WOMAN WHO INSPIRED SHERIDAN’S

THE gambling addict who Sheridan Smith based her performance on in Cleaning Up has told how she became suicidal with debts of £70,000.

Kelly Field helped writers and producers develop Sheridan’s character in the ITV drama, which started on Wednesday night.

Viewers saw cleaner Sam, played by Sheridan, 37, bet at online casinos while struggling with a messy break-up, looking after two kids and her zerohours contract job.

Her story echoes that of mum-ofone Kelly, who had a flutter to escape her own stress, after a grievance at her former job in a residential care home led to a period of sickness.

Five years into recovery, Kelly, 36, is delighted Sheridan is helping highlight the issue of female gambling addiction. And she has hit out at the glossy celebrity-endorsed ads used to attract women.

She said: “I almost lost my life to my gambling addiction. At its height, it left me feeling suicidal. I wanted to drive my car into a tree and end it all. It was the only way out I could see.

“I was so addicted to playing online fruit machines and bingo I wouldn’t eat, I wouldn’t drink. I would even take my laptop to the toilet with me so I could keep on spinning.

Shame

“I hit rock bottom after blowing a £1,600 overdraft in under an hour. I was already thousands of pounds in debt and the frustration, anger, upset and shame overwhelmed me.

“I snapped up the bank card and started scratching away at my wrists with it. The emotions all came to the surface and I just crumbled.

“I was self-harming with the card I’d just used to get myself further into debt. I was at rock bottom of a very steep spiral and I wanted out.

“Luckily I was able to find the help I needed, but many don’t.

“Gambling kills. I know of people who have taken their own life when they couldn’t see any other way out.”

With debt collectors at her door, Sheridan’s character turns to illegal insider trading to try to win back the money she’s lost to gambling.

Kelly said: “I funded my addiction by taking out credit card after credit card and maxing them all out. I got overdrafts and spent all our savings.

“But people do turn to criminality. I see it all the time.

“You’re so stuck in the debt and so filled with shame, you feel you can’t speak to anyone or tell anyone.

“You can see why lots of people decide suicide is the best option.

“When you’re in that state of absolute turmoil you just can’t see how you’ll ever get help and break the vicious cycle.”

Kelly, a waitress from St Helens, Merseyside, first logged on to an online casino when she was off work with stress in 2010.

She saw an advert for online bingo while watching TV and, after a friend told her about a different online casino, decided to give it a go.

She said: “It was fun at first, and a great escape from the reality of what was going on around me.

“It wasn’t about money or winning.