EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy shuts down 'disgusting' false cancer hoax after fan concern: 'It is completely made up and a terrible story'
EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has shut down the 'disgusting' false rumour that she has breast cancer.
The actress, 42, took to Instagram Stories on Friday to debunk the cruel hoax, which had been shared in an EastEnders Facebook fan group.
According to the story, the star had broken down in tears when she was given the diagnosis.
Its headline read: 'Natalie Cassidy Breaks Down as She Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis: "I Didn't Want Anyone to Know…"'
Slamming the fake story, Natalie wrote: 'THIS IS DISGUSTING AND DISGRACEFUL. So many people are going through this and I have had messages asking if I'm ok.
'It is completely made up and a terrible story. Take this down whoever you are.'
The cruel rumour follows the actress leaving her long-running role as Sonia Fowler on the BBC soap opera in April.
Before her exit she had been involved in an emotional storyline that saw her wrongfully accused of murder.
It then emerged that her on-screen partner Reiss Colwell (Jonny Freeman) had actually carried out the terrible crime.
She made her dramatic exit on a speedboat with sister Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer), daughters Bex (Jasmine Armfield) and baby Julia after locking her estranged father Terry Cant (Glen Davies) in a garage.
Since leaving EastEnders, the actress has been busy with a host of other projects including a BBC documentary that follows her journey training to be a carer.
She is also the host of the Channel 4 consumer show Britain's Best Buys.
Natalie was a longtime feature of EastEnders, first stepping into Sonia's shoes way back in 1993 when she was just 10 years old.
She is not the only soap star to recently be the subject of online rumours and Emmerdale's Lisa Riley has also been a victim.
Lisa - AKA Mandy Dingle - was recently forced to issue a warning to fans about AI impersonators.
Riley, 48, said in a video: 'If something is not on my page – and my page is blue-ticked – then it is not real.
'It is AI pretending to be me, and there is nothing I can do about it.
'It's a hoax, it's a scam and it's a lie.
'So please, I'm begging you, don't click on it, don't believe it, don't read it, don't give it any attention.
'It's not true.'
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