Cheryl Fergison, 58, reveals why she lived apart from her Moroccan toyboy ... trends now

Cheryl Fergison has revealed why she lived apart from her Moroccan toyboy husband Yassine for nine years.

The EastEnders actress, 58, who played Heather Trott in the BBC soap from 2007 until 2012, now lives with her husband Yassine Al-Jermoni, 38, in Blackpool.

But things haven't always been like that after visa problems impacted them being together full time.

After they met Yassine remained in his native Morocco for nine years, with Cheryl visiting when she had free time in her schedule.

As well as visa problems Cheryl has told how her husband's family commitments in Morocco, an earthquake which Yassine helped with the relief effort for and Covid had also kept them apart for years. 

She told Ok! Magazine: 'We try to keep our business private but yes financially it can be a strain to get these visas. 

'But we're here now, we're in Blackpool - the Vegas of the north! - and we're settled.'

Despite her on-screen character Heather Trott being unlucky in love, the actress enjoyed a whirlwind romance with her second husband after meeting him online in 2010.

She soon jetted out to his hometown of Agadir and they got hitched by the following June.

Cheryl previously revealed she didn't reveal her identity to him for five months after they starting messaging online.

Talking to Loose Women in 2017, the soap star said she enjoyed an 'old-fashioned' courtship with her partner.

She said: 'We met online and wrote to one another on the computer and spoke on the computer. It was very old-fashioned.

'He didn't know what I did for a living. I didn't show him my picture. It was five months of chat before we met each other. 

'I saw him and it was like "ping". I knew he was the man I was going to marry and I had been married once before.'

Addressing the 21-year age gap, Cheryl said that 'age doesn't matter' and 'no one blinks when a man does it.'

She continued: 'Thank goodness we're not all the same. I think do whatever you are comfortable with.'

Alex, 24, is Cheryl's son from her previous marriage to Jamshed Saddiqi who she divorced in 2008. 

It comes after Cheryl revealed her secret womb cancer battle in a candid new interview over the weekend.

She has kept her health problems private after getting the terrifying diagnosis nine years ago.

She has now shared that she thought she was going to die after being diagnosed with stage two womb cancer in 2015 - calling it 'a horrendous time'. 

She told Ok! Magazine: 'There were some dark moments, especially at night, when I thought, 'Am I going to die? Am I going to leave my husband without a wife, my son without a mum?'

'But the time is right to talk about it all now. I'm hoping my story might empower other women.

'I've been through a lot but I'm still here. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' 

She received her diagnosis after attending a regular smear test, which came back clear.

But after she started experiencing back pain and spotting blood which she knew wasn't normal.

She then went to see her GP and she was referred for tests and a biopsy at a local hospital in Kent.

Four months after that she received the news she had stage two womb cancer.

Cheryl has now told how hearing the doctor's diagnosis was like an 'out of body experience'. 

She said: 'I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn't believe the doctor was talking about me.'