Michelle Collins – EastEnders – Age 58

Michelle Collins knows a thing or two about soaps, having starred in two of the most popular ones in the United Kingdom. She spent a decade playing scheming Cindy Beale in EastEnders during the ‘90s and went on to star as Stella Price in the BBC One soap’s rival Coronation Street in the 2010s.

Her achievements are all the more admirable considering her past mental health struggles. She once admitted that she attempted to take her own life when the pressure of being an actress became too much to bear. Collins is back on her feet now, though. She last appeared in a rehearsed reading of The Winter’s Tale in 2020.