EastEnders' Natalie Cassidy pays tribute to her dad on anniversary of his death

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EastEnders actor Natalie Cassidy has paid tribute to her late father, three years after he passed away.

Natalie, who plays Sonia Fowler in the BBC One soap, shared an old photograph on Instagram of herself as a child with her dad Charles.

"I lost my daddy 3 years ago today," she wrote. "It's just another day but everything seems heightened somehow. I'm feeling very proud of myself and very happy and cry tears because I miss him so much not because I'm sad.

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"And grief doesn't start and stop on tap. It's always with you but you learn to smile through it, even laugh and move on with your life. You'd be proud dad."

In the comments, Natalie's co-star Patsy Palmer wrote: "Love you darling. He's with you 100% as we know. He is so proud of you and so am I! You are a shining light."

"So much love my sweet," commented Gaby Roslin, while co-stars James Bye, Diane Parish, James Farrar, and Jamie Borthwick all posted love heart emojis.

sonia fowler, eastenders
BBC

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This week's episodes of EastEnders have seen Natalie's character Sonia learn that she is pregnant after she and her partner Reiss went through the IVF process, but hit a setback.

While Reiss wanted to announce the baby news to the whole Square, Sonia told him to keep it quiet for now and only tell family.

"It's too soon," Sonia insisted. "Let's just enjoy it, yeah? You, me and our baby!"

EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.

Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage


If you identify with the themes in this article, the NHS has resources available to help with grief counselling and other support in the UK. In the US, the CDC also has resources available for those grieving.

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