Kym Marsh explains absence from Morning Live amid mental health struggles

Kym Marsh has explained her lengthy absence from BBC show Morning Live, revealing she has been suffering from anxiety attacks and is seeking help for her mental health amid her father’s prostate cancer diagnosis.

The soap star and Hear’Say singer, 45, has been missing from the daytime programme for the last few weeks and Marsh explained she has been keen to focus on her family.

Appearing on the BBC show on Friday, she said: “I think it’s fair to say that the last few months have been ridiculously busy with one thing and another for me and my family.

“Starting at the beginning of the year when I had my double hernia op, which should have been much more straightforward than it was, and then we found out that my dad has cancer, and then we caught Covid.

“It was a terrifying time. But of course, what’s affected my family the most over this whole period is my dad’s cancer diagnosis back in March.

“I’ve been off obviously for the last few weeks. And one of the reasons for that is that I want to be here for my dad, I need to be here to support my family. And it was absolutely the right choice to make.

“I’ve been able to be around, I’ve been able to be there when they’ve needed me to visit more. And spend time with them really, and just kind of help them coming to terms with everything.

“All we can do is just be there for him, support mum, and help them through what is one of the most difficult times of their lives.”

Marsh said her father is improving but the news of his diagnosis has prompted her to move her wedding to fiance Scott forward.

She said: “We were planning to get married next year. But I think dad’s cancer diagnosis and realising just how bad things were, it made us want to bring everything forward, just so that dad gets to walk me down the aisle.”

Marsh said the strain of the last year has taken its toll, revealing: “I have suffered with anxiety attacks in the past and they’ve come back with a vengeance.

“Life’s been pretty difficult for me and trying to support my family and working away was making that really difficult.

“There had to come that point where I just thought I can’t do this, I can’t be away from my family, I need to make a choice here, what am I going to do?

“I started to avoid going places again, which was a sign for me that this is not okay.

“I decided to step back from Morning Live to focus on myself and my nearest and dearest, and so went to the doctor and I’ve started to have some help about my mental health, which I think is a really important thing to talk about.

“You’ve got to give yourself a break, and I think that’s what I’ve done.

“It was and for now continues to be absolutely the right decision.

“For now I’m just going to take each day as it comes and not put any pressure on myself, so I’ll check in on the Morning Live family with my own family for now.”

However, she warned co-host Gethin Jones: “Don’t be getting too comfortable without me Gethin, please, I’ll see you on the dance floor at the wedding.”

Marsh previously discussed the impact of her father Dave’s cancer diagnosis on an episode of the show in June.

She said: “For him, I think it’s been a real struggle and for us to see dad cry and be as emotional as he is, it’s not like him to be like that and so for us to watch that, it’s really difficult for us as well and we are not sure how best we can support him.”