Ex-Emmerdale star Roxanne Pallett has revealed how she was pushed to the brink of a nervous breakdown by the death of her best friend just before Christmas last year.

27 year old Roxanne admitted to the News of the World that she was unable to even leave her home for three months after the tragedy.

She told the paper, “I’ve not been out and about until now. Nothing else really mattered.

“It threw a spanner in the works.”

At the time, Roxanne was due to star in a panto in Newcastle, but she was so devastated by the news, she had to pull out of the show. And it seems that she only began to get back to some form of normality when she was offered a guest role on Casualty.

Roxanne said, “It was a guest lead in one episode. It was nice having something to feel tenacious about.

“Getting up, reading roles, going for the audition – it gives you that momentum and drive that everyone needs at a time like that.”

Roxanne also appeared in Dancing on Ice, but when asked if she’d consider doing other reality shows – such as I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, she replied, “I never say never. As long as it’s creative, it’s fun and it challenges me…

“But I wouldn’t eats bugs in the jungle. I couldn’t do that!”