Michelle Collins felt "out of control" in the early days of fame.
Michelle Collins shot to fame as Cindy Beale in EastEnders
The 62-year-old actress became well known to TV audiences when she took on the role of Cindy Beale on the BBC soap opera 'EastEnders' in 1988 and explained that she had to often turn to her mum for comfort as she learned to deal with scrutiny.
Speaking on the 'How To Be 60' podcast, she told 'Loose Women' anchor Kaye Adams: "Lots of times I felt out of control, and I remember sometimes going to my mum and she would really worry about me a lot of time time. And I'd sit and just talk to my mum about things and she'd always say 'Well, whatever happens, whatever people have said about you, I will always love you'.
"You have people in your life, whatever kind of happens, you get through it."
But Michelle - who left 'EastEnders' in 1998 when her character went to prison but made a shock return in 2023 even though it was thought her character had died off-screen - explained that she doesn't really have any regrets about becoming famous because it has all made her who she is today.
She added: "I feel like the experience I've had in my life makes me the person and the woman that I am today. I like to say I'm mature but I'm still really silly a lot of the time and I still like to enjoy myself but I feel like the younger ones, the girls who play my daughters, always say my stories are hilarious.
"And they say 'Did that really happen?' and 'Oh here comes Michelle with another story...' They love it!
"Non, je ne regrette rien! I kind of feel a bit like that. My life has the person I am today."
The former 'Coronation Street' star does, however, wish she had taken more time for herself in those early days and looked after her mental health even though it wasn't really the done thing then.
She said: "I have a few regrets but I'm not going to harp on about it because I think I'm a bit like whatever's gonna be will be. In those days, I probably should've done a lot more yoga, meditated a lot more and taken more time out for myself.
"In those days, people didn't take time for themselves, did they? You didn't talk about mental health.
"Nowadays, sharing is caring. Everybody shares. I often feel we share a bit too much but in those days, you didn't. And to admit that you had a problem or things weren't going well was a sign of weakness."
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