EastEnders legend Cheryl Fergison is set to star in a new project featuring Katie Price - after losing £500,000 in a scam and having to rely on a food bank.

The actress, 60, played beloved Heather Trott in the BBC soap from 2007 until 2012, when her beloved character was killed off.

Now, Cheryl has landed a role in a stage production of Living the Life of Riley at the Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock.

The play focuses on Joanne Riley, specifically her experiences as son Jackson is diagnosed with autism.

While not directly starring in the production, Katie, 47, introduces the comedy via a video message and talks about her son Harvey having the condition. 

Since leaving the BBC One soap, Cheryl has struggled to find meaningful acting work since shooting her final scenes as Heather.

The star also previously discovered she had been left penniless by her accountant, as detailed by the actress in her autobiography, Behind The Scenes, released in 2025.

'For five years, I paid him. For five years he pocketed the money and didn't pay a single penny to HMRC,' she wrote. 

'Everything I had built, saved and worked for was gone. I don't use the word hate very often. It's a heavy word, one you can't always take back, but in this case, I meant it. I hated him.'

She added: 'Going broke when you're famous is the worst, because everyone expects you to have lots of money.

'People assume that you're minted. They don't imagine you're juggling overdrafts, maxed-out credit cards, payday loans and mountains of bills. But that was exactly where I found myself.' 

Cheryl also told The Sunday Times: 'I found out that I had been defrauded by an accountant who hadn't filed or paid my taxes.

'They showed me false proof that they had sent everything to HMRC, but in reality they had taken the money.

'HMRC said it was still my responsibility to pay it and I lost between £400,000 and £500,000.

'I had this massive pay cheque and I put it in the bank, but I had to take it out to pay the taxman. I'm still chasing my tail from it.'

Elsewhere, Cheryl admitted she sobbed' when she was forced to resort to food banks after finding fame on EastEnders.

During an appearance on This Morning in 2024, she discussed her financial situation with hosts Cat Deeley, 49, and Dermot O'Leary, 52, and offered advice to viewers at home who may be struggling with debt. 

Cheryl said: 'My life sort of paralleled her a little bit in some things, including things like going to the food bank, that's the sort of thing that Heather would have done, I'm sure.'

She continued: 'So, it's weird to know that what I portrayed is something that is happening to millions. It shouldn't be happening but it is.'

The actress added: 'They were little angels… It didn't matter if they knew me or not, they never, ever showed it.'

'They sat me down, gave me a cup of tea [and] I started sobbing. I sobbed and thought, 'Why am I here? I've been on the television, I've been in people's front rooms but I am actually here now'.'

'You hear these stories, and I've reported on these stories, and I've done these stories, but I am actually here now.'

'Then they filled my bags up with food, and they asked me if I had an animal… I said, 'Yeah, I've got a dog, Rosie' and they said, 'Okay, well she needs to eat, so we'll get some food'...'

'I think this is the bit that got me, I was sat there with a cup of tea, with four or five bags of food and the lady said, 'Oh, we've got all these tins of Celebrations and chocolates - what we'll do is we put some in bags, and you can go home and have a cup of tea because there's tea bags in there'.

Adding: 'Just have a little chocolate and have a little sit down and it might help you'.'

Cheryl continued: 'I said, 'Thank you' and then she just said, 'And here's a bunch of daffodils to put on your table, to just look at them and feel brighter'. 

'They had thought of everything. They are special.'