EastEnders star Lacey Turner reveals 'never-ending guilt' before quitting the soap opera in shock decision
EastEnders legend Lacey Turner has discussed her 'never-ending guilt' before making the bombshell decision to quit the soap opera.
The actress, 37, joined the cast as Stacey Slater in 2004, and after departing in 2010, she reprised her role in 2014, but she is set to leave the show again later this year.
She is stepping back to focus on her family life with her husband Matt Kay and their three kids - daughters Dusty, five, and Gipsy, four months, and son Trilby, four.
Now, Lacey has opened up about the 'guilt' she previously felt leaving her beloved children to go to work on the long-running BBC show.
'The older they get, the more you realise how quickly the little years pass. It's bonkers, so I take it day by day, week by week,' she told OK! Magazine.
'You feel guilty leaving them, but also guilty for not earning, it's just never-ending. But we've got to stop judging and start supporting each other.'
Lacey said she is looking forward to taking a break, admitting she has never had one before, as she hopes to focus on her family and other work commitments.
She also hit back at the judgement that is often placed on parents and said she wants to put an end to the opinion that people have to be 'rich' to good parents.
'You don't need to have the most expensive formula or toys or pram - I overheard a couple saving up to have a baby, that shouldn't be the case,' she said.
'Parenting isn't about money, it's about love, time, and doing your best.'
In an interview with MailOnline, Lacey also opened up on cost of living struggles and parenting stigmas, saying: 'It doesn't matter what industry you're in, we're all the same.'
'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,' she added.
'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.'
According to reports, Lacey earns between £150,000 to £190,000 for her work on the soap, which falls in the same pay bracket as Gillian Taylforth who plays Kathy Beale.
Earlier this week, Lacey confirmed she will be leaving EastEnders later this year, with bosses hinting there will be plenty of drama in store before her departure.
She told The Sun: 'It's time for myself and Stacey to take a rest and who knows what Stacey will get up to in her time away? Knowing Stacey, it will never be boring.'
An EastEnders spokesperson added: 'We can confirm that Lacey will be off-screen later this year, but there is plenty of more drama to come beforehand and we will look forward to planning Stacey's return when Lacey decides the time is right.'
A source added: 'Lacey made the decision last year to take some time out from the show, she's had a busy year both on and off screen, so it feels a good time to give Stacey a rest.
'Lacey loves EastEnders, and it's no secret how much EastEnders love Lacey, so it's not a question of if she will be back, but when.'
Lacey made a brief return from maternity leave in February to feature in EastEnders' live 40th Anniversary episode, when Stacey's husband Martin Fowler was tragically killed in the Queen Vic explosion.
At first, it appeared that Martin had been successfully rescued from underneath the beam, but his heart then stopped as firefighters rushed to try and save him.
His ex-wife Stacey (Lacey) was left in floods of tears as Martin died in front of her eyes just moments after he declared his love for her and proposed.
The heartbreaking episode ended with Stacey hugging Martin's lifeless body while her screams could be heard by those waiting outside the Queen Vic for news.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Barry McIlheney obituary
Barry McIlheney, who has died aged 67, presided over many late 20th-century media success stories. In 1989 he launched the monthly film magazine Empire as editor, and in 1999 the celebrity weekly Heat as publisher. In his first job as editor, at the pop music fortnightly Smash Hits, he had more than doubled the magazine's sales in just over two years (it sold 400,000 copies when he took the job in October 1986; in November 1988, its Poll Winners' Party special sold over a million). As editor, he honed Smash Hits' quirky style and headlines ('Corky O'Riley, It's Kylie!' ran the cover line for a 1988 interview with Kylie Minogue) and led a team of writers that included the future Observer columnist Miranda Sawyer, biographer Chris Heath and novelist William Shaw. He also commissioned memorable features, including Tom Hibbert's 1987 interview with Margaret Thatcher, in which she was asked if she watched Spitting Image, and when she was going to knight Cliff Richard. McIlheney's personality was welcoming and irreverent, and he was referred to by various nicknames by his staff. These included Big Man, Barry Mac and Barney Tabasco, a name by which he was once announced by an American receptionist (in the 2000s, he adopted it as a writing pseudonym for Word magazine). While editing Empire, from 1989 to 1993, he also reviewed films, in an unpretentious, lively style. 'Nothing really happens except for a lot of guys sitting around talking shite,' he wrote of 1992 drama Glengarry Glen Ross. 'But what wonderful guys, what memorable shite.' Made managing editor of Empire and its sister title Premiere in 1992, he ran the entirety of the Emap Metro publishing group from 1995, then the merged company Emap Elan from 2000 to 2007, with Q, Mojo, Elle, Red, the Face, FHM and Zoo all in his roster. The younger son of Muriel (nee Wilson), an office administrator at the Kennedy and Morrison steel company, and David McIlheney, a production manager in the shirt-making and textiles industries, Barry was born in Belfast and grew up in the north of the city near what became the Oldpark Road and Cliftonville peace line. A pupil at the Belfast Royal Academy, he became a fan of the NME at 14. 'I'm sure a therapist would have a field day on the escape that this new world offered me from the very grim reality of everyday life in north Belfast,' he said in a 2013 interview with the MagCulture website. At 18, he went to Trinity College Dublin to read history, often returning home to sing and write lyrics for the North Belfast Boogie Band, who in 1978 changed their style to punk, and their name to Shock Treatment. They were played on the John Peel Show, supported the Skids and U2, and released three tracks before McIlheney's departure in 1982: the first of these, Belfast Telegraph, about local news, appeared on the 1980 Room To Move EP, and a double A-side single, Big Check Shirts/Mr Mystery Man, was released in 1981. His father had died in 1979 and, living with his mother after leaving university, McIlheney worked behind the counter at the Kennedy and Morrison steelyard, then as a library assistant at Skegoneill Library. He found work in local newspapers and freelanced as Belfast correspondent for the Irish music magazine Hot Press. Around 1983, he moved to London for postgraduate study at City University Journalism School and freelanced for Melody Maker, becoming a staff writer then the magazine's reviews editor. His report of Live Aid in 1985 won him the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA)'s Young Journalist award. Recommended to Smash Hits by a colleague, he was hired soon afterwards as its new editor. McIlheney left magazines in 2008 to become Sport Media Group's editor-in-chief, a position he held for a year. In 2010, he became chief executive of the PPA; he described the role to MagCulture as 'the perfect chance to have a meaningful and useful second act'. After semi-retiring in 2020, he became a part-time board member of the press regulator Ipso, ran events for the Integrated Education Fund, a charitable foundation supporting integrated schooling in Northern Ireland, and spent more time at his home in Spain. In 2020 he wrote about his punk past for the Northern Irish culture fanzine Dig With It ('Everybody looks so young, everybody looks so thin'), and in 2024 he returned to sing vocals with the reunited Shock Treatment, including on three tracks for the album Exclusive Photos. He was due to perform with them again in Belfast this month. He married his Smash Hits colleague Lola Borg, now a writer and psychotherapist, in 1991. She survives him, as do their son, Francis, and daughter, Mary, and his older brother, Colin. Barry Wilson McIlheney, journalist, born 13 May 1958; died 25 May 2025
The Sun
32 minutes ago
- The Sun
Mum wins £11k payout from Premier League star who ‘helped his brother dodge child support payments to daughter, two'
A MUM has won an £11,000 payout from a Premier League star accused of helping his brother dodge child support payments for his young daughter, she claims. Chelsea ace Tosin Adarabioyo allegedly funds older brother Fisayo's extravagant lifestyle, paying for a £2.9million mansion, giving him a monthly income and a credit card to go shopping with. 5 5 The Sun snapped photos of flashy Fisayo, 30, a former pro-footballer, carrying a £3,140 Bottega Veneta leather briefcase. But despite his millionaire lifestyle, Fisayo has yet to pay a penny towards his two-year-old daughter Anara's upbringing after telling the Child Maintenance Service he's skint, it is claimed. Anara's struggling mum Nadia Messaoud, 41, who dated Fisayo for a year before they split in 2022, said she was forced to take action after being ignored. She took civil action against Chelsea defender Tosin for funding his brother while allegedly knowing of his sibling's obligations. Legal documents relating to the civil action, seen by The Sun, state: 'The defendant (Tosin) has been knowingly providing his older brother, Fisayo Adarabioyo, with an income that is not being declared to HMRC or the child maintenance service. 'This is with the intention to obstruct my daughter's legal right to obtain child maintenance. 'My child has for the last three years been awarded the nil level of CMS.' Nadia also alleged that as well as thousands of pounds a month in cash income, Tosin also provides his brother with a credit card to spend on. According to Land Registry documents, Tosin, 27, thought to be on £120,000 a week at Chelsea, owns the Cheshire mansion in which Fisayo lives. The Department of Work and Pensions has awarded unemployed Fisayo a "nil rate" on child support for the past three years because he claims he does not earn enough to pay. Nadia staged a protest outside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium last month to raise awareness around her cause. She wore a vest top and held a sign both of which said: 'TOSIN #4 Women Matter, Children Matter, D.A (Domestic Abuse) survivors matter.' She is backed by domestic abuse charity Women's Aid. Fisayo was convicted of harassment without violence in 2022 after turning up at Nadia's terraced home in Cheshire, banging on her door and leaving her terrified. He also bombarded her with texts, saying he hoped she miscarried the baby and threatened to kill her. After allegedly failing to respond to Nadia's legal claim, his brother Tosin has been ordered by the court to pay her £11,000. However, Tosin's legal team told The Sun the order was a "default judgement" made in error "on the part of the court". Nadia said: "I've not received a penny from Fisayo to help with our daughter, while he's living a footballer's lifestyle thanks to his Chelsea playing brother. "I've been rebuffed at every opportunity which is why I decided to take legal action against both of them. "All I ever wanted was a reasonable level of financial support but Fisayo has claimed poverty. Now I know the truth. "As a Premier League player Tosin is supposed to be a role model, but his actions have essentially blocked my daughter from receiving the financial support she's entitled to by law." Tosin's lawyers' statement added: "The Order arises from a default judgement which has been entered by the Court in a claim issued by Nadia Messaoud against our client ('the Claim'). Unfortunately, it would appear that our client's strike out application has not been properly processed by the Court and it has therefore allowed automatic default judgement to be entered in favour of Ms Messaoud. "This is a very serious administrative failing on the Court's part and one which we are addressing with the Court on our client's behalf. Inappropriately, she made an application for judgement in default, despite being served with that application. "Your summary is not a fair and accurate report of anything that has taken place in the Court proceedings." They added that as well as "chasing" the court, they have also made an application on their client's behalf "to have the default judgement order set aside". "In summary therefore, the Order which you have seen is subject to an active challenge, and should never have been issued by the Court in the first place." They said the claim is a "pattern of behaviour" by Ms Messaoud "to exert unwanted pressure on our client to provide further funding to her". "Our client has no relationship with Ms Messaoud and owes no legal or other duties or obligations to her," the statement adds. The Sun has also contacted Fisayo's lawyer and Chelsea for comment. 5
Daily Mail
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Jamie Oliver reveals how cooking saved him from prison and calls for urgent Dyslexia screening and teacher training reform
Jamie Oliver has revealed that if he had not discovered cooking, he might have ended up in prison. Speaking at the British Library ahead of the premiere of his Channel 4 documentary Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, the chef, 50, said: 'Statistically, if you follow the data, I might have ended up in jail. The stats are really clear. 'There's a paper trail showing that dyslexic kids are three and a half times more likely to be expelled.' The documentary marks the latest step in Mr Oliver's two-decade-long advocacy, which began with his influential 2004 series Jamie's School Dinners that sought to raise standards in school meals. In this new film, he urges the government to introduce earlier screening for neurodiversity in children and enhance teacher training to better support their needs. The father-of-five added: 'That often leads to a pathway from expulsion to violent crime. It's linked to lower educational attainment, lower-paying jobs, and over 50% of inmates in prison are dyslexic. 'I wasn't one of the kids who suffered. I found cooking, and it totally saved me.' Jamie Oliver has revealed that if he had not discovered cooking, he might have ended up in prison. Speaking at the British Library ahead of the premiere of his Channel 4 documentary Jamie's Dyslexia Revolution, the chef, 50, said: 'Statistically, if you follow the data, I might have ended up in jail. The stats are really clear' '10 to 15% of every class in the country is dyslexic. If you're adding on other neurodiversities, we're talking 25% of every class don't really fit into the man-made system, which is education,' Mr Oliver said. He also revealed a personal struggle in the documentary: 'I knew things were bad when my own six and seven-year-olds were reading better than me. As the dad reading them their night-night story, I'm the second biggest author in the country. 'It's bonkers, but I really struggled to read at primary school. I read my first book when I was 33 or something like that, and it was all those feelings of just feeling sh** and that you had nothing to offer the world, and like everyone else seems to be getting it, and you don't.' Mr Oliver explained: 'Dyslexia is a learning difference that affects the ability to read, spell, write, process and remember information.' Speaking to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson at the screening last night, Oliver said: 'We need new systems and ways of allowing these [children], up to 25% of every class, to have the ability to show their genius.' Ms Phillipson acknowledged the problem: 'One in four children being left behind by the education system is a sign that change is needed.' She committed to reforming teacher training on neurodiversity for all new teachers starting this September. She also promised a 'really big upskilling of the workforce' to better support pupils with special needs. Mr Oliver urged the public to 'bash the door down' of Phillipson's office to push for reform. He said: 'I am not the kid that suffered. I found cooking, and it totally saved me. And I've always been positive, but there's definitely something going on right… I'm a lucky one, but clearly there's issues.' Mr Oliver added: 'We know what needs to change, and we know it's possible. Last night Secretary of State Phillipson agreed that one in four kids being left out of education is a sign the system needs to change and has committed to reform teacher training around neurodiversity for all new teachers from this September. 'With no news yet on supporting existing teachers or vital early screening - the fight continues.' Mr Oliver pressed Phillipson further, saying: 'May I ask one, Bridget, one last thing that I just don't know if it's within your permission or power, but I'm disgusted of my county of Essex. I come from Essex. I was born and bred in Essex, and within education in Essex, and there's a handful of other counties, they've decided to not recognize dyslexia. They don't recognise it. They don't see it.' He went on: 'My instinct is, because once you recognize it and once you have a diagnosis on it, then because of the 2010 Human Rights Act, you have to deploy resource as a human right, and I believe that Essex are not wanting to spend the money and therefore changing science. 'We have scientists in the room that will say that dyslexia does exist. Essex, my county, disgusting, have decided to say that it doesn't exist...' Kate Griggs, founder of the global charity Made By Dyslexia, praised Oliver's efforts: 'It's fantastic to see Jamie shining a spotlight on dyslexia - too many children aren't getting the chance to thrive. 'We must shift attitudes across society, because the very skills dyslexic pupils possess are now the most sought-after in every workplace.' She added: 'We welcome the Education Secretary's comments that we can make fast progress by learning from great practice. This is exactly the knowledge our free training provides. 'Our Empowering Dyslexic Thinking in Schools course, created in partnership with The Open University, is now available online.'
