When I was younger, I was a child actress , always had the paparazzi surrounding the house , award shows , private schools for celebrities, high profile friends; now it’s all gone. The fame didn’t follow me into adulthood. However, it’s served me a new kind of freedom that I didn’t have as a child; I can simply walk around a supermarket without being recognised and stopped for autographs and selfies.

I feel normal again. It feels like the air is fresh again , no longer stuffy and suffocating like it was in the spotlight.

Not to say I didn’t enjoy the attention at the time, I loved what I did, performing had always been my talent and I thrived. Eventually I grew out of it though and wanted to become a writer and express my creativity in a different way. I’ve wrote an autobiography about my former career and I’m also a successful children’s writer with 3 book nominations. I am proud of the life I’ve achieved through hard work. Although I no longer feel as recognised as I did back then , I appreciate the silence sometimes , the lie-ins in a morning , no longer rising at 6am for rehearsals, working at my own pace. I love it.

My parents had always wanted me to continue acting , but I knew it wasn’t for me anymore , I’d broken out of my cocoon and transformed into a butterfly. I only see very few people from my past life these days , a few co-stars and school friends but they are more superficial than I so I have become distant, but I don’t regret it at all.