‘Derry Girls’ star Siobhán McSweeney opens up about her three years of hell

‘Derry Girls’ star Siobhán McSweeney has opened up about her hellish past three years.

The BAFTA-winning actress, 44, who played Sister Michael in the Channel 4 comedy, has told how she recently endured a run of horrors including a family bereavement, house fire, mystery disease and an accident leading to chronic pain.

She told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: “My father died during the second series of ‘Derry Girls’.

“Then my house burned down and then I had the accident (which left her with a broken leg.)”

Siobhán added about how it took her a long time to ask for help: “I forgot how to be vulnerable. Every day I just thought, ‘I haven’t died, brilliant, keep going’, but eventually enough bad things happened that I asked for help.

“All the horrible stuff that happened has taught me I have a great support network: the best friends and family in the world.

“I discovered I was able to not fall to pieces. Meditation helped me keep going. It’s not easy, like anything in life. You can be doing intermittent fasting on Monday and be face-down in a pizza by Tuesday. But I have stuck with meditation and it has helped immensely.

“I believe life is for living. So what if you’re tired or your leg hurts? Just get up and dance and have as many experiences as you can.”

After Siobhán also contracted a mystery illness that meant she had to shield during Covid, it was only as lockdown lifted that things began to improve.

She was offered a role presenting ‘The Great British Pottery Throw Down’, and she said of the opportunity: “It came about after I appeared on a ‘Derry Girls’ special of ‘Stand Up 2 Cancer Does Bake Off’.

“I found ‘Bake Off’ so stressful, genuinely. Everything was a disaster so I decided to chuck all my plans out the window and just have fun. From what I gather, Love Productions (which makes both shows) decided that an Irish woman having a breakdown would be perfect for the ‘Great British Pottery Throw Down’.

“When they asked, I was just finishing shielding and I was like, ‘Oh my God, yes please’. It’s not something I ever dreamed of. The presenting world is completely alien to me, but I’m incredibly grateful and it brings me great joy.”