise. When she called it, a woman answered. But when she rang back, the voice on the line was Jay’s.

After some ‘solid detective work’ she discovered where he and the woman were meeting and went there to confront them. .

She describes what she saw as a “dingy, makeshift love nest.”

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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.

“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, after eight years of marriage.