Danniella Westbrook has revealed she was left completely broken by her high profile split from Brian Harvey. 

The former EastEnders star, 49, dated Brian, 50 from 1991-1995 at the height of his band East-17’s fame. 

But in the first episode of BBC documentary Boybands Forever, Danniella discussed the tole her former partner’s fame had on their relationship. 

In the three-part series, the actress revealed that Brian’s manager at the time, Tom Watkins, had urged her to split from the lead singer or it ‘wouldn’t end well’ for her because he ‘always wins’. 

But the star explained that they were in love and were trying to make it work but following the intense media scrutiny, the they were forced to go their separate ways. 

Daniella then revealed that the breakdown of their relationship sent her over the edge and increased her drug use in an attempt to cope with feeling ‘broken’. 

Danniella Westbrook revealed she was left completely broken by her high profile split from Brian Harvey

The former EastEnders star, 49, dated Brian, 50 from 1991-1995 at the height of his band East-17’s fame

Daniella then revealed that the breakdown of their relationship sent her over the edge and increased her drug use in an attempt to cope with feeling ‘broken’ 

She said: ‘It went from being happy and being in love to everything being so stressful.

‘I think it was inevitable that we were going to split which subsequently sent me over the edge.

‘I made myself really ill. I took more and more drugs, I’d had enough. I was broken.’

The pair, who dated as teens in the early 1990s, had appeared to remain amicable in the years since, reuniting in 2015 to campaign against child abuse.

Brian became a heartthrob when he broke onto the scene with boyband East 17 – seen as the edgier alternative to Take That in the Nineties.

They brought out five studio albums, three compilation albums and eighteen singles- selling millions of records – before they split in 1997.

However, Brian was sacked from the band after making comments in a radio interview which appeared to condone the use of the drug ecstasy.

In the years since, Brian has spoken openly about his battle with depression.

She revealed on the BBC Documentary Boybands Forever: ‘I think it was inevitable that we were going to split which subsequently sent me over the edge.’

Brian became a heartthrob when he broke onto the scene with boyband East 17 – seen as the edgier alternative to Take That in the Nineties (pictured 1994)

Brian was sacked from the band after making comments in a radio interview which appeared to condone the use of the drug ecstasy 

Danniella has also struggled since finding fame in the early 90s and has been candid about her battle with drugs in the past, including spending £250,000 on cocaine over the years.

The star previously revealed she was doing ’11 bags’ of cocaine per day leading up to her stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.

Speaking on the Anything Goes with James English podcast, Daniella told how ‘no one’ knew of the extent of her addiction at the time.

She said: ‘I do feel for my kids. When I went on Big Brother my kids were thinking ‘oh my God how’s she going to be?’

‘Because I went on there doing 11 grams of gear [cocaine] a day. I ain’t going to lie, no one knows that.

‘I was doing 11 bags of gear a day then they walked me through that f**king door and I went …’

‘And my son and everyone went ‘oh God.”

Daniella’s addiction to cocaine was so severe that her septum – the cartilage between the nostrils – fell out.

Following the couple’s split, Danniella said: ‘I made myself really ill. I took more and more drugs, I’d had enough. I was broken.’

Danniella has also struggled since finding fame in the early 90s and has been candid about her battle with drugs in the past, including spending £250,000 on cocaine over the years (pictured in 1999)

A year after Celebrity Big Brother, the soap star relapsed on cocaine, telling Now magazine: ‘I’m an addict and the wheels fell off.

‘I was dabbing cocaine in my mouth and rubbing it around my gums to numb the pain.

Read More Danniella Westbrook brands ex Brian Harvey a ‘paranoid coke freak’ after he accuses her of being a ‘murderer’ in explosive social media row

‘People think I was hoovering cocaine up my nose again but I wasn’t. I was wiping it around my gums.’

And the star’s drug use has had a profound impact on her son, Kai, 27.

Back in 2018, Kai told how he forgives his mother for her substance struggles, specifically when she took cocaine while pregnant with him in 1996, in an interview with Daily Star.

Kai confessed he’s ‘anti-drugs’ after seeing the effects of addiction with his the former soap star.

Kai expressed his shock in discovering his mother was taking cocaine while pregnant, but insisted that he ‘likes to forgive’.

He said: ‘It’s shocking. It hasn’t affected me. It’s a miracle. I like to forgive, everyone deserves another chance.’

the star’s drug use has had a profound impact on her son, Kai, 27 (centre) who has spoken publicly about his anti-drugs stance 

But the star is now sober and has been working on cosmetic work in a bid to undo the damage from her cocaine use

She previously revealed she needed five operations to correct her ‘collapsing’ face due to a previous cocaine addiction and osteoporosis

Danniella’s only son expressed his opinion on drugs, stating: ‘I’m anti-drugs. I don’t touch them. I don’t take sleeping tablets or even paracetamol. I don’t drink alcohol. I don’t do stuff that isn’t natural.’

Revealing he was forced to ‘grow up a lot quicker’ than the average child, Kai shared his fears over losing the actress as he has ‘no-one else in the world.’

But the star is now sober and has been working on cosmetic work in a bid to undo the damage from her cocaine use.  

Despite the many procedures, the actress revealed earlier this year that she hates the result of her facial reconstructive surgery.

The actress had a string of procedures in Turkey last year in an attempt to save her collapsing face.

She underwent a thread lift, liposuction in her cheeks and lips, fat grafting on her chin and had her jawline etched after her septum originally collapsed from excessive drug use in 2002.

The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate has wanted to have the reconstruction done for the last seven years, but was unable to find a surgeon who would operate because her septum had completely collapsed.

She previously revealed she needed five operations to correct her ‘collapsing’ face due to a previous cocaine addiction and osteoporosis, and was planning to have it done on the NHS, however Danniella says she paid for the surgery all herself despite being offered freebies from clinics all over the world.