EastEnders star asks ‘what’s wrong with me’ daily as he opens up on hidden health battle
Jamie Borthwick has been a staple of the BBC soap since he first joined the show in 2006, but now has admitted he struggled coping with a series of family cancer diagnoses
An EastEnders icon has admitted that he suffers heavily from medical anxiety on a daily basis.
Jamie Borthwick, who plays Jay Brown on the BBC soap, recently revealed that he was a self-described “hypochondriac”, and does not cope well with health problems. He added that he goes through stages of paranoia, asking himself if he is healthy today.
Speaking to the Mirror, Borthwick admitted: “I have terrible health anxiety, I’m a massive hypochondriac. Every day, I wake up and go, ‘what’s wrong with me today?’”
His issues with becoming ill began as a teenage as he developed emetophobia – or a fear of throwing up. Since then, the ordeals have become more widespread and intense, requiring Borthwick to go into therapy for the phobia and develop coping mechanisms to deal with his fears.
Jamie, who joined the soap back in 2006, is best known for his heart-breaking storyline with former co-star Danielle Harold, who played Lola on the soap. After battling cancer for months on end, Lola eventually passed away in scenes that viewers and actors sobbing alike.
However, away from the storylines, Jamie himself was hit with personal tragedies after both his dad and his uncle were hit with prostate cancer diagnoses. This terribly affected his confidence, as he opened up on his health anxieties.
He admitted that he broke down in tears when he learned that his dad Simon, 57, and uncle Charlie had developed the disease. It added to his woes after one of his cousins was going through treatment when the news broke.
“I was in fits crying, I was in floods,” Jamie recalled. “When mum explained it had been caught early and was going to be OK, I was like, ‘OK…’.”
Thankfully for Simon, doctors were able to find the cancer and remove it by means of surgery. After some time to rest and regain his strength, medics gave the actor’s dad the all clear, with his uncle also having recovered from the cancer.
As a way of paying tribute to those who helped the star’s family, Jamie is gathering pace as he takes on the London Marathon this Sunday (April 21), raising money for Prostate Cancer UK. He is also set to be running in his EastEnders character alongside BBC co-star Emma Barton, who plays Honey Mitchell.
Prostate cancer is one of the biggest killers of men in the UK, with one in eight men set to be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. The condition is more prevalent in black men, as well as those who have a history of the disease within their family.
