Sheridan Smith has opened up about her struggles with mental health following the devastating death of her father.
She was forced to pull out of performing in Funny Girl when her dad passed away in 2016 due to an illness.
Speaking on the Jonathan Ross Show, Sheridan said: “It was the worst thing, I hate it and I always think ‘The show must go on’ and I hate letting anyone down but I think the public understood in a way that you can’t choose when these things happen.
"It was a gradual build up when my dad got diagnosed and I just couldn’t continue, I lost my mind, I completely did to the point where people were stopping me in the street and cuddling me because people understand that, it’s just life.
"Unfortunately you can’t just take time off from a show, you get a lot of abuse so that’s what happened.”
Sheridan continued: "I’d been performing anyway leading up to that, and I’ve always had a bit of anxiety, and so I was a little bit nervous but the catalyst of it all was my dad.
"Now I’m in a better place, I want to say ‘It’s okay not to be okay’ because I didn’t speak about it and then it snowballed and it came to this huge head… You’re scared to ask for help because people think ‘Oh what have you got to be worried about?’ and I get it but I just think, if [me speaking out] helps one person."
Sheridan went on to share memories of her father.
She said: "He was constantly laughing, he was the funniest man I ever met.
"As far as relationships go, he set the bar so high I just want someone who can make me laugh like that.”
Sheridan is now releasing a new album, and confessed it was her dad who helped her.
She said: "They came to me after I did Cilla and my dad was alive at the time, and he said ‘Go on, do an album’... I didn’t have the guts to be honest but growing up with them [my parents] being a country and western duo, they really wanted my to do it.
"And so when they came to me after Funny Girl and they asked me again, his voice was in my head and I thought ‘why not, let me do it and dedicate it to him.’”
*The Jonathan Ross Show is on Saturdays at 9.10pm