Sheridan Smith breaks down in tears as she says dad's death made her 'stop acting'

Sheridan Smith became tearful during the latest episode of Starstruck as she spoke about her late father.

The mother-of-one is a judge on the ITV singing show alongside Beverley Knight, Adam Lambert and Jason Manford, and clearly has a whale of a time.

However, one contestant on Saturday night got her feeling emotional about her dad Colin - who sadly passed away in December 2016.

In her pre-recorded VT, Kayla spoke about losing her dad and how she took a break from singing because she was too upset.

However, she decided to return to doing what she loves most and transformed into Celine Dion to perform My Heart Will Go On alongside two other women.

Sheridan Smith became tearful during the latest episode of Starstruck as she spoke about her late father (ITV)

When it came to the judges' comments, Sheridan could't hide her delight as she told the trio: "Oh girls, girls, I love you!"

Sheridan continued: "My goodness, she is such a diva singer, I was so spellbound by you girls.

"Esther and Frankie, smashed it out the park, I loved all the moves. She's so dramatic, Celine is dramatic and I love her for that, she's theatrical and you nailed that. Perfect, gorgeous!"

Contestant Kayla also became emotional as Sheridan referenced her loss and urged her to continue singing (ITV)

She then added: "And Kayla, okay now I've got to not cry when I tell you this... I lost my dad and I stopped acting because of it."

Sheridan's voice broke and she became tearful as she then said: "You keep doing what you love because your dad will be so proud of you, okay? And you just made him so proud tonight."

Sheridan told contestant Kayla that she needs to keep singing and doing what she loves (itv)

Kayla was also seen wiping away tears at Sheridan's words and the audience applauded them both as host Olly Murs looked on sympathetically.

It's not the first time that Sheridan has revealed she almost quit acting after losing her dad.

As she struggled to cope with the loss she also got a mass of tattoos one saying Daddy’s Girl, a This Too Shall Pass, and one saying C’est la vie.

Sheridan Smith's father Colin sadly passed away in December 2016 (Getty Images)

Speaking in an interview in 2018, she said: "I was not in a good place. My mum went berserk! Maybe in my head I just wasn’t going to act any more. I was in this mad little world. Why should the whole world have a right to look at me?

"But then I got better and thought: ‘Oh, I’m an idiot! Of course I’m going back to acting!’ Now my make-up artist has ordered a product from America that covers the tattoos. And I wear cardigans a lot!"

Starstruck continues Saturday at 8:30pm on ITV and ITV Hub.