EastEnders actress Cheryl Fergison scolded herself with boiling water multiple ... trends now

Cheryl Fergison doused herself in scalding water multiple times a day as she became obsessed with 'washing' away cancer cells after battling the illness.

The EastEnders actress, 58, who played Heather Trott in the BBC soap from 2007 until 2012, revealed her secret womb cancer battle in an interview over the weekend.

Soap star Cheryl kept her health problems private after getting the diagnosis nine years ago, but has now revealed how she was driven to taking painfully hot showers i in a desperate bid to stop the disease returning.

Former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Cheryl finished her treatment in 2015 and doctors hoped she would get the all clear by 2020.

She was told to be mindful of any unusual symptoms in case any cancer cells remained but this instruction from her doctors sparked obsessive behaviour. 

She decided to take matters into her own hands and, after hearing medics describe 'washing' away cancer cells before, Cheryl repeatedly covered herself in boiling water where she'd had an operation to remove cancerous cells. 

Cheryl explained to the Daily Mirror: 'In my head, I thought I still had cancer cells in me. Doctors had talked about having done a "washing" procedure as part of the surgery so I thought right, "I’ll wash myself, I’ll wash these cells away". 

'So every day, sometimes twice a day, I would get a shower head and get the water at its hottest setting - as much as I could bear.

'It was like an addiction. I was doing this for years. It became a routine. I told nobody except my husband Yass and he would try to stop me. He was so supportive - but it was in my head.'

It comes after Cheryl issued a plea to women to get unusual symptoms checked as she revealed how her womb cancer was diagnosed.

She received her diagnosis after attending a regular smear test, which came back clear but soon after she started experiencing back pain and spotting blood and says 'somehow I just knew something didn't feel right.'

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 said that hearing the doctor's diagnosis was like an 'out of body experience', explaining to The Mirror: 'I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn't believe the doctor was talking about me.'

Following X-rays, Cheryl was also recommended for a full hysterectomy just weeks later. 

She told how this hit her hard in case she had wanted to have another child - after her chances of doing so were already reduced due to an early menopause. 

Cheryl has admitted she thought she was going to die after being diagnosed  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.' 

Cheryl now lives with her husband of 12 years Yassine. She has a son Alex, 24, from her first marriage to Jamshed Saddiqi.