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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katherine Heslop

Martine McCutcheon breaks silence on brother's tragic death as she returns to work

Martine McCutcheon has returned to work after her younger brother Laurence John tragically died, aged just 31.

On Tuesday, the former EastEnders actress, 46, said her "heart is forever broken" after the sudden death of her sibling, known as LJ, describing him as a "gentle giant".

In a heartfelt post, the star paid tribute to her brother, who died two weeks ago, and said there was "no medical explanation" for his death, but they are investigating the cause.

Martine had not posted on her Instagram since Tuesday, but today she told her followers she did some filming for work.

The Love Actually star said in a video shared on her the social media platofrm: "It's my first time on Insta since I shared my post about losing my brother a couple of weeks ago.

Martine was left heartbroken by the loss of her brother LJ (Instagram)
She said her brother was proud of her for inspiring people (Twitter)

"Firstly, thank you so much for the outpouring of love, it means so much to my family, I can't tell you."

The Love Actually star, wearing a black and white polo jumper said: "Today was my first day going back to work, I didn't know if I could do it or not, I was nervous, a bit of filming and a meeting, since I've mentioned it, and I'm so glad I did it."

She went on: "I know my brother would want me to keep on keeping on and he was so proud of me and the fact that I liked to inspire people and make them feel good and give them a little bit of magic where I could, so I felt him with me, and I did it, first day back so yeah, yeah I did it."

Alongside the video, Martine wrote in the caption that she's getting "back to it bit by bit", and that LJ "would want me to carry on".

Martine shared that she had been nervous to return to work (martinemccutcheon/Instagram)
Martine looked thoughtful as the sun shone through her window (martinemccutcheon/Instagram)

She went on: "Grief is a strange old thing and there is no one way to navigate it but it felt good to do some work."

Martine, who has a son, Rafferty, seven, also shared a photo of herself with a slight smile, sitting on a sofa, as sunlight shone through her window.

The caption read: "Sunshine through my window. Going to have a little nap and then pick up my little ray of sunshine from afterschool club."

Earlier this week, Martine described LJ as "such a character" who made the family laugh and "loved nothing more than making a plan, having a great playlist, bringing people together and generally having a giggle".

She continued: "He hated the thought of a party ending and so was always on to the next thing."

Martine described her brother as 'such a character' (GETTY)

She told her followers that her brother had a "mild form of special needs" and was "very clever" with gadgets. The former soap actor added that LJ "adored his cars".

Martine added: "With unwavering love, support and a commitment to himself, he took hold of life with both hands and smashed through any expectation we had of him. He would genuinely blow us all away at times."

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