Bridgerton star Ruby Barker has opened up about the devastating loss of her father to cancer in January.
The 26-year-old actress, who played Marina Thompson in the hit Netflix period drama, has made no secret of the fact that she was hospitalised last year for mental health reasons. She then took some time out to focus on herself and go travelling.
Feeling re-energised and ready to return to the spotlight at the beginning of this year, her world came crashing down with the unexpected loss of her dad.
Speaking to the Standard, she said: “It’s hard to even put into words that feeling, that loss: it hit me really hard. I knew he was unwell but I didn’t know to what extent.
“The night before he passed away, I didn’t know, but I just had this feeling. I got a coach up to Glasgow at 3am and it was late because of traffic. By the time I got to the hospital, the nurse walked out of the room and pronounced that he had died like the minute I had got there, I literally just missed him.
“I didn’t know where else to go or what to do, so I got in an Uber and I went to the Kelvingrove Art Museum because he used to take me there as a kid and I just sat in the back of this car and was completely hyperventilating, I’ve never broken down like that and I remember my Uber driver asking if everything was ok and I explained that I had just lost my dad and he spoke to me for the whole journey.
“I don’t really remember much of what was said at that time, but I remember feeling great comfort at the way in which other people – strangers or friends, have been able to talk to me about their own experiences and offer support.”
Admitting that she never expected to lose a parent while still in her 20s, she speaks fondly of a “proud” dad, who she says “came to pretty much every show I’ve ever done”.
“I’ve found some kind of peace in the feeling and in the knowledge that I believe that he had taught, given me and loved me to the full extent of which he could and was supposed to in this life.
“Whilst I might not feel completely secure or ready, all I can really do is trust that I know everything that I need to know and that I learnt everything from my dad that I had to learn and that I’ll be okay moving forward.”
She is now determined to honour his legacy by becoming an ambassador for Cruse Bereavement Support.
“I wasn’t aware of Cruse as a charity until I lost my dad,” she explained. “They have helplines, information, and they have volunteers, people who genuinely care and want to help those who are suffering bereavement. They inparticulatly have a focus on young people suffering grief.
“[Grief] is a journey and it’s something that everybody is going to have to go through at some point in their life to various degrees and it’s a lifelong process.”
As part of her support for the charity-run service, Barker will also be running a special period of Cameo videos to raise money for Cruse from June 15-29 and are available from www.cameo.com/rubybarker.
Cameo is an online platform where people can hire celebrities to record personalised videos, so if any Bridgerton fans are after a video message for a birthday, anniversary or any other special ocassion, this is ideal.
Reflecting on what she does on a daily basis now to look after her well-being, she said: “I try and get outside as much as possible. I like walking my dog. I clean a lot more now – I’m adulting. I go to the gym, I mean, I’m no gym bunny, but I try and do two days in the gym just for an hour every week. I make myself nice coffees in the morning.”
Going forward, she hopes to return to acting describing comedy as her “safe space”.
She added: “I also write, I’m hoping to release some of my writing.”
