Jill Halfpenny has opened up about the heartache she suffered following the death of her partner in 2017.
The former ‘Byker Grove’ actress has spoken for the first time about her boyfriend dying of a heart attack in the gym in January 2017, and the tragedy brought back memories of her father’s passing.
She said: "Something happened a couple of years ago – I experienced something I’ve never ever spoken about.
"In January 2017 my partner, in very similar circumstances to my dad, went to the gym, had a heart attack and died."
Jill was four when her father died when he went to play football and never returned after suffering a heart attack, and following her partner’s passing the ‘Waterloo Road’ star realised she hadn’t really dealt with her dad’s death.
Speaking on Craig Parkinson’s ‘The Two Shot Podcast’, she added: "What happened was that it brought all of my grief from my dad as well; it was like dealing with a double loss – a loss I’d never dealt with.
"Oh my god, it’s unbearable. I cannot cope with these feelings. I just want cessation: the feeling to stop."
Jill – who was married to Craig Conway from 2007 to 2010 – has previously spoken about her father’s death.
She said: "He was playing football and had a heart attack. In the morning he was there and then, in the evening, he wasn’t.
"Girls are brought up to believe that daddy will be the person that comes to their rescue.
"When you’ve lost that sense of somebody being able to come to your rescue, you say, ‘To hell with it. I’ll be my own rescuer.’ "
Jill Halfpenny opens up about partner death
