EXCLUSIVE EastEnders star Lacey Turner reflects on cost of living struggles and parenting stigmas as she says: 'it doesn't matter what industry you're in, we're all the same'

Daily Mail​

11-05-2025

Lacey Turner has opened up on cost of living struggles and parenting stigmas and said: 'it doesn't matter what industry you're in, we're all the same'.
In a chat with MailOnline, the EastEnders actress, 37, who welcomed her third child in January, opened up on pressures faced by new parents as prices continue to rise.
The star has joined forces with baby formula brand Bonya to challenge the stigma surrounding infant formula use and frugality in the UK during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Lacey, who has played Stacey Slater on the BBC soap since 2004, said: 'You do what you can. Ultimately if you strip everything back we're all the same, it doesn't matter what industry you're in.
'You could be a broker, you could be hairdresser, you could be a gardener - we're all facing the same struggles daily.
'Some people earn more money than others but everyone has different kinds of problems and ultimately underneath that is the judgement. You cannot judge people you don't know, you never know what another person is going through.'
She admitted: 'I look at my shopping bill and think when did that go up? What would be a £70 shop suddenly becomes a £120 shop and you go oh my God, I'm not buying them again.
'Everybody is ultimately the same and it comes back to the judging thing and the pressure. People feel the need to have the best and buy the best and how much it actually costs and it shouldn't be like that.'
According to the Daily Star and OK!, Lacey earns between £150,000 to £190,000 for her work on the soap as a fan-favourite, which falls in the same pay bracket as Gillian Taylforth who plays Kathy Beale.
Her character is currently absent from Walford after the death of Martin Fowler while she's on maternity leave, despite returning briefly for the live episode.
Reflecting on life as a mother of three after welcoming her baby daughter Gipsy Olive in January, Lacey gushed: 'I'm very lucky to have three lovely children and a great family.'
Lacey is also mum to two older children, daughter Dusty Violet, five, and son Trilby Fox, three.
She explained: 'I'm lucky to have Matt and we're a great team. I really love being a parent. It comes with challenges as it does for any parent but I love it, I love watching them grow and everyday is different.
'They're small and learning and making mistakes and changing, they need different things. You're constantly adapting and they're learning from you, it's a really lovely journey to be on.
'It does come with its challenges, there's daily decisions and they're always sitting in the back of your head. Are they reading enough, are they watching or eating too much rubbish? I want to do my best and whatever our best is in our house it works.'
Lacey continued: 'I'm no different to any other parent. Every day you make decisions from when they're born, my eldest is five, so every day we make decisions about what they're doing, watching, eating, wearing and you want it to be the best ones.
'When they were smaller I have thought I need that because so and so said that's the best. We don't want Karen judging us on what we put in our baby's mouth or what pram or bike we have or whatever it is, it shouldn't be that way. We've got to get rid of that stigma.'
Lacey opened up on what it's been like to become a mother of three, admitting that knowing what to do doesn't necessarily get easier as everything is 'always changing'.
She recalled: 'Your first baby you know nothing and then your second baby you think okay I've got this, I know what I'm doing but actually everything changes, it's constantly moving.
'The market of baby and children just doesn't ever end. It changes so what you think you know and what you're confident with, that's suddenly not available, this is better, and you can't do this anymore you've got to do this.
'It's a constant battle of trying to keep up and trying to do the right thing and the best thing and it is crazy it's exhausting and can leave people with serious anxiety and guilt. Have I done the right thing?
'Is it the best they could have had? It shouldn't be like that, you shouldn't have to have the financial worry on top of being a parent.'
Elaborating on the stigma for new parents around money, Lacey reflected: 'Over the past couple of years we've become really good at talking about things and getting rid of stigmas around mental health and baby loss and other things.
'This is exactly the same and we have to stop this stigma. It's hard enough being a parent without being judged about your choices and decisions.
'I feel strongly that the more we talk about this the more it opens up either people to talk about this and the stigma will just be reduced and hopefully disappear.
'When you become a parent there's so much information and dos and don'ts and must have this, don't have that. It's so overwhelming and leaves you in a place of thinking am I doing the right thing, am I even capable?
'This shouldn't be how you should feel as a parent. We should be filling parents with honesty and confidence and support.'
Speaking about Bonya's campaign, the soap star explained why it's close to her heart.
She revealed: 'I'm really proud to be a part of this campaign because I think it's really important and I think it's amazing what Bonya are doing.
'What they're trying to do is get rid of the stigma that is attached to parenting and needing people to believe that the best is the most expensive and actually that's not always the case.
'What they want to do is reduce the judgement, pressure and shame around it and I think thats really important.
'In this day and age where we live in a cost of living crisis and it's very hard to get the pounds and they seem to go very very quickly. I think it's important that we get the message across that being frugal is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it's a skill in my opinion.'
Lacey took centre stage in EastEnders' 40th-anniversary live special in February having giving birth to daughter Gipsy on January 17.
Despite the quick return to work,she stunned viewers with an emotional performance as Stacey Slater, marking one of the most dramatic moments in the show's history.
Having played the character of Stacey on the soap since 2004, apart from a short four-year break from 2010 to 2014, Lacey has been a much-beloved fixture on the soap for almost 20 years.
She has had a wide range of emotional storylines, including her struggles with bipolar disorder, her murder of Archie Mitchell and an affair with her father-in-law.