Actress of the long-running soap EastEnders, Shona McGarty, has joined the camp of I’m A Celebrity to find “new beginnings”, as she had anxiety and depression for years. She disclosed that her mental health problems had started when she was a child and had increased after a scary incident in 2021 when she got a lot of unwanted messages. Keep scrolling to learn more.
Shona’s Battle With Anxiety And The Scary 2021 Incident
Shona has always been open about her mental health struggles. Those were the ones that shaped her life even before she left the BBC soap. And things turned worse in 2021. She faced a frightening situation when one man kept messaging her online. Even after blocking him, he continued to text her repeatedly. And Shona was left terrified after this incident.
When a source approached him, he admitted that he texted her because he wanted to “know why she’d blocked me.” Additionally, he mentioned that he was not aware of her feeling of being harassed, and she never told him to stop sending messages. After that, he was taken into custody; however, the case was dismissed without any action.
Even when she played Whitney Dean, she faced a similar action. She faced an intense stalking point on the soap. Leo King, the son of her former abuser, Tony King, had stalked her. He even attacked Whitney and dragged her to the ground. Later, when Whitney found him hiding in the attic, she stabbed him as she was very terrified. It was one of the most emotional chapters of Whitney on the Square.
Before Shona entered the jungle, she called her mental health history “horrible” and “hard.” She even learnt to say “I’m fine” even when it wasn’t true. And now she is on Om A Celebrity as she wants to push herself to do things which she couldn’t because of her anxiety. Even her family took to Instagram saying, “Anxiety and depression told her ‘no’ before…this time she said YES.” They also revealed that Shona is forcing herself to do these things as she wants to defeat her fears.
EastEnders’ Shona’s Recent Breakup With David
Shona and her ex-fiancé, David Bracken, announced to the world that they had parted ways just a few days ago. They stated that it was their joint decision to end the relationship as it was not going well. One can say they are the TikTok success story, as they met via the platform in 2023 and got engaged the very next year.
But, even though it is over, it hasn’t gone downhill or turned nasty. David didn’t hesitate to show his backing towards her decision to participate in the show. He shared a lovely vintage photo on Instagram with the text written over it, “Let’s go, girl! You got this.”For more EastEnders spoilers and updates, keep following Soap Opera Daily.