Former EastEnders star John Partridge feared he'd never speak or sing again after having cysts removed from his vocal cords.
The actor, who played Christian Clarke on the BBC One soap for eight years, went under the knife to have growths removed and was left unable to talk for nine months as he battled "debilitating" pain during his recovery - but after two surgeries he's now finally on the mend.
During an appearance on Sunday Brunch, John, 52, explained: "I’ve not done a stage show or a stage tour since 2019.
“I had two surgeries on my vocal cords through the pandemic and it wasn’t guaranteed that I’d ever be able to sing or speak really again ... I just got my all-clear last week from Guy’s Hospital that I’m fully fit, fighting fit and ready to go.
“But for me singing is like my seventh sense - I wasn’t able to speak at all for nine months and for me, it was like losing my sight or losing my hearing. I sing when I feel good, when I feel down, I sing without even knowing when you’re driving along in the car. It was a really debilitating thing."
He added: "My first surgery I had a cyst on my left vocal cord and that went really, really well but I healed really badly because it had been historic.
“My body didn’t realise that it didn’t have a cyst anymore. So when they took it away and packed it, my body went: ‘Ooh, what is that?!’ and pushed it out, so I scarred really badly.
“I had the first surgery during the first lockdown and then we got into the second lockdown and I couldn’t get back in.
"So when I got back in and they saw it, I had what they call a glottoplasty.
“This is what happens when you go from male to female transition, it’s kind of the female vocal feminisation process where they slightly shave away your vocal cord to raise the pitch of your voice.
“So my left chord they slightly shaved that away so I got myself a couple more notes at the top. So I now have the voice I should have had [when I was younger]."
John is now back on stage with a role in hit show ' Everybody’s Talking About Jamie'.
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