‘Bridgerton’ star Ruby Barker has spoken about her mental health struggles in a new video posted online, where the actress said that she was speaking from inside a hospital and wanted to reveal her truth to her fans.
Barker, who plays Lady Marina Thompson on the hit Netflix period drama, captioned the post: “Mental health week is every week for me. Off my chest. I feel like I’ve not been completely honest so this is for my followers. Time to be transparent. I’ve been struggling since Bridgerton, this is the truth. Thank you all for supporting me, your love holds me up. #mentalhealthawareness.”
In the video, Barker starts out by informing her fans that while she was doing better, “I have been really unwell for a really long time. I want to be honest with everyone. I have been struggling. I am in hospital at the minute and I am going to be discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life.”
The 25-year-old British star continued: “I am going to take a little bit of a break for myself and I would encourage others, if you are struggling, do yourself a favour and take a break, stop being so hard on yourself. I was raged-filled, angry, all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside me.
“I was carrying the weight of the world on my back and now I am at the point where I have a diagnosis, I am drawing a line in the sand. I can’t carry on the way that I was, I need to change so that is what I am trying to do. I want to survive and I will survive, I am going to.”
In the video, Barker thanked her supporters, which included her family, friends and the streaming giant for giving her the opportunity and “saving her.”
Barker had a much smaller role in season two of ‘Bridgerton’ and it remains unclear whether her role was truncated following her health issues. After being the object of the affection of Colin Bridgerton in season one, the second season, she is shown as married off to Lord Philip Crane.