She feels guilty she is letting people down by not working

technical reasons. But last weekend at the Baftas, host Graham Norton joked: “We are all excited for a couple of drinks tonight. Or, as it’s known in theatrical circles, a couple of glasses of technical difficulties.”

Sheridan’s humilation was complete when cameras zoomed in on her disappointed face as she lost out on two awardsds for her role as dying cancer patient Lisa Lynch in The C Word.

She found filming particuularly gruelling after her ownn experiences with the disease and was desperate to win in tribute to Lisa, whose family she has grown close to.

Before the ceremony the e actress tweeted: “Whatever er happens tonight Lisa Lynch,ch, you f***ing did it! 2 Bafta noms, so proud! However long that fight was to get it made, you never gave up!”

But within days she angrily hit back at Twitter trolls who criticised her decision to pull out of the following evening’s performance of Funny Girl after partying into the early hours. She simply replied: “Sorry I’m not strong enough.” London theatre bosses have confirmed she will be absent from Funny Girl for the next two to four weeks. A source said: “She’s so heartbroken about her dad and angered by negative comments. “She’s even worried she’s letting Lisa Lynch’s family down in some bizarre way, because the whole focus of The C Word at the Baftas was on her looking upsetupse at the results. “She wanted them to see how happyh she is that Lisa’s memory has been celebrated.” Before this very public meltdown, Sonia Friedman, the producer of Funny Girl, said:s “Sheridan is beautifully vulnerable.vu “It is her vulnerability that makesma her special, that people connect to and keeps her striving for perfection. “But she also has the inner steel to get on stage every night and sock it to them.” Now that inner steel has begun to look increasingly brittle.