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Natalie Cassidy is an ambassador for Skipton Building Society and wants to encourage conversations about money (Image: Mel Yates)

When Natalie Cassidy quit her high-paying job on EastEnders, she took a terrifying financial gamble. Playing Sonia Fowler was a dream role, but it was also all-consuming, with her spending entire days on set dramatising Sonia’s increasingly miserable existence.

However, thanks to savvy financial advice imparted by EastEnders icon Wendy Richard, Natalie was able to take the plunge, find new challenges and spend more time with her cameraman fiancé Marc Humphreys and her daughters Eliza, 15, and Joanie, nine.

“I think the best financial advice ever was from Wendy Richard, the late great Pauline Fowler,” shares Natalie. “I was 16 at the time and I remember being at EastEnders and her sitting me down and saying, ‘I really want you to start a pension as soon as you can.’ And she helped me with it and I started it as soon as I could and I carried that on. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have a healthy pension. I’m still very thankful for that.”

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Natalie Cassidy hugs cameraman fiancé Marc Humphreys

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Natalie Cassidy cuddles her daughters(Image: Instagram/@natcass1)

Natalie was just 10 when she started on EastEnders, and soon became a firm favourite as bosses quickly recognised her ability to carry both comedic and tragic storylines. At the age of 11 she won the nation’s hearts by going off busking with her trumpet and more harrowing storylines followed, including a cryptic pregnancy when Sonia was just 15 and then her true love Jamie Mitchell dying in her arms weeks before her 18th birthday. Sonia never had any real luck – even as a grown-up she encountered endless misery.

But while Sonia was surrounded by wrong’uns and ne’er-do-wells, Natalie was guided by Wendy and fellow icons June Brown and Dame Barbara Windsor. Later, when she became one of the show’s veteran stars, Natalie offered the same advice to the new stars learning their trade on the show.

“When I went back aged 37 and the youngsters were coming up, I really did say, ‘You should start a pension.’ I’ve tried to impart that advice and say to them it’s really hard being a freelance person where you have to keep your VAT, you have to keep your tax. I’ve made that mistake in the past.”

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Natalie Cassidy in her kitchen(Image: Mel Yates)

Natalie was slapped with a huge tax bill in 2012, and had to go on Celebrity Big Brother to pay it off. “You get paid a lot of money for something like Celebrity Big Brother,” says Natalie. “It paid a large tax bill and I put some of it into a deposit for a house.”

While she’s got her pension pot for the future, Natalie admits she still has panics about money when she’s not working.

“I was in a job which was contractual and I knew what I was getting every week, and I’m not in that position anymore,” she says. “There can be a couple of months where I think, ‘Oh everything’s over, we’ve got to sell the house.”

It’s Natalie’s financial fears that are stopping her from marrying her fiancé Marc, despite him having first popped the question in October 2015. “It’s about money actually,” says Natalie. “Getting married is very expensive and we’re very happy. I know it doesn’t have to be expensive, but I know that I’ll want lovely flowers and a nice dress and all of those things.”

Talking about money is not easy but it is important, so Natalie has partnered with Skipton Building Society to encourage people to talk more openly about their finances and she is leading by example. “It’s about encouraging people to have open conversations about money and get that advice,” she says. “I’m not the best with money. I’m learning all the time. I’m 42 now and I think I could have done better with my money.”

Since leaving EastEnders, Natalie has focused on projects that align with her passions, including filming an upcoming BBC documentary about the care industry, where she went back to college to study for a Level 3 NVQ in health and social care. She took on the challenge after caring for her dear dad Charles in his final years until his death in 2021.

“It’s my biggest passion project,” she says. “Since EastEnders it’s my proudest achievement. My dad lived with me and I cared for my dad. He was quite independent for most of his life, which is wonderful, then he was at home with me and it was an amazing experience.”

It’s challenges like studying for an NVQ and getting experience in care homes and hospital wards which have led Natalie to the conclusion that university – and an enormous student loan – might not be the best option for her own children Eliza and Joanie.

“I don’t want them to go to uni,” she says. “It will be their choice but my opinion is get into something you really enjoy and get into a workspace and work your way up. Be within the work and start earning money.”

Natalie isn’t against university for everyone, but she fears the cost of going to university and the subsequent debt outweighs the benefits for people who aren’t looking to become scientists or luminaries in their field. “Don’t get me wrong, I think we need those amazing people,” she says. “But I think if you’re going and not sure what you want to do, then go into the workplace.”

Filming her care documentary – which has a working title of Natalie Cassidy: Learning To Care – might be Natalie’s proudest moment, but she’s also taken on more light-hearted jobs including the upcoming cartoon Alley Cats, from comic Ricky Gervais. The series is coming to Netflix later this year, and also stars comics Diane Morgan and Kerry Godliman.

Natalie has also been broadcasting her podcast Life With Nat from home and it has become a family project, with her partner Marc, her brother Tony and her nieces Maria and Ellia all featuring. “It’s hilarious how it’s turned out,” says Natalie. “When I started Life With Nat I wanted it to be very listener-based, I wanted to talk to people. And then one night I said to Marc, ‘Do you fancy doing it?’ And he did it. And then my nieces got involved and then my brother and then it’s really lovely.”