Even for an EastEnders storyline, this romance would seem a bit far-fetched.
Divorced actress Cheryl Fergison - who plays Heather Trott in the long-running BBC soap opera - has fallen for a Moroccan toyboy lover almost two decades her junior.
A friend of Miss Fergison’s said last night: ‘Cheryl is very, very happy.’
By coincidence, Miss Fergison’s EastEnders character has just had an affair with a teenage toyboy.
Far-fetched? Actress Cheryl Fergison is romancing Yassim al-Jemoni, a Moroccan shop assistant, after meeting him online By coincidence, Miss Fergison’s EastEnders character has just had an affair with a teenage toyboy.
Miss Fergison split from her husband Jamshed Saddiqi two years ago
Miss Fergison, 44, first came into contact with Yassim al-Jemoni earlier this year when she was introduced by ‘a friend of a friend’ on a social networking website.
They spent hours messaging each other before beginning to talk regularly via internet phone service Skype.
Mr al-Jemoni, 25, lives with his elderly parents in Agadir, a city in the south-west of Morocco. As their friendship grew, Miss Fergison went to visit Mr al-Jemoni, who is not a goatherd as has been claimed but works as a shop assistant in his family business.
Despite the 19-year age gap, the pair fell for each other and she visited him again at the end of last month.
A close friend revealed: ‘Cheryl and Yassim are very, very happy but it’s still early days and they are not engaged yet.’
Miss Fergison has been the subject of ‘good-natured banter’ from cast mates and crew members at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, where EastEnders is filmed. It is a remarkable turnaround for Miss Fergison.
The actress - who last year revealed that she was diabetic and clinically obese - was distraught when she split from her husband Jamshed Saddiqi two years ago.
