Nikki Sanderson has recorded a message for a troll who branded her a ‘w***e’ – telling the coward: ‘Go f**K yourself – and have a nice day.’
The Hollyoaks star, 37, shared vile comments from a keyboard warrior who sent her messages on Instagram and also called her a ‘s**g’.
She turned the tables on the hate by telling worried fans: ‘I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who reached out to me to see if I was okay. I appreciated that very much. If I was down, those messages would have hurt me and upset me…
Lashing out: Nikki Sanderson has recorded a message for a troll who branded her a ‘w***e’ – telling the coward: ‘Go f**K yourself – and have a nice day’
‘I mean, it’s disgusting to call someone those names but I’m in a good place and I’m happy and positive and strong so when I saw them, instead of feeling hurt, I kind of felt like: go f**k yourself and have a nice day.’
She also told the troll in a written message on her profile: ‘You don’t know what people are going through behind closed doors. Messages like that can tip the balance. Be kind. Always.’
The telly star has made no secret of her battles with depression Nikki urged fans to seek help for mental health problems in January– after revealing her demons.
The star posted an emotional message on New Year’s Eve admitting that she was struggling to stay positive.
Cruel: The Hollyoaks star, 37, shared vile comments from a keyboard warrior who sent her messages on Instagram and also called her a ‘slag’
Lashing out: She turned the tables on the hate by telling worried fans: ‘I wanted to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who reached out to me to see if I was okay. I appreciated that very much. If I was down, those messages would have hurt me and upset me’
And the note prompted an outpouring of messages from concerned friends, family and fans. She told followers on Instagram: ‘Hi guys, this is a follow to a story I did on New Year’s Eve saying I’d been a bit upset and overwhelmed.
‘I got a lot of people contacting me saying they’d been feeling the exact same but didn’t feel like they could speak up or speak out and that they’d appreciated that someone in the public eye had been open and honest about the fact they’d not been feeling their best.
‘Obviously with lockdown and everything that is going on, people’s mental health is at an all-time low, so I just wanted to say, if you are feeling like that, please do speak up and speak out.
Starring role: The soap star currently plays Maxine Minniver in Channel 4 show Hollyoaks
‘Whether it be to family or friends or alternatively on my next story I’m going to put a list of numbers so if you do feel like you need to speak to someone please call one of them and, yes, sending love.’
Nikki’s helpline numbers included those of Samaritans, Child-line and Mind.
Before the New Year’s Eve post, she had posted glam shots of her at her home in Lancashire sipping fizz.
Nikki – who split with her long-term boyfriend Gregg during the first lockdown – revealed the darker side of life off-camera and her ‘very bad’ battle with depression.
The Blackpool-born actress joined ITV soap Corrie as Sarah Platt’s best mate Candice Stowe aged just 15, and left the cobbles aged 21.
Check: ‘Obviously with lockdown and everything that is going on, people’s mental health is at an all-time low, so I just wanted to say, if you are feeling like that, please do speak up and speak out’
She confessed it was around about then when depression struck, plunging her into a particularly troubled time.
Bravely opening up on her mental health battle, she said: ‘If I go from a busy lifestyle to nothingness it’s very hard.
‘It’s bad for my mental health, feeling empty, so I try to keep my mind motivated. I suffered depression in my 20s and it was a very, very, bad time. I’m lucky my mind is healthy now.
Tough times: Nikki split with her long-term boyfriend Gregg during the first lockdown
‘But I have to stay busy to avoid the feeling of a lull. I’m fortunate I always have someone at the end of the phone.’
The soap star, who currently plays Maxine Minniver in Channel 4 show Hollyoaks, gushed over the support she has received from bosses and added: ‘At Hollyoaks they email us all the time, reminding us they’re there and checking in on us.
‘That’s hugely helpful.’
The star first made her battle with mental health issues public in 2018, with a message posted to her Instagram page.
She accompanied it with the candid caption: ‘This is the first time I have openly and publicly admitted this, as like so many, I had been ashamed and embarrassed. I have suffered with depression in the past.’