EastEnders star Shona McGarty has revealed she broke up with her fiancé more than a year before the split became public knowledge.
The 28-year-old soap actress- who has played Whitney Dean on the show since 2008, featuring in over 1,000 episodes - was engaged to electrician Ryan Harris in October 2018.
Last month, the TV babe shocked fans when she announced her engagement to Ryan was over- but has stunned fans again by now explaining she split from him more than a year ago.
Opening up to The Sun on Sunday’s Fabulous magazine, Shona explained all about the break up - saying the romance ended after she and Ryan realised they had drifted apart.
“I’ve actually been single for a year and a bit. I just didn’t want to say anything. We were together for six years,” she said.
“When it ended it wasn’t a bad break-up, it was amicable. We both came to the decision that, actually, this isn’t what we really want. It fizzled out and we weren’t the same people,” she added.
Shona said she is ready to talk about the break up now, after keeping it secret for more than a year, because she is finally feeling happy with herself again.
Indeed, the EastEnders babe says she is enjoying rediscovering herself and learning not to care “what people think about” her.
While the break up is more than a year old, Shona says she’s not ready to start dating again just yet - but if she were, she’d be looking for someone who she would feel comfortable spending time with.
“If I were looking, I would be looking for someone who is just like me – has a good sense of humour and can laugh at themselves. Being too vain is a no-no – taking themselves too seriously, somebody who spends longer than me in front of the mirror or who uses all my creams. No way,” she said.
She adds that she realises being in the public eye could attract the wrong kind of admirer.
“But I think when you’re in this industry, no matter what job you’re doing, if you’re on the telly, you can’t help but think: ‘Does that person like me or is it just because I’m on the telly?’” she said.
Fans of EastEnders have seen Shona’s character Whitney take the spotlight in recent episodes.
Her character had a dramatic showdown with stalker Leo King - with the market trader accidentally killing him in a struggle with a knife in a recent episode.
After handing herself in to the police, Whitney will soon be seen in jail on the soap.
