Shona McGarty ‘panics and does not know why’ as she reveals secret nervousness battle
Shona is stepping into something far scarier than any soap storyline and is determined to overcome her anxiety and depression while on I’m A Celeb
EastEnder Shona McGarty is determined to beat her mental health issues while in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
After 16 years in Albert Square, Shona McGarty is stepping into something far scarier than any soap storyline. She’s heading into the series determined to face the one thing that has held her back more than anything else.
She said: “My mental health, my anxiety and my depression has been pretty bad over the last at least four or five years, and that has stopped me from doing a lot of things I have always wanted to do. I have kind of come to a point in my life where I do not want to let the anxiety win.”
Opening up in depth about her mental health struggles for the first time, Shona said the last few years have been some of her hardest.
“I mean, even talking to you now, I am very nervous, but it is just something I want to do to challenge myself and to kind of prove to myself that I am bigger than this anxiety,” she said.
Growing up on screen as Whitney Dean brought pressures she never quite knew how to deal with.
“Being in an industry at such a young age, when people ask ‘are you okay?’ you have to say you are fine,” she said. “That was kind of the way I was taught…you kind of fake it to make it, kind of thing. But that can take its toll on you, and I think it did, because we are all human.”
Shona said that her anxiety has been eased by having therapy, as well as medication, although she admits she does have off-days.
“I panic and I don’t know why… I am just sort of learning as I go,” she said.
Shona admitted to being “a bit scared that maybe the anxiety might rear its ugly head” while she is in the jungle.
But she added: “If it does I am sure people in the camp will help me, and I just want to be able to say ‘do you know what? I’m not having a very good day, and that’s just the way it is.”
Shona said she has an “amazing” support network consisting of her family, as well as the BBC, who she praises. She said: “They had things set up and in place for the young people to have a voice and speak about how they are feeling.”
But still the self-doubt creeped in.
“There is always that thing in the back of your head where you think, well, it is unprofessional of me to say that I am not doing okay? You might lose your job or get killed off. You do not want to fail in your career and let things beat you, so you just carry on. But by carrying on, things get worse, and I think that is kind of what happened.”
Funny and down-to-earth, she laughs about all the fuss made when she arrived at Brisbane airport, where she was greeted by reporters and photographers.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life… it was a first time for me,” she smiled.
Given the popularity of her EastEnders character Whitney, it’s perhaps hard to believe.
But Shona has never been one to crave the lime-light, not least in recent years when she felt her anxiety also precluded her doing shows such as Strictly Come Dancing.
“They think you must be a very happy person, very confident all the time, because you are an actress, and that is what you do,” she said.
After waving goodbye to Walford in May last year, Shona has been well-received in theatre, as well as embarking on a music career.
But for now her focus is on the jungle, and she is determined to use her platform on the show to raise awareness of mental health.
In recent years Danny Jones and Sam Thompson have both drawn praise after opening up in camp about their struggles.
“I think it is really important to talk about it. I think over the last couple of years, I have noticed a lot of young people say that they suffer from anxiety and depression,” she said.
“It is very hard now, growing up. I would not like to be 16 again at this time.”
Her family, she said, were hugely supportive when she told them about her plans Down Under.
“They were so excited for me, because they know that it is a really big thing for me to say yes to something like this, because they know about my mental health,” she said.
In fact she says her upbringing could prove beneficial in camp.
“My mum would say I am a bit of a tom boy. I kind of grew up very much outside, digging up worms… and climbing trees,” she said.
Laughing, she said her mum only had once concern.
“The one thing my mum did say to me was: ‘how are you going to cope in this heat? I am so pale, so Irish and see-through, I am not sure how I am going to cope. I am hoping there is a bit of shade, otherwise you might see me with prickly heat.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
