Natalie Cassidy has shared a heartbreaking statement on Instagram on Wednesday as she remembered her late father Charles, who died three years ago.
The EastEnders actress, 40, said she was crying because she ‘missed him so much’ but felt ‘proud’ because she was starting to ‘move on’ with her life.
Sharing a photo from when she was a little girl with her dad, the soap star wrote: ‘I lost my daddy 3 years ago today. 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. 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.’
Last year, Natalie, who plays Sonia Fowler in the BBC soap, revealed she still ‘talks to’ her dad every day and keeps his ashes on her windowsill.
Natalie Cassidy has shared a heartbreaking statement on Instagram on Wednesday as she remembered her late father Charles, who died three years ago
The EastEnders actress, 40, said she was crying because she ‘missed him so much’ but felt ‘proud’ because she was starting to ‘move on’ with her life
She said: ‘I lost my daddy 3 years ago today. It’s just another day, but everything seems heightened somehow. I cry tears because I miss him so much not because I’m sad. And grief doesn’t start and stop on tap’
Charles died in April 2021, but the actress said that she makes sure his memory stays alive.
Natalie’s mum died when she was just 19 and so her bond with her dad was even stronger, which resulted in Charles living with her and her family in the last years of his life.
At the time, she shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram on Saturday.
She explained his death was the reason ‘I’ve been very quiet the last few weeks’ and added: ‘I lost my precious daddy three weeks ago today.’
Sharing a photo of herself cuddled up to her dad, Natalie hailed her late father as being her ‘whole world’ and said, although she’s ‘not sure what I’m going to do without him,’ her family and friends have been ‘making it easier’.
‘It really is at these times you realise how important relationships,’ the Sonia Fowler actress added.
Natalie wrote in full: ‘I’ve been very quiet the last few weeks. I lost my precious daddy three weeks ago today. I wasn’t really going to do this post, but I felt I can’t come on here and be a knob without letting everyone know that my life has changed.
‘He was my whole world and I’m not sure what I’m going to do without him. All I know is my family, friends and work will make it easier. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life.
‘It really is at these times you realise how important relationships are and company and friendship and love is so important. Losing anyone is hard. The NEVER seeing someone again is cruel.
‘But it’s part of life. And we go on and have our memories. Charles William Cassidy 1937-2021. The best dad and grandad in the world. We miss you so much but we have each other because of you.’
Natalie’s fans and famous friends alike were quick to send their condolences.
Former EastEnder’s co-star Jacqueline Jossa sweetly wrote: ‘Sorry to hear that beautiful girl, love to you and your family. Lots of love,’ while Scarlett Moffatt left a string of heart emojis beneath Natalie’s post.
Charles died in April 2021, but the actress said that she makes sure his memory stays alive as the pair were very close after the soap star lost her mum when she was just 19
One follower added: ‘Oh Natalie so sorry for your loss. Could always see you were so close. You just be heartbroken,’ with a second noting: ‘Sending you all of our love Nat.’
The last time Natalie shared a photo of her father was in November 2020, when she referred to herself as a ‘daddy’s girl’.
Posting a snap of herself and dad Charles playing Scrabble, the soap star poignantly noted: ‘We are all very lucky to be here, even if it is different and not what we are used to. Make the most of it.’
Speaking in October 2020, Natalie told of her fear of losing her father after her mother died when she was just 19 from bowel cancer in 2002 at the age of 63.
She explained her dad had been suffering from ill health, saying: ‘Last few days have been a bit of a challenge. Daddy hasn’t been very well, nothing major, but it makes you realise they aren’t going to be around forever.
‘Losing mum young means we are so close, in my head I feel he is always going to be this age, living with me and being a bit grumpy at times.
‘But we know that’s not true. He’s as strong as an Ox, so I’m hoping he will be around for a lot longer. Losing people is such a hard part of our lives, no matter what age they are or how they pass.’
Charles was grandfather to Natalie and her fiancé Marc Humphreys’ daughter Joanie, four, as well as Natalie’s older daughter Eliza, 10, who she shares with her ex-partner, Adam Cottrell.
Natalie has since converted her dad’s old room into a space for the family to enjoy time as well as placing his ashes on the windowsill in her living room.
Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: ‘I know it might be a bit morbid for some people but he sits on the windowsill and I like to have a chat with him.’
Natalie lives with her fiancé, Marc Humphreys, and their two daughters, Eliza and Joanie.
Before Charles passed away, he suffered with multiple medical issues and Natalie said she knew when the end was close.
She revealed she had a ‘gut feeling’ that he would pass away and within a week he had died with his beloved daughter by his side.
The last time Natalie shared a photo of her father was in November, when she referred to herself as a ‘daddy’s girl’