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Natalie Cassidy, who also hosts What’s The Big Deal? on Channel 4, lives in Hertfordshire with her husband and two children.

Having spent more than three decades on our screens as EastEnders’ Sonia Fowler, actress Natalie Cassidy is embarking on a new chapter as the host of a brand new show. In her latest gig, Natalie has turned her hand to presenting as she fronts Channel 4’s four-part consumer series What’s The Big Deal?.

“I left because I felt the time was right to do so, I was ready for a challenge after 32 years,” Natalie, 41, said when asked about her decision to leave Albert Square. “I adore EastEnders, but you can’t do everything, and EastEnders is a factory with 60 cast members and 300 staff, so they can’t cater for someone who says, ‘By the way, I need two months off to do this, I need another three months off to do this’. It’s not fair.”

READ MORE: Natalie Cassidy makes subtle dig at EastEnders as she reveals why she really left

Natalie will research the newest trends and speak with industry insiders to determine whether the products are actually worth the hype in the new series. She said, “I enjoy trying the latest products, but what I really want to know is what makes the claims and the best deal” as a busy mother.

Away from TV screens, the mum-of-two enjoys a cosy life in Hertfordshire with her fiancé Marc Humphreys and daughters Eliza and Joanie. In 2023, she opened the doors of her home to OK! magazine and revealed that her home was her “happy place”, adding that she was a self-confessed “homebird”.

The TV icon calls her home’s stunning kitchen “the heart of the home.” When she hosts family dinner parties there, she can be found there. In another location, Natalie has a space called the “posh lounge,” which features lavish green sofas and a cream carpet.

Additionally, the space is occupied by a large bookcase with art books, and a trumpet-themed side table, in reference to Sonia’s musical talent. I don’t really let many people inside, she said. I won’t let the kids bring food inside. She made a joke about how they had to be bathed while wearing pyjamas before being permitted to sit in it. “We rebuilt it from the ground up,” says the author, “and I’m really proud of how it turned out.”

Back in February, Natalie opened up the space to guests when she was joined by loved ones to watch her big reveal on The Masked Singer. In a sweet clip shared on Instagram, the TV personality gave fans a peek inside the space as she held a viewing party following her appearance on the show.

A large TV was atop a number of white sideboards with ornaments and candles, as depicted in the video. On one of the green pouffes, one can also see an elaborate chessboard.

A framed photo of her late parents, Evelyn and Charles, on her windowsill along with her father’s ashes can be found in the lounge. He sits on the windowsill, and I like to chat with him, she explained, “I know it might be a little morbid for some people.”

Outside, Natalie’s home is just as welcoming. Judging by her social media, Natalie is a huge fan of decorating her grand entryway seasonally and often transforms it for Christmas and Halloween celebrations, with the theme changing each occasion. In previous years, Natalie has opted for everything from silver Christmas wreaths to a festive 80s colour scheme.

The podcast host also has a large garden for summer parties and hosting parties for her kids at home. There is a charming shed that completes the countryside look, along with a large lawn area that is bordered by flowerbeds and shrubbery.

Natalie’s new show comes two months after she revealed she was quitting EastEnders after 32 years on Albert Square. “I feel extremely sad to be writing this, but also very excited,” she said.

“I’ve been working on The Square for 11 solid years, and I’ve decided it’s time to leave.” I will always remember where my career began, and I will still adore EastEnders. Chris Clenshaw deserves a lot of the honor of being a big part of the 40th anniversary. See you soon, Sonia. “I’m not forgotten.

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The veteran broadcaster and activist’s daughter Esther Rantzen made the announcement on Thursday that her medication, which was supposed to help her fight her cancer, was not helping her.

Dame Esther Rantzen’s daughter became emotional as she opened up about her mother’s condition on Thursday. The broadcaster is currently fighting terminal lung cancer after initially discovering a lump under her arm pit around Christmas in 2022. Just weeks later in January 2023, a biopsy confirmed that Dame Esther, 84, had cancer.

She revealed in a heartbreaking admission that she was taking a new type of medication to manage her condition in May of the same year and that she was making a heartfelt admission. Rebecca Wilcox, her daughter, has recently updated her on Dame Esther’s condition.

Rebecca acknowledged in an interview with 5 News that Dame Esther had agreed to participate in the Swiss assisted dying program Dignitas because of her condition. She explained that the medication was no longer effective for her mother as she struggled to control her feelings.

When questioned about Dame Esther’s condition and whether it had improved, Rebecca responded, “I really wish that was true. I hate to contradict you with bad news.

“But, I don’t believe that’s the case any longer.” Rebecca apologized as she had been “by the question,” she said as she shared the news.

“I just wish people understood that the Assisted Dying Bill is a choice for those who want it. We assumed she had weeks, but she has, by almost two, outlived that prediction. Because of her diagnosis, she wouldn’t have just gone on an overdose; that’s not how it works.

It “takes those final few days of pain away,” it says. She continued, “Frankly Dignitas is out of the window for us as well.” If she had gone, she would have gone months before she would have passed away here. You must be reasonably healthy to do that.

The Assisted Dying Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament, has been a fierce campaigner for Dame Esther. The actress claimed that she had witnessed heartbreaking suffering that “obliterates” the feelings that loved ones have for the person.

Rebecca acknowledged that Dame Esther has no idea how she will pass away, and that she had witnessed her mother experience the “trauma” over her condition and prognosis. She said, “She doesn’t know how her death is going to happen, how the pain is going to get worse, the exhaustion, the fatigue, the symptoms are going to come in,” and that this is because.

She continued, “She has spent her entire life fighting for other people, and she has no control now.” Why can’t we give people who have a terminal diagnosis, who have no other choice but to choose when, how, and where to die, like my mother?

The update comes just days after MP Kim Leadbeater, the lead author of the Assisted Dying Bill, agreed to put the introduction on hold until 2029.

While Assisted Dying is currently illegal in England, the bull has recently been passed by the Isle of Man parliament and is currently awaiting royal assent from King Charles, which would make the Isle of Man the first place in Great Britain to legalise assisted dying.

According to a list published by the England Parliament, MPs including Dame Angela Eagle, Samantha Dixon, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Jeremy Hunt and Sir Oliver Dowden have backed the campaign. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Jeremy Corbyn have refused to back the bill.

Ann Whaley, who had previously worked with Dame Esther Rantzen, had no idea that she was risking spending 14 years in prison after agreeing to assist her husband’s final wishes.

On Christmas Eve 2018, Ann Whaley headed out to sing in the church choir – a rarity for her, given that she was never usually able to leave the side of her beloved husband, Geoff Whaley. That night, however, Ann and Geoff’s son had returned to the family home for one final Christmas with his dad, who’d by that point made the decision to die at Dignitas.

Geoff had a wish to pass away on his own terms, with the travel scheduled for February 2019 in the same vein as Dame Esther Rantzen, who has sadly stopped responding to her treatment for terminal cancer. Geoff, 80, was suffering from motor neurone disease (MND), a condition that had left him paralyzed from the neck down. The father-of-two, known as “a very dignified man,” was also losing ability to communicate while being fully aware of his situation, facing a grim future Ann described as “being buried alive.”

Geoff lost the final digit of his right hand’s movement in December, making it impossible for him to use his iPad. He then directed his devoted wife of 52 years to request that she reserve accommodations for them in Switzerland in advance of their final journey together. Geoff had already organised everything else using his iPad, but with his last tiny bit of movement gone, he needed Ann’s help.

For Ann, there was no question of her saying no. She told the Mirror: “What am I expected to do? Have an argument with my husband, who just asked me to do these final two things for him? Of course, I wouldn’t.” As Ann lovingly carried out her husband’s final wishes, she had no idea that she was putting herself at risk of 14 years behind bars.

READ MORE: Dame Esther Rantzen’s heartbreaking fear if she’s denied death on her own terms at Dignitas

On the night of the choir practice, Ann’s first evening away from Geoff in two years, her fellow members asked her to join them for Midnight Mass, which she did. She didn’t know at the time that an interaction with a churchwarden and the new vicar would turn her world upside down.

Ann called out the new vicar as they were about to leave the service, noting that despite her and her husband’s active involvement in the church, she had only spoken to her once. Before letting out a “gasp,” he informed her that he had been busy. Ann continued: “Then the churchwarden came up and gave me a big hug, said, ‘ It’s lovely to see you’. The vicar sort of drew his breath as I said, “Well, we’ve got a date now, and at this.” He reported me to the police for domestic abuse, to be precise.

One of the most significant concerns among those who oppose the Assisted Dying Bill, which is still being considered in Parliament, is that unscrupulous individuals could use it to take advantage of vulnerable family members. Ann, who had already realized she had broken the law, was charged with doing exactly this.

On Christmas Eve, the door knocked on the following day. To Ann’s great surprise, it was the police. They were shocked when I said, “Do come in, would you like a cup of tea, etc,” she said. A detective sergeant was involved. It was the lower ranks, if you like, and a lady.

They were shocked to discover a comfortably off couple because we were both financially able to attend Dignitas, which is very expensive. However, with someone who was clearly not under pressure, was very vocal, and was confined to a wheelchair.

The red-faced detective sergeant turned to the inspector in charge, who informed him that things were still in order. The septuagenarian was suddenly found herself locked in a room at a police station and facing a possible sentence of 14 years in jail when the officers went back to interview her under caution.

Thankfully, Ann had a” marvellous “criminal lawyer on hand who was able to help her navigate the unfolding nightmare. Although the ordeal was not over, she was given a chance to leave the police car. You can picture a police car outside your home with everyone else merely peering through the curtains, Ann said.

Neighbourhood gossip aside, however, Ann was far more concerned about her husband and why she’d been taken away in the first place. Ann was required to remain put at home while the case passed through the Crown Court.

She said, “We couldn’t suddenly take the reins and leave Switzerland.” I’m not saying my passport was taken away, but I was trusted if you like. You know, to stay around was kind of. Anyway, because the assisted death date had been set, we couldn’t have arrived sooner.

After seven days of being advised not to do anything, the inspector himself paid a visit to the house. He said, “I’m not prepared to discuss it,” Ann remembered. However, officers were ultimately instructed to drop the case because it lacked the public interest.

When Geoff asked Ann to make those two final arrangements for him, he was still able to talk. He was beginning to lose his voice, and, in Ann’s words, he was aware that the time had come. His consultant also informed him that he was on his last breath and lacked three more months to live.

He had been unable to speak, Ann claimed, if he had waited longer. He would have been stranded. Unable to communicate in any way whatsoever, and he wouldn’t have been able to travel unless we got paid for the expense of a private flight to get us there. “

However, the intense media interest in Geoff’s case, with BBC cameras following the family all the way to the airport, contributed to those final weeks. They had agreed to this in order to make changes that could be made about Geoff’s story more widely known. But still, the attention was tough on their daughter, who feels” bitter “about those last few” precious “weeks she spent with her father, in a way that has greatly affected her.

Ann and Geoff made their planned trip to Switzerland in February, accompanied by their children, their children’s partners, and their godparents, after reaching the other side of their legal ordeal. Ann acknowledges their privilege to be able to make this journey together despite everything their families have gone through. Ann told us:” I will fight to the end of my days to get that available for people in this country who cannot afford it because it’s very expensive. “

Geoff told her he loved her one more time before she passed away peacefully in Ann’s arms. I’ve got friends who have lost their husbands in agonizing circumstances and have dreadful memories of them. I have a lovely memory of my dear husband telling me he loved me. What else, really, can a woman ask?

“Whereas I have friends whose husbands didn’t know them, whose behaviour with dementia meant that they lost them. My mother was demented. She lacked identity and was unaware of who I was. I was just the nice lady who visited her. And I was unable to assist her because of my loss of a very sympathetic mother.

Ann married a man at the age of 80 after her tragic cancer diagnosis caused her to “went through similar experiences”. The “very happily married” couple often talk together about their first spouses, and, six years on, Ann remains just as staunchly committed as ever to the cause of assisted dying.

She continued, “I’ve never been afraid. I’d go to prison if I had to because, in my opinion, the current assisted dying law in this country is incredibly cruel. It’s the cruellest thing, and if I have to go, if I had to go to prison just to make a point, well then I’d go”.

Ann once worked alongside Dame Esther during her early days at the BBC, and in later life, they now share an unshakeable commitment to changing assisted dying legislation. Both Dame Esther and her daughter Rebecca Wilcox, who Ann also knows, have opened up about their fears regarding prosecution should the broadcaster choose to fly out to Dignitas accompanied by family members.

On this note, Ann remarked: “I’m totally relaxed about it, and I know Becky will be all right because no government would dare prosecute anybody who had compassion. Despite the vocal few’s attempts to make out things that the safeguards will all cover, the current bill is very popular in parliament and is not in the public’s interest.

“Oh, the slippery slope and all the rest of it,” you might say. It’s really ignorance. It just won’t happen. Very few people, and very, very strict safeguards. You can’t just say, “Oh, I’ll get out of bed and say I want to visit.” It took months for my husband to go through all the tickboxes that were necessary in order to get what they call the green light in Switzerland. You can’t get it today and have it tomorrow.

The Home Office is available for comment, according to The Mirror.

Do you have a story tomorrow? Contact me at julia@gmail.com. banim@reachplc.com

READ MORE: Esther Rantzen’s Dignitas wish that could lead to daughter’s arrest for manslaughter

After the death of Martin Fowler in a fire at the Queen Vic, James Bye left EastEnders. He discusses the forthcoming events and an odd request he made to The Mirror here.

For the first baby born on EastEnders to perish in the Queen Vic inferno is about as calamitous a soap exit as a character can get.

In an equally dramatic move, after playing Martin Fowler for more than a decade, actor James Bye’s next role will be as Mr Darcy in a theatrical production of Death Comes to Pemberley. Speaking exclusively, James, 41, says of his soap death: “It felt a helluva responsibility to die in that way, not only on the soap’s 40th anniversary but live in front of the nation. “

Executive producer Chris Clenshaw first discussed his departure storyline with James last September. James, whose character was born into Albert Square in July 1985, the baby boy of Pauline and Arthur Fowler, continues: “I’m attracted to fear, so I agreed. I’d joined in 2014, so it had been 10 years, effectively all of my 30s, that I’d been on the show.”

“It just felt the right time (to leave)and there were a lot of other things I wanted to do as an actor. It was sad to say goodbye and in an incredibly special live episode, something I’ll never get to do again in my life.” EastEnders fans were on tenterhooks until the final moments – with most guessing arsonist Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman)would perish, but many assuming his fiancee Sonia (Natalie Cassidy) would, too.

No one suspected that fruit ‘n’ veg stallholder Martin would die. “Which is what made it so effective,” says James. “The audience had always loved him and Stacey (Lacey Turner) as a couple, through all their ups and downs. Suddenly, it looked like a happy-ever-after for them and then it was snatched away.”

In the meantime, James was under enormous pressure to keep the game. He claims that he told his wife and that he also made the decision to tell Lacey. It was a very emotional conversation, she said. We had a lot of experiences together.

Good mates with Scott Maslen (who plays Jack Branning), Louisa Lytton (Ruby Allen), James Farrar (Zack Hudson) and Natalie Cassidy, he continues: “They’re the people I’ll miss the most.” He recalls a momentous build up to the big departure day on February 20, saying: “The adrenalin was incredible: nothing could go wrong.

I experienced a sense of calm in my head. However, the actress who was playing the paramedic later admitted that she could feel my heart beat out when she put the electrodes in my chest. He thinks that his acting improved as a result.

He recalls the rehearsals’ playbacks, saying, “There wasn’t enough jeopardy. My persistent suffering and suffering were what was missing. Lacey was upset throughout the rehearsals, I don’t think she’ll mind me saying. She was sobbing, but she couldn’t hide it. I explained to her that she wasn’t required to cry constantly. She said, “I can’t help it. I have no authority over this.

At the final rehearsal, I then lost it. It felt out-of-body when Stacey left to speak with the paramedic. I cried out in disbelief when she returned. I didn’t think anyone would be able to hear what I was saying with my choking sobs when I spoke again. However, the director was delighted. He said that’s how it will be on the live broadcast.

When the collapsed steel beam was finally lifted off Martin’s body, he went into cardiac arrest and died. “Stacey and I lay there for five minutes when it was all over and then fell into each other’s arms, for a cry and a cuddle,” says James. “It had been very much a team effort and we’d got through it together.”

He hasn’t yet watched the live broadcast, though. He shrugs unconvincingly and says, “I just haven’t had the chance.” He continues to be obedient to his funeral scenes, which have yet to be screened, saying, “I’m not sure I want to watch my own cremation, if that’s what it turns out to be. I won’t take it off the record. However, I’m a little caught up when it’s on.

“If I’m honest, I’d find it a bit weird. The art department were asking for pictures of me to put in the order of service. But I said no. I don’t want real photographs of me at my funeral, with my real family cut out.” Married to Victoria since 2012, James lights up when she is mentioned, saying: “She’s my whole world. I honestly think I wouldn’t know how to tie my own shoelaces without her around.”

Parents to Edward, 11, Louis, nine, Hugo, five – Lacey is his godmother, and Davood Ghadami, who played Kush Kazemi, his godfather – and Rufus, aka ‘the Tasmanian Devil, who is ’two in June, they are not planning any more kids. James laughs: “We’ve now drawn a line in the sand.”

He and Victoria met unexpectedly while he was handing out jelly cartons in Sainsbury’s car park next to a 13-foot foam pineapple. He claims that it was a promotion, something that under-performing actors must do to maintain body and soul.

I was attempting to persuade people to enter a draw to win a Caribbean vacation while handing out samples. This stunning woman walks by and began to really care about what I was doing toward the end of the day.

The reason was that Victoria was checking if James was doing a good job at the same company as a mystery shopper. I gave her my phone number after some flirty banter, and they ended up talking about how she texted and we ended up getting together.

Six months later, we moved in together after consuming a large glass of white wine. They remarried in 2012, and they honeymooned in St. Lucia where they remarried in 2023. And she’ll be his rock as he plays Mr. Darcey at the Mill in Sonning, Berkshire, from May 1 through June 28 before making a September tour.

He states, “Most dates can be commutated from our Buckinghamshire residence.” In other words, I won’t need to take the kids to school in the evening to wash them. He says being partnered with Amy Dowden on Strictly in 2022 made him more visible, but he typically doesn’t mind going on the school dates.

He claims that “she had already experienced all the cancer scares at that point,” but that she had become the poster girl for Crohn’s Disease. She is the most lovable, brave person I have met, and we bonded incredibly well. We communicate with one another and maintain communication. She’ll probably stop by to see me on tour.

As for what comes next? “I’ve never been a planner, maybe stupidly so. I’m a bit of a gambler,” he says. “It would be great to do one of those big Netflix dramas. Let’s see what comes along. Martin Fowler changed my life, no question. But I feel he set me up for anything that might now come my way. You’re looking at a happy man.”