Cassidy, best known for her role as trumpet-playing drama-magnet Sonia Fowler <\/a>on the long-running BBC soap, shares Joanie with her fiance Marc Humphreys. She has an older daughter, 15-year-old Eliza, from a previous relationship.<\/p>\n The actor explained on her Life with Nat podcast that Joanie broke her arm in an accident at school, mere weeks after she\u2019d had surgery on the same arm following another injury.<\/p>\n Cassidy said she felt as if she was \u201chaving a nervous breakdown\u201d after being alerted to the accident. \u201cJoanie\u2019s broken her arm again,\u201d she said. \u201cSame arm \u2013 smashed to pieces. General anaesthetic, same operation.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cI\u2019d done a little bit of work in the morning at home. [Marc] went outside, put the paddling pool up, cut all the grass \u2013 thinking we\u2019re going to have a few days, like a mini holiday, at home. And then the phone rang. [Joanie] had slipped over in the hall before doing PE. I\u2019m speechless. It\u2019s so traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI felt I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I\u2019m being really honest here. I really fell to pieces. I was not in a good place. Just her little body \u2013 and the medication and the trauma of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy said that Joanie has been tested for \u201csome sort of deficiency\u201d which may be causing the ease with which she breaks bones, but that nothing has been found.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s had full blood tests, and everything is in range,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely perfect. The consultant actually said, \u2018I do think it\u2019s just really bad luck\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n In February, Cassidy voiced her support for the proposed ban on social media usage for under 16s<\/a>, which was officially announced by the government last month<\/a>. <\/p>\n Backing a campaign called Big Tech\u2019s Little Victims, she revealed that she was horrified by the results of an algorithm experiment to uncover what content platforms show children who sign up at the current minimum user age of 13.<\/p>\n In just a week, four fake profiles set up by the campaign were served hundreds of pieces of concerning content. \u201cI cannot tell you how shocking it is,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cThey are looking at sexualised content, racism, violence, misogyny, extreme dieting going towards anorexia, self-harming and even suicidal idealisation. It\u2019s incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassidy, who joined EastEnders at the age of 10, announced her departure from the soap in 2025, and has since ventured into podcasting with her show Life with Nat.<\/p>\n![\"Natalie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-10-08-52.png\")
Natalie Cassidy on her podcast ‘Life with Nat’ (Life with Nat\/Instagram)<\/p>\n![\"Natalie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-1402339286.jpg\")
Natalie Cassidy departed \u2018EastEnders\u2019 in 2025 (Getty)<\/p>\n