Sheridan Smith: I was terrified I was going to come unstuck

SHERIDAN SMITH has opened up about the ‘out of control’ anxiety that caused her to pull out of a West End show.

The Olivier Award-winning actress had to leave Funny Girl for several months last year due to stress and exhaustion — a situation that was then compounded by her beloved Dad’s death in December 2016.

The popular actress told Culture magazine how she stopped being able to enjoy her work due to crippling anxiety.

‘So you think, “That’s it, this is me. I’m unlovable, I’m inauthentic,”‘ she said.

‘You’re constantly worrying you’re not going to be as good as people think you should be.

‘When you have that degree of anxiety, you can’t just pull yourself together and you can’t explain it. It just snowballs until it’s out of control.’

Sheridan, who had never previously had a problem with stage fright, also described how ‘terrified’ she became after starring in another stage show, Legally Blonde.

‘I was terrified I was going to become unstuck, that I couldn’t hold these feelings of insecurity in much longer without it coming to a head,’ she said.

Now Sheridan has vowed to go easier on herself.

‘I’m not going to run myself into the ground again,’ she said.

Author: Anna Thomson