The BBC’s decision to axe Holby City left its fans heartbroken. Many had spent 23 years watching the highs and lows of the doctors and surgeons, only for the show to fall victim to the cost of living crisis.
But for Holby’s biggest star Rosie Marcel, being forced to say goodbye to her alter-ego Jac Naylor has ended up changing her life for the better. Why? Because it’s given the 46-year-old a chance to finally enjoy being a mum, a role she feels she never fully embraced while playing the ambitious surgeon.
Rosie, whose daughter Beau is now nine, admits: “I don’t think I became a mother until I left Holby City. I don’t think I really knew who I was, and I don’t think I really knew who my daughter was, until I was axed. My husband Ben [Stacey] did it all. I left the house first thing and was back really late. My character was incredibly popular so I was there all the time. It was very rare that I got time off.
“[So] I’m actually really grateful for it, because I probably would have stayed and I would have missed more.” It’s a brave thing to say for someone who was the face of Holby – and one of the BBC ’s highest-paid actresses – for 17 years, until its finale in March 2022. Rosie, who went back to filming when Beau was six months old, adds: “I’ve really enjoyed stepping into the role of mother and housewife.
Rosie played Jac Naylor in the medical soap (BBC/Kieron McCarron)
She helped to save her husband's life at Christmas (Brett Cove/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)“I really love my daughter and I love her company and I realise what I’ve missed out on. Motherhood is far more rewarding than acting, so it would have to be something incredibly worthy to take me away from this.” She now describes herself as a chef, cleaner, chauffeur and the million other jobs that all parents will recognise. But Rosie can add to that list nurse after Ben, 41, dramatically collapsed and almost died at Christmas of a pulmonary embolism.
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“It settled in the bottom of his lung and he got very sick,” she recalls. “We went to hospital and they gave him blood thinners and sent him home. In the night his lung collapsed. And we had to call an ambulance, because it was putting enormous strain on his heart. We’re lucky to have him. 70% of people die from what he had, so I’m very grateful that he’s still with us. I’m so glad that I wasn’t working, as it meant I was able to look after him. It was a good six weeks before he was able to go back to work.”
Ben, who owns a gym, has backed her decision not to rush into more acting roles. “He works very hard and keeps us all afloat,” she smiles. “He’s a wonderful man and he’s said to me, ‘You’ve done enough. If you don’t want to work again that’s absolutely fine’.” These days, Rosie’s time is split between being an unpaid ambassador for The Pack Project, a charity that rehomes abandoned dogs and cats from Romania to the UK, and running the Hertfordshire home she shares with Ben and Beau, plus three dogs, two cats, eight chickens, two guinea fowl and several ducks.
Rosie now describes herself as a chef, cleaner, chauffeur (Instagram)Having done photoshoots with Beau as a baby, she now keeps her out of the limelight. It’s a far cry from Rosie’s youth as a child star. The daughter of television director Terry Marcel, Rosie made her stage debut aged three as a fairy in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the National Theatre.
“Acting is something that I fell into at a very young age,” says Rosie. “It’s not something I could ever claim that I was completely in love with, it’s just something I was good at. I probably get more anxiety now when an audition comes in, than when it doesn’t. I don’t have this burning desire to find my next job. I should, because obviously it’s a great way to earn money and it’s a job I enjoy, but if I never did it again, I don’t think I’d miss it.”
It’s allowed her time for The Pack Project, which has re-homed 1,200 dogs. Rosie started working with them four years ago, and she left this week for Romania, alongside three former Holby City castmates – Guy Henry, Bob Barrett and Sarah-Jane Potts. Rosie, who is making a documentary about the trip, says: “Guy has five rescue lurchers, so he will find it difficult. Bob will probably cry and SJ will be able to help with the breathing exercises we’ll need at the end of the day!”
Reuniting with her former co-stars will also be poignant. For while she’s now found happiness post-Holby, Rosie’s still shocked by the BBC’s decision. She says: “I thought getting rid of it was a big mistake. It’s a show that could easily come back and continue.”
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