Cheryl Fergison reveals the pain of discovering her husband’s affair 17 years ago still affects her deeply. She describes finding the secret, rundown place where he was having the relationship as a particularly haunting experience.
Former EastEnders actress, best known for playing Heather Trott, deeply resents Jamshed Saddiqi, believing his betrayal led to her financial ruin and forced her to rely on food banks.
However, Saddiqi, who goes by Jay, remains unapologetic, claiming there’s no need to say sorry because his marriage was already failing. He dismissed the incident where his wife discovered him with another woman as unimportant.
In her new autobiography, Behind The Scenes, 60-year-old Cheryl recounts a shocking moment from the 2008 financial crisis. She describes finding a young blonde woman casually drinking a blue WKD on the bed she shared with her husband, as if it were perfectly normal.
Fergison developed her skills as a detective after she began to suspect her first husband was having an affair.
Jay was beside me, frozen in the glare of the headlights, but he remained quiet and closed off. He wouldn’t offer an apology, an explanation, or even a hint of regret.
Seventeen years later, Saddiqi stands by his decision to end his relationship with Cherly, with whom he shares a nine-year-old son named Alex. He has no regrets about the breakup.
Saddiqi, a 46-year-old Afghan refugee, has remarried and now lives in Sidcup, Kent, with his wife and their two young daughters.
His new wife, who didn’t share her first name, told The Daily Mail she was aware of his past marriage to an actress and how it concluded. However, she believes he has no reason to apologize, stating, ‘Why should he be sorry?’
His marriage was clearly troubled, which likely explains his affair. However, it’s all in the past now, and everyone involved has moved forward.
She stated that neither she nor her husband had any knowledge of the book written by his former wife. They are focused on raising their two children and moving forward with their lives.
She shared that Saddiqi used to work in security but now earns a living as a mini cab driver. He generally avoids talking about his marriage to Cheryl, even during the times she was frequently on television.
She explained that when they first met, they talked about the problems in his marriage to Cheryl. She didn’t want to share specifics, but suggested cultural differences might have played a role. However, she felt it wasn’t necessary to discuss it further.
Let me tell you, navigating relationship issues is never easy, and Cheryl’s story really resonated with me. She suspected her partner was being unfaithful, and instead of ignoring it, she took matters into her own hands. She basically became a detective, carefully piecing together clues over weeks to find out the truth. It was a really proactive, though difficult, approach to dealing with her suspicions.
She first became suspicious when she smelled a perfume in his car that she didn’t recognize.
As she fastened her seatbelt, a familiar scent suddenly struck her. It was light, sweet, and floral, with a powdery quality, but it wasn’t her own perfume.
Cheryl says her ex-husband tried to explain away a strange smell as just a friend’s cologne, but she became even more suspicious when she discovered an unfamiliar number on their phone bill.
She was surprised when she first called the number and heard a woman speaking, but even more shocked when Saddiqi answered on her next call.
She started to feel like her husband was being unfaithful, but she desperately hoped she was mistaken.
I’ll never forget the moment I found him. She described their place as a ‘dingy love nest,’ and honestly, that’s exactly what it was. That night, everything changed. I immediately packed the car, put Alex in his car seat, and drove straight to London. It was how I left my marriage – and Jay – behind. It was a difficult decision, but I knew I had to do it.
Cheryl’s book reveals the financial hardship she faced after her divorce, discovering her accountant had left her with no money.
She says she paid him for five years, but he kept all the money and never sent any taxes to the government. She’s now wondering if this has been reported previously.
I lost everything I owned and had worked so hard to achieve. I rarely use the word ‘hate’ because it’s strong and can’t be unsaid, but in this situation, I truly did hate him.
It’s especially tough to struggle financially when you’re famous, because people assume celebrities are always wealthy.
People think I have a lot of money, but they don’t realize I was struggling financially. I was dealing with overdraft fees, maxed-out credit cards, payday loans, and a huge pile of bills – it was a really difficult situation.
In an interview, she shared that she had to rely on food banks and get help from Citizens Advice due to severe financial hardship.
She was deeply upset, admitting she cried for a long time and felt embarrassed about her situation. She wondered how her life had changed so drastically, going from being on a popular TV show like EastEnders and earning a good income to where she was now.
That was a really tough time for me. It was hard to open up and be so vulnerable, but I was completely broke and struggling to manage all my debts. I simply couldn’t afford groceries.
It came to light that she was struggling financially, so she started selling old scripts from the TV show *EastEnders* for £50 each to fans. She also took a job singing at a Chinese restaurant to make ends meet.
In 2015, she received a diagnosis of womb cancer, and this, combined with her existing financial difficulties, made things even harder. Unable to work due to her illness, she didn’t share this information publicly until last year.
After having a hysterectomy, the actress experienced unexpected physical and emotional side effects, leading to a difficult time and, ultimately, self-harm.
Cheryl revealed to a newspaper that she used to repeatedly immerse herself in very hot water each day, hoping to eliminate her cancer. However, once doctors confirmed she was cancer-free, she stopped this self-harming behavior.
Last year, during an appearance on Loose Women, she shared that Dame Barbara Windsor and Paul O’Grady generously helped her financially, covering her mortgage and bills while she was undergoing cancer treatment and facing money troubles.
Cheryl now lives in Blackpool with her second husband, Yassine Al-Jermoni, who is 20 years younger than her. They met online, but after marrying in 2011, Yassine, a Moroccan citizen, faced visa issues that initially delayed his move to the UK.
Al-Jermoni lived in Morocco for nine years, a period complicated by a major earthquake, the efforts to help those affected, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
She shared with OK! magazine that while they prefer to keep their finances private, obtaining visas can be expensive. However, they’ve managed to arrive and are now settled in Blackpool, which she playfully calls ‘the Vegas of the north!’
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2025-10-12 16:36