EastEnders’ Rita Simons undergoes hysterectomy aged 45 after ‘debilitating’ health issue | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Rita Simons, who starred as Roxy Mitchell on EastEnders for 10 years, recently underwent a hysterectomy after years of suffering with debilitating and irregular periods. In a candid interview, Rita said her periods were so painful they affected her ability to work and spike her OCD and anxiety.

She told OK! Magazine: “I was in panto and I got to the point where I was telling my agent not to book me on dates where I knew I’d be on my period, because it was so difficult to work. 

“It was debilitating…my emotions got completely freaked out every month.”

Rita says she first tried to mitigate the issue with a combination of hormones – oestrogen and progesterone – but the side effects made her feel so unwell that she could not continue.

She was then told by a doctor that the only option was to have a radical hysterectomy which removed her womb, cervix and both ovaries.

In the days following the operation, Rita told the aforementioned publication that “health comes first” but that she feels like the ordeal has been “an attack on my femininity”. 

She said: “As a woman, we often take for granted that you can get pregnant and then when you are not able to and the choice is taken away… 

“It’s a really strange thing because you don’t think you’d be that bothered until you’re in that situation, and then suddenly you’re like, ‘What if I do want kids in five years?’” 

Rita already has two children, 16-year-old twins Jaimee and Maiya, who she shares with her ex-husband Theo Silveston.

“The worst is when I can’t sleep at all and I’m up all night. Some nights I’m awake just staring at the wall. I don’t even watch TV or listen to music. 

“It is awful. It is like torture. Sometimes it feels like I don’t sleep for days. It’s horrible.”   

To see all the exclusive pictures and watch video footage visit OK.co.uk or pick up a copy of OK magazine.