Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack has explained the ’empowering’ life change she underwent following her battle with cancer.

Back in 2022, Womack, who played Ronnie Mitchell on EasEnders between 2007 and 2017, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer.

Later that same year, the soap star revealed that she was now cancer free having undergone treatment which included a lumpectomy and chemotherapy.

Speaking to OK!, Womack opened up about the experience, explaining how it had changed her outlook on life, saying: “I feel so much more enlightened.”

“I know myself better, I feel humbler, I feel calmer,” she added, before describing how her diagnosis changed her approach to work and allowed her to say no to things.

“After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff – and I didn’t have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me,” she said.

“It was me saying the word ‘no’ and my bank account creaking. But there was empowerment in that because I thought, ‘OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself and figure out stuff that I’ve never figured out – maybe stuff I’ve buried under a rug.'”

On how different her life is since leaving EastEnders, Womack said: “Soaps pay very, very well, but the reality of being self-employed means that, yes, you get paid for the jobs you do, but for the six months of the year you don’t work, you don’t get paid.”

She continued: “I’ve never been a wealthy person. I’ve gone from job to job, always thinking, ‘Better say yes because no one’s going to want me if I don’t.’ I had very low self-esteem.”

Explaining how her attitude towards acting changed after she received treatment for cancer, Samantha said she found it mentally hard to find the energy to perform.

“Going back to work after my treatment felt very hard. I couldn’t quite step back into that neurotic, zany energy as easily,” she explained, adding: “I was physically capable, but I wasn’t emotionally capable. I was picking things that felt gentle to me.”