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Privacy Notice Natalie Cassidy, best known for her role as Sonia Fowler on EastEnders for the past 30 years, is a household name. Besides her iconic role in the BBC soap, which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, Natalie also hosts two weekly podcasts, Life With Nat and Off The Telly. She’s also recently bagged a presenting gig on Channel 4’s new four-part consumer affairs show, What’s The Big Deal?, set to air this winter. The actress, who is engaged to cameraman Marc Humphreys, is a mum to two daughters, Joanie, eight, and Eliza, 13. But what’s it like having a teenager at home?
Natalie admits she often feels ‘mum guilt’ when she can’t be at home as much as she would like to due to her work commitments
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Eliza will be turning 14 at the end of September, and Natalie confesses she often feels ‘mum guilt’ when her work commitments keep her away from home more than she’d like. Like all mums, she knows that balancing work and childcare can be challenging. “I get mum guilt all the time 100%,” she admits. “And I think that’s why we need to talk about it more. I don’t think you understand until you have children. People saying, ‘Don’t have children if you want a career’ is ridiculous. It’s an ignorant thing to say. “We’re not living in the 1950s, Dad doesn’t go to work while Mum stays at home. But we don’t have the infrastructure to support families who need to work. The childcare right now just doesn’t work. So all of that needs to be looked at and changed.” There’s never a dull moment in Natalie’s home – when the 41-year-old catches up with us, she admits that “everything’s very, very hectic” as her daughter Joanie and her pals are racing around the house. The London-born actress reveals that she and her fiancé don’t have the typical Monday to Friday schedule like most families. “It’s really sporadic, but we are very lucky to have a nanny,” Natalie shares. “Obviously, you pay a price for having one, but we wouldn’t be able to do everything without secure and solid childcare. “We share our responsibilities on the days that we can, and it’s quite equally divided between us. “When I’m at work and Marc’s at home, he’ll have the children and he’ll do the cooking. Sometimes it’s the other way around. I think whatever family you’re in, you find a way. ”
Natalie is engaged to cameraman Marc Humphreys and she is a mum to two daughters, Joanie, eight, and Eliza, 13
(Image: Natalie Cassidy)
Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free Just like any other mum, Natalie admits there are tough times. “I’m very lucky and grateful to be able to afford childcare, but that doesn’t ward off sometimes having a meltdown. Or you’ve had a sleepless night because [one of the kids] has had a nightmare. ” In 2021, Natalie took care of her father Charles during his final days after he moved into her family home due to his declining health. Natalie had to balance her father’s needs with the demands of her children and work until he passed away in April at the age of 84 due to multiple health issues. Natalie remembers, “I was only a carer for him at the very end of his life. He was able to cook and clean for himself for a long time and was very independent right up until the end. But that time in my life was crazy. “I look back and I don’t actually know how I did it, but I had help from my mother-in-law. The juggling of different generational care is a whole other ball game really.” Natalie confesses that her family are “tight-knit” and she was incredibly close to her late father, whose death has left a void in her and her children’s lives. “I bought my current house for him really because it has an annexe,” she says. Her relationship with her dad strengthened following the tragic loss of her mum Evelyn, who died from bowel cancer aged 63 in 2002, when Natalie was just 19. The strong family ties have continued through the generations, with Natalie revealing that she has a profound connection with her own daughters and, recently, they have started showing an interest in acting, just like their mum.
Natalie has played the role of Sonia Fowler in EastEnders for 30 years
(Image: BBC)
Natalie says, “Eliza is very keen on the television side of things and acting. She’s been in quite a few school musicals and she really enjoys it. Joanie is a bit of a performer as well – she’s only eight, but she’s dancing and performing at home.” Despite juggling a hectic schedule, Natalie is on a heartfelt mission to support fellow working mums grappling with the twin demands of work and childcare. In solidarity, she’s championing the Real Out Of Office Movement, a heartwarming initiative born from Maltesers’ Mother Lovers campaign. Maltesers’ research has painted a picture of the working mum’s plight, highlighting that a staggering one in five mums are silently clocking in an additional eight hours of domestic slog daily, over and above their official jobs. Most working mothers silently wish their colleagues recognised the invisible shift they put in after hours, catering to their children’s needs. The study further uncovered that while 79% of mothers carry the burden of guilt for skimping on time with their kids, 57% are equally tormented by guilt when they feel they aren’t meeting their professional commitments. Pouring out her own truth, Natalie confesses, “I can believe this because I sometimes don’t sit down. “If I do, it’s at 9pm or 10pm because I’ve been doing the washing, cleaning, getting stuff ready for the next day and going through school emails. It is a job in itself!” Empathising with other mothers, Natalie stresses the exchange with employers regarding their work-childcare tango, especially as the research reveals a concerning trend where one in five working mums stay tight-lipped about their parenting challenges within the corporate sphere, fearing to break workplace norms. Working mums are voicing the need for greater empathy in the workplace, as nearly half state that just having their extra parental duties acknowledged would ease their stress significantly.
‘I often feel the squeeze trying to juggle parenting with work’, the soap star says
“I think people would feel that little bit better if they could get things off their chest,” she says. “I think if we could all just be a bit open and say, ‘Yeah, today’s a hard day, but I really want to enjoy my day at work,’ that would help.” “I often feel the squeeze trying to juggle parenting with work – both the long summer holidays and return to school have their unique challenges, but the support of my colleagues makes a huge difference,” she adds. However, Natalie points out that being a working mother still comes with unfair judgment, adding, “You’ve got the stigma of maybe people in the office saying, ‘Why should she leave at 3pm to pick up a child and have half an hour out of work?’ Well, actually, you might go on a lunch break that I don’t take at 1pm each day.” Moreover, Natalie acknowledges additional struggles some mothers face upon returning from maternity leave. “When some mums go back to work, they feel a little pushed out or someone else has taken over some of their responsibilities,” she says. Still, the actress says she is incredibly proud to call herself a working mum, adding, “Mothers are strong and resilient – we balance a lot every day.” Natalie Cassidy launches the ‘Real Out of Office’ movement by Maltesers, part of its Mother Lovers campaign, which calls on colleagues and those around working mums to say “Let’s Lighten the Load”. For more information on Natalie’s Mother Lovers and access to tips on the Real OOO movement campaign, visit maltesers.co.uk/lighten-the-loadStory SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnEastEndersNatalie Cassidy
