AS SHE PUBLISHES A MOVING MEMOIR OF GRIEF JILL HALFPENNY ON HOW ACCEPTING THE LOSS OF HER PARTNER AND HER DAD HELPED HER FIND JOY AGAIN

When Jill Halfpenny is facing a challenge or looking for answers, she often receives a reassuring sign that her late boyfriend isn’t far away. The actress and musical theatre star lost her partner Matt

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

Janes seven years ago after he suffered a heart attack at the gym, aged only 43, but she still feels his presence.

“Yesterday, I walked straight into a white feather,” Jill tells hello!. “It came across my eyes and I caught it. I live by the sea, so it’s very easy to dismiss these things. But there it was – the white feather.”

There are other signs, too, such as George Ezra’s song Budapest – a track Matt loved – playing on the radio just when Jill needs it.

“That song seems to follow me around,” she says. “Today, I was sitting in the dentist’s chair. I was so tense, and I just kept repeating the mantra: ‘I am safe, I am safe,’ and then Budapest came on.

“When things like this happen, it makes me feel connected, as if we’re all in constant conversation with our loved ones who have gone. For me, that energy and the feeling that the soul lives on and is always there to tap into, becomes part of you. That’s comforting for me.”

Jill, 48, who is known for her roles in EastEnders, Coronation Street and West End shows such as Chicago, as well as winning Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, has now penned