Holby City star Rosie Marcel has announcement her retirement from acting after a “really tough” three years.
The 47-year-old was best known for playing Jac Naylor in the BBC medical drama until the series finale in 2022, when Jac died of a brain tumour.
Marcel revealed she has endured a series of heartbreaking struggles since the show was axed, including several miscarriages, her husband Ben Stacey “nearly dying,” and getting in a “terrible” road accident.
The soap star added that she hasn’t been offered any new acting roles since Casualty spin-off Holby City was axed after 23 years.
“I won’t lie, it’s been a really tough three and a half years. I haven’t had a single job and that’s been really, really difficult,” she told The Metro.
“A lot of that is, I would imagine, people can’t see beyond Jac. I think a lot of it is because of my age, I think it’s my gender.”
“So I actually retired in May. In all honesty, so much changed in our lives in that time – my husband’s gym burned down, obviously, I lost my job, Ben nearly died, I lost a couple of babies, I got caught in a terrible accident on the A41, another accident with a guy who’d been stabbed by his son. Just this crazy three years of stuff happened,” she said.
Marcel previously revealed she had a miscarriage in 2014 just after she had finished filming the scenes in which her onscreen character, Jac, gave birth.
In December, her husband Stacey was treated for a plural effusion and a partially collapsed lung.
Marcel added in her Metro interview that applying for a Netflix role against 6,000 other people “really forced my hand in some ways”.
The TV star confirmed her decision to retire in a statement on Instagram, saying: “Well I guess it’s out there now. No longer a secret that I’ve retired.”
Marcel said that despite her struggles she is “truly happy” and has had some “lovely successes”.
“I’m happy. Truly happy. It’s been a pleasure and a journey. I’ve given my bit. I’m happy with what I put out in the world. Delighted with some lovely successes,” she wrote.
“Made some great friends. Lost some dear ones. Lost my mind several times but always got it back. Learnt some great lessons. Gave and got back a lot of kindness.
“Laughed more than I should have on set. Didn’t laugh enough. What a bloody good bit of life I had. Ready for the next bit. Happy to just be me now.”
