New mum Sheridan: My wild nights are over – and I’ve never been happier

WHILE most of us want to forget 2020, Sheridan Smith says today it was the year that she finally found contentment after the birth of her son.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, the actress tells how the arrival of Billy in May has ended years of self-doubt. ‘Things used to seem so complicated and now everything is so simple,’ she says.

‘I’ve been looking for this all my life. I’ve looked in the wrong places – in nightclubs, going out drinking, pushing myself with work. Now in this little baby I’ve found… that I’m at peace with everything.’ The 39- year- old’s stellar career was often overshadowed by the sensational headlines that surrounded her lifestyle. She hit rock bottom in 2016 when her father Colin was diagnosed with cancer and she nursed him in his final weeks. Despite the reassurance of friends and family, she remained ‘petrified’ of motherhood until ‘it just happened’.

She and Billy’s insurance broker father Jamie Horn are in the process of setting up home in rural Hertfordshire. ‘My priorities have all shifted. I don’t want to go to nightclubs or partying or drinking,’ says the actress, whose credits include Cilla and Pooch Perfect, a forthcoming BBC show in which professional dog-groomers compete to be crowned top canine stylist.

‘I’m in bed by 9pm and, of all the things I’ve ever done, I feel I’ve really achieved something. Whatever I did before, I never felt proud of myself. Now, becoming a mum, I feel incredibly proud.’