'Coronation Street's Beverley Callard lost the "confidence" to play her flirty character at the peak of her depression.
Beverley Callard
The 59-year-old actress has portrayed pub landlady Liz McDonald in the long-running soap since 1989, but she no longer felt "brave" enough to wear her alter-ego's tight skirts and cleavage-flashing tops when she went through a bad bout of the mental health condition earlier this year.
Speaking on 'This Morning' today (06.04.16), she said: "I lose my confidence totally and to be honest to play Liz, you've got to be brave... a PVC mini-skirt. To put those clothes on. I just thought, oh my goodness me, I feel idiotic. And I'm not up to this anymore. And my confidence was totally gone. Then I looked around on set and there were lots of beautiful females on set and I think, 'I can't do it.'
"I sat on the stairs for a little while, while they were moving cameras, and I was just crying silently. And one of the make-up girls, who are our great friends, saved my life. She said, 'You need to go home.' "
The blonde beauty's condition spiralled out of control last month when she ran out of the drug she takes for it after it was abruptly discontinued without warning.
She explained: "I went straight to the doctors with Liz's make-up on, with my fake eyelashes hanging off and he saw me virtually straight away and said we need some kind of substitute [for the discontinued drug]. I later saw another consultant and I have to tell you, he was rubbish, he looked at me like I was an idiot."
However, the actress believes it was her former co-star Denise Welch who "saved" her in the end because she recommended a doctor who balanced her medication.
She said: "In the end, I had to come to London. Denise Welch recommended him [the new doctor]. And he saved my life. He understood exactly how I was feeling and has got the balance with my medication right."
Beverley was signed off work for two months but looks set to return to the soap next month in an explosive storyline.
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