EASTENDERS star Jamie Borthwick has revealed his crippling phobia of vomiting which left him too frightened to leave home.
The actor opened up about the horrific fear and “anxiety” about emetophobia, which saw him feeling constantly “unsafe”.
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Speaking on the Lads, Dads and a Couple of Beers podcast, Jamie, 27, revealed he was “coping” with his phobia “as best as he could”.
“I’ve never really spoken about it, but I’ve got a real phobia about being sick, called emetophobia,” he detailed.
“I really suffer quite bad with that, and it affected me in so many ways. I didn’t want to go out, I didn’t want to shake people’s hands. It became a thing about germs and I got quite OCD about things like that.
“I didn’t want to be in busy environments where there were a lot of people. It just made me feel really anxious.”
The Jay Brown actor continued that his fear “developed into bouts of anxiety” which “stopped him from living his life”.
The star went on to “seek help” in order to manage the phobia, despite admitting he can never see himself “letting it go”.
“I will never ever be OK about being sick ever, but I just get to a point where I cope with it, and just deal with it the best way I can,” Jamie added.
“I can understand it now. I’ve got a bag of tools I can use to manage it and understand there are going to be times when I’m not going to be in the environment where I want to be all the time.
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“I suppose I learnt to manage it the best way I could at the time, and I am going back five or six years ago now.
“I was just really selfish and I wouldn’t put myself in a situation that would make me feel unsafe.”
Earlier this month, Jamie upset bosses at the BBC by picking up a six-month driving ban, leaving him struggling to make the 72-mile round trip between his home and work.
A source close to Jamie, who joined the soap in 2006 aged 12, said: “EastEnders bosses are furious. It’s not a good look.
“If soap bosses lay on a driver for him, then other stars will want the same.”
Talks between the actor and producers are continuing. But sources said Jamie would be “left to his own devices”.
He lives in East London and the BBC soap’s set is at Borehamwood, Herts.
Jamie was banned by JPs in Romford, East London, last week having hit the maximum 12 penalty points after landing two speeding fines.
