Benidorm actress Crissy Rock has opened up about the darkest moments of her battles with a rare form of cancer, revealing that at her lowest point, death would have been a relief.
The 67-year-old, best known for playing Solana hotelier Janey Yorke in the beloved sitcom, had already survived vulvar cancer in 2000, only for it to return just over a decade later. She has now bravely recounted her health struggles over the years.
'Please God, just take me now'
Crissy explained: "There was a time when I was really ill in the beginning, and I'm not trying to scare other people, but I was in that much pain that if I'd have died, it would have been a relief."
"I couldn't do anything. I couldn't move, I couldn't turn. I couldn't pass. I was just lying there thinking, 'Please God, just take me now.'"
After undergoing surgery following her second diagnosis, Crissy, who is mum to grown-up daughters Tracy and Hayley, was given the all-clear but is aware that cancer can often feel like an immediate death sentence.
'I feel blessed'
She added: "Every time you read about cancer, you think, 'That's it. I'm gone. I'm gone. That's how I'm going to go.' But then, you feel for the people you're going to leave behind."
"You know, your partner, your children, how are they going to cope, and especially these poor, young women who have babies and young men who have everything to live for, and you're thinking, you know, how do they cope with that?"
"Every person that you see, you talk of the ones that they're leaving behind. They know their fate, but they don't know what's going to happen for the people that left behind. That was my sadness, and that's the same for people who have got cancer now, I think."
"I was very, very lucky because I've been in remission a long, long, long, long time, you know. So, I feel blessed."
New play and film 'Tits Up'
Life is looking brighter for Crissy these days. In early 2025, she split from Julian Buck after six years of marriage but is now loved-up with her new partner, Derek, who is always taken aback when young fans approach her, desperate to talk about Benidorm.
She said: "Even after all these years, my partner, Derek, he goes, 'I can't believe all these young people come up to you, you know, and know you from Benidorm.' And Benidorm was over way before half of them were even born."
"They go 'Oh, excuse me, are you Janey?' And they come up and ask if they can talk to me. I don't mind at all! Really, I'm just an ordinary person who got a lucky break!"
Asked about her new relationship, Crissy said: "We've been together about 18 months now, doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself? That just goes to prove it!"
She is currently preparing to star in a nationwide tour of the new play Tits Up. With a script penned by North East writers Leah Bell and Alison Stanley, the play follows a group of women from very different backgrounds whose lives collide following a shared set of circumstances surrounding breast cancer.
Despite the heavy subject matter, there is also some comedy, with Crissy describing her character as "loud, brash, but a bundle of fun."
The play will kick off in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and visit theatres up and down the country, but it has also been adapted into an independent film due out in spring 2027. Acclaimed actor Stephen Tompkinson, EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison and comedy legend Tommy Cannon are attached. The project has also attracted investment from Steps icon Faye Tozer and Geordie Shore's Charlotte Crosby.
Crissy said: "It's been like a big family put together, and we've had such good fun, and we've also had cries. I'm really pleased for Leah and Alison. I'm pleased that I'm part of it. It would be amazing and fantastic if Netflix picked this up!"
