EastEnders’ Natalie Cassidy addresses ‘daunting’ career move after dad’s death
Natalie Cassidy appeared on The One Show(Image: BBC screengrab)
Natalie Cassidy has confessed it felt “daunting” returning to education to train as a carer.
The 43-year-old star rose to fame as an actress, and is well known for portraying Sonia in EastEnders from 1993 to 2025. But she chose to retrain as a carer following her experience of caring for her father Charlie before his death in 2021.
She signed up at a college to study health and social care, with the journey being filmed by cameras for a new BBC programme, reports OK!
Speaking about it on The One Show, Natalie revealed: “I’ve just been growing up with care all my life. My nan lived with me. My mum cared for my nan. And yeah, my dad, right up until the end of his life, lived with me, and I cared for him. So this is a real, real important passion project for me.”
Presenters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp enquired what it was like going back to education, and Natalie admitted: “It was very, very daunting because I thought, ‘I’m going into a classroom here with a load of students. I’m really old. What are they going to make of me?’
Natalie Cassidy trained as a carer(Image: BBC screengrab)
“But actually, going in, they took me under their wing. I became part of the team. And it was just wonderful going to learn again because I haven’t been at school since I was 16. EastEnders all the way. So it was lovely to get back into a bit of education as well.”
Alex asked whether the course assisted her in processing the time she spent helping to care for her father. “Yes, it did,” said Natalie.
“And something else, I was really taken aback by students who were in the classroom and wanted to go into care where they’ve been caring at home.
“And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s amazing.’ And then I thought about it and thought, ‘No. That’s why I’m interested in it because I’ve cared for my dad.’ It was incredible.”
Alex Jones and Roman Kemp hosted The One Show(Image: BBC screengrab)
Speaking about what the course was like, she explained: “I can honestly say it became a bit of a running joke. We’d finish a day and we’d say, ‘Wasn’t that the most special day?’
“And that happened every day because everybody within that care system, be it volunteers, charity workers, nurses, everybody has so much empathy. Everybody’s caring. So you just have the best time.
“And I really think this programme is needed because you’ll watch it and just go, ‘Actually, there are really good people around’.”
EastEnders and The One Show both air on the BBC.
