Cheryl Fergison

Cheryl El Jamouni (born 27 August 1965), known professionally as Cheryl Fergison, is an English actress. She is known for playing Heather Trott in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, a part she played from 2007 until 2012.

Career After training at Rose Bruford College, Fergison started playing the role of Heather Trott on the BBC soap opera EastEnders on 26 June 2007. The character was conceived by the former executive producer, Diederick Santer. Prior to this, Fergison made a brief appearance on the series as a friend of Mo Harris (Laila Morse) in 2005.

Fergison's stage credits include Measure for Measure, for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the 2006 season at The Scoop.

Fergison is also known for playing Joanna Harding in the Linda Flint sketches of Little Britain, opposite David Walliams, and also played Judy in The IT Crowd. Other notable appearances include 'Allo 'Allo!, Little Miss Jocelyn, Bad Girls and Casualty, as well as playing Mrs. Lloyd in two episodes of Doctor Who, "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances". Fergison also starred in a promotional video for the band Keane's single "Atlantic", which was included on their Under the Iron Sea DVD.

In November 2007, Fergison participated in the Children in Need charity appeal with her EastEnders co-stars which was broadcast on BBC One. On 26 June 2008, she appeared on and won an EastEnders special of quiz show The Weakest Link.

Since appearing on EastEnders, Fergison has made a variety of television appearances on shows such as GMTV, The Paul O'Grady Show, This Morning and Loose Women. She won the Best Comedy Performance award at the 2008 Inside Soap Awards, and was then nominated for Best Comedy Performance and Best Onscreen Partnership Award (alongside Linda Henry) at the 2008 British Soap Awards. Fergison later appeared in Let's Dance For Sport Relief, dancing to "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice, and appeared in an episode of BBC Two's Shooting Stars in August 2010.

On 17 September 2011, Fergison was axed from EastEnders and it was announced that she would leave at the end of her current contract, departing the show on 21 March 2012. Heather was killed-off after being murdered by Ben Mitchell (Joshua Pascoe).

In March 2012, Fergison appeared on The Saturday Night Show. In April and June 2012, Fergison made two guest panellist appearances on ITV's Loose Women. On 15 August 2012, Fergison entered the Celebrity Big Brother 10 house. On 24 August 2012, she became the second housemate to be evicted.

Fergison was one of the celebrity contestants on Your Face Sounds Familiar. During the series, she sang as Dusty Springfield, Anastacia, Meatloaf, Lulu, Madonna, Cher and Adele. She played the role of Jo in the 2014 series of Big School on BBC One. On 24 December 2016, Fergison reprised her role on EastEnders as Heather, in the form of a recorded voiceover. The recording was a taped message left by Heather for Dot Branning (June Brown), who discovered it on her last day working in the launderette.

From October to November 2018, she played the part of Mrs Bird in the musical production of Maggie May at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool.

In 2022, she played a fictionalised version of herself in Catherine Tate's six-part mockumentary sitcom Hard Cell, released on Netflix.

Fergison is also a keen singer and has posted numerous singing videos to her YouTube account. In 2022, she sang at various pubs and venues and was also seen busking outside a local takeaway. She regularly performs at events, including Mullingar Pride in July 2022.

Personal life

Fergison divorced her husband, Jamshed Saddiqi, in 2008. She and Saddiqi have one child, a son named Alex. In May 2011, Fergison married Yassine Al-Jermoni.

In 2015, Fergison was diagnosed with stage II womb cancer. After attending a regular smear test, which came back clear, Fergison began experiencing back pain and spotting blood, which she recognised as abnormal. She did not make her diagnosis public until April 2024.

In 2024, Fergison revealed that after leaving EastEnders, she struggled with money problems and ended up using food banks.

Filmography As an actress Year Title Role Notes1992 Covington Cross Maid 2 2 episodes: "Outlaws" and "The Persecution" 'Allo 'Allo! Desiree Episode: "Missing and Presumed Dead" 1993 Genghis Cohn Frau Langer Supporting role 1994 Middlemarch Pritchard 5 episodes 1996 Interview Day Miss Bodley Television film1997 A Royal Scandal Cleaning Maid Cold Enough for Snow Mrs. Bodley 2004–2005 Little Britain Joanna Harding 2 episodes2005 Doctor Who Mrs. Lloyd 2 episodes: "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" EastEnders Meg 1 episode2006 The IT Crowd Judy Episode: "The Haunting of Bill Crouse" Little Miss Jocelyn Various 1 episode Bad Girls Latoya Series 8, episode 7 Casualty Lucille Prior Episode: "Get What You Deserve" 2007 The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle Fan With a Baby 1 episode 2007–2012, 2016 EastEnders Heather Trott 386 episodes 2008 Children in Need Housemaid Television special 2009 Mr. Right Red Team Woman Supporting role 2010 EastEnders: E20 Heather Trott 4 episodes 2013 The Spa Ms. Wylde Main role 2014 Big School Jo 6 episodes 2016 White Island Security Guard Supporting role 2021 Hansel and Gretel: After Ever After Executioner Television film 2021–2022 The Stand Up Sketch Show Various 3 episodes2022 Dodger Mrs. McCurdy Episode: "Imposter" Hard Cell Herself Main role 2024 Mr. Bigstuff Julie 1 episode 2025 Mandy Stella Series 4, episode 1

As herself

Theatre credits

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Result 2008 Digital Spy Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Linda Henry) Digital Spy Soap Awards Best Newcomer British Soap Awards Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Henry) 2009 Inside Soap Awards Funniest Performance