Cheryl Fergison, who played Heather on the BBC One soap from 2007 to 2012, surprised fans at Brighton Pride over the weekend as she revealed her secret talent for performing

EastEnders’ Cheryl Fergison shocked fans with her incredible voice as she belted out songs from The Greatest Showman at a gig.

In a video shared on Instagram Stories by The Shade Borough, Cheryl, 58, can be seen performing a megamix of songs from The Greatest Showman at a Pride event in Brighton. Wearing a multicoloured flowing robe, the former EastEnders star looked at ease as she belted out a series of songs while being cheered on by the crowd.

“Actress Cheryl Fergison AKA THEE Heather Trott from EastEnders was seen flexing her vocals on stage at an event,” The Shade Borough wrote atop the clip on Instagram. “The last thing I thought I would see when I woke up this morning was Heather from EastEnders doing a Greatest Showman megamix. But she ate.”

Cheryl, who played Heather on the BBC One soap from 2007 to 2012, explained why she was performing at Pride in an emotional post on social media, as she implored her followers to “make the world a better place”. Alongside a video in which she revealed she “couldn’t wait” to get on stage, the actress wrote: “Brighton and Hove is where it’s all at folks, we are here to celebrate Pride … to be with LGBTQ+ families , communities groups and friends … proving to the world that we can all live together and contribute to making this world a better place.

“What is important to the body , heart , soul and mind is to live your life the way you know is right for you. Acceptance, patience & tolerance is what we all strive for and of course education is the key. Never stop teaching and never stop learning,” Cheryl added.

Her appearance comes after she revealed she had been diagnosed with womb cancer back in 2015. She told The Mirror the cancer was discovered following a routine smear test, as the actress said she suffered from abnormal symptoms. “I’d gone for a regular smear test – which had been clear – but I’d started having a lot of backache and then I began spotting blood, which wasn’t normal for me,” she explained,

“I had been fitted with a coil to help with very heavy periods but somehow I just knew something didn’t feel right,” Cheryl added. After further tests and a biopsy, she was diagnosed with womb cancer four months later. “I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn’t believe the doctor was talking about me,” she candidly shared.

Cheryl underwent a full hysterectomy, and confessed she was devastated as it meant she couldn’t have children with her husband Yassine. “I’d not long married Yassine and suddenly any thought of having a child together had been taken away. We may not have gone down that route, of course, but we’d lost the ability to choose,” the star explained. “It brought on early menopause too; in terms of how I saw myself as a woman, it felt as if it had all come to an end. It was a horrendous time.”