'I've Suffered Anxiety & Loneliness But My Life Has Turned Around'

Days before entering the infamous house, Roxanne Pallett opened up about her struggle with mental health and finding Mr Right

- Annabelle Lee ​​​​​​​

This time last year, Roxanne Pallett was struggling to get work, applying for admin jobs and admits she was suffering with “anxiety and loneliness”.

Last week, however, all eyes were on the 35-year-old – who now has a blossoming radio career and a new fiancé – as she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house. When asked how she’d be on the TV show, she described herself as, “Disney gone wrong”, saying, “When I unravel… well, you’ll see.”

And the star admits. “If you compare me now to how I was at the beginning of last year, I am like a completely different person. I wasn’t happy, I didn’t enjoy life. As an actor, it’s hard constantly waiting for the phone to ring, I was struggling with low self-esteem and I felt deflated and defeated. I had no routine and would sleep-in a lot.

“All my friends were settling down, getting engaged or married and starting families and I felt like everyone else had their lives sorted. It was a difficult chapter.”

But last summer, Roxanne, whose previous long-term relationship to Corrie star Richard Fleeshman ended in 2006, started talking to Lee Walton, 40, on Instagram after he discovered she was a fellow fan of legend Elvis Presley, and they struck up a friendship.