I left Big Brother to find out I was broke... then I discovered my husband was having an affair

Cheryl says: "I wanted to pulverise him, really I did. I wanted to grab him by the collar and scream in his face.

- BY CHERYL FERGISON

"I wanted him to feel the crushing panic I'd felt, the betrayal and the grief." She is recounting how, in 2012, she emerged from the Celebrity Big Brother house to news that her accountant had conned her.

"For five years, I paid him. For five years he pocketed the money and didn't pay a single penny to HMRC.

"Everything I had built, saved and worked for was gone.

"I don't use the word hate very often. It's a heavy word, one you can't always take back, but in this case, I meant it. I hated him. Not just for what he did but for how he made me feel about myself.

"For the mess he left behind. For every sleepless night, every tear, every humiliating phone call to the tax office, to banks, to friends trying to figure out how the hell I was going to keep my head above water.

"Going broke when you're famous is the worst, because everyone expects you to have lots of money.

"People assume that you're minted.