Hollyoaks and Strictly star Ali Bastian breaks silence on her 'year of grief'
Hollyoaks star Ali Bastian says she has endured a ‘year of grief’ after one of her closest friends passed away.
The 41-year-old actress - who played Becca Dean on Hollyoaks from 2001 until 2007 and was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009 - was devastated earlier this year when her friend, Lou, passed away just a week after Ali gave birth to her second child. The devastated star took to social media at the time to explain how heartbroken she was over the death of her friend.
Now that the year is nearing an end, Ali has been reflecting on the past 12 months and says that losing her friend is still resting heavily on her mind. She took to social media on Wednesday to highlight the fact she was still processing her grief and the feelings of sadness that were inside her.
Ali explained that she wanted to live more ‘authentically’ and accepted the fact she would need to confront her feelings as a result. The TV star took to Instagram and shared a photograph of herself looking directly at the camera.
Ali Bastian has opened up about the 'year of grief' she has endured (Instagram/ @alibastianinsta)In an emotionally tinged statement, she wrote: “This year has been a year of sailing the lonely sea of grief. I haven’t spoken about it and so it’s been very tricky to know how to begin to show up authentically here and in my professional life… as the life I have carved out for myself is a very visible one and at times, a lot of times… I have wanted and needed to pull the duvet over my head.
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“I am so grateful for the kindness, support and connection in this little corner of the internet and will continue to be here when I feel able and to also take the quiet time I need.”
Explaining the reasoning for her decision to confront her grief as the year neared an end, Ali explained she was inspired by Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness - who also opened up about dealing with grief earlier this month. Ali said: “I was really inspired by a post by @jvn and they way in which they were able to show up in the honesty and rawness of grief whilst honouring their own privacy and need to quietly process. My hope is to do the same here. I love being an actor, I love sharing fun and honest content on here and so appreciate all of your support.”
Her message was met with a wall of support from fans, friends and followers - with former Made In Chelsea star Ashley James responding to the message to write: “Love you darling.” And another fan wrote: “So sorry to hear of your pain. But very brave of you for share.”
Ali previously addressed the death of her friend - sharing a lengthy post alongside images of herself alongside her late friend. She wrote at the time: “My little one will be 12 weeks this Saturday. The End of the fourth trimester - the end of a period that has been one of the toughest of my life. A week after she was born, I lost one of my oldest and closest friends. Trying to process this enormous loss whilst walking the hormonal tightrope of my postpartum period has been and remains to be incredibly intense. I’ve taken to having long showers so I can cry and let it all out so that I can then return to parenting a little lighter."
Ali explained that she had been seeking counselling and was learning to balance grief and parenting. The star - who is married to actor David O'Mahony and shares another daughter with him - added: "Some days are easier than others and I am holding my babies tightly but ultimately… I miss my friend with all my heart. My beautiful, funny, dry as f**k friend.
"I miss her laugh, I miss our short hand. I miss our hugs when we hadn’t seen each other for ages. Our always long overdue catch ups over wine by the river. Friday nights when I would drive from wherever I had been filming to crash out on her and her dear husband’s sofa after a take away. So many memories, so many happy times. An incredible light went out that day. Lou, I will love you forever."
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