Former ‘7de Laan’ actress Melanie du Bois is leaving acting. Image via @Melaniedubois_/Instagram
Melanie du Bois bids acting career goodbye due to chronic illness
Former ‘7de Laan’ and ‘Arendsvlei’ actress, Melanie du Bois is leaving her onscreen love to focus on her other passions.
Former ‘7de Laan’ actress Melanie du Bois is leaving acting. Image via @Melaniedubois_/Instagram
For many years, Melanie du Bois was known as Felicity Daniels on the SABC 2 soapie 7de Laan, until she bid the show farewell in 2016 and bagged a role as a high school teacher on kykNET’s Arendsvlei.
The 38-year-old actress, who spoke candidly about her mental health struggles in October 2021, is bidding farewell to her onscreen love.
ALSO READ: ‘I can’t go on’: Actress Melanie du Bois on mental health struggle [watch]
MELANIE DU BLOIS BIDS ACTING CAREER FAREWELL
According to an interview with Huisgenoot, Du Bois is leaving acting to focus on her mental health.
The actress, who has already wrapped up her last scenes with Arendsvlei, said she will also focus on uplifting others by doing community work and working behind the scenes to tell their stories.
“Being an actor gave me this platform to tell my story, to be an ambassador for mental health and to give a voice to the invisible,” Du Bois said.
LIVING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS
During a kykNET campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month last year, Du Bois spoke candidly about living with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety and dealing with social media trolls.
“I am already so hard on myself so when I go on social media and people say I have ugly hair, or my teeth are crooked, it breaks me…because I beat up myself already.
“I don’t feel worthy and to hear it from everybody else what I’m thinking in my head…I suffer from a mental illness, and in my head I tell myself I’m ‘not good enough. I can’t go on living.’ It’s a battle for me to wake up every day,” she had said, also urging fans to be kind.
ALSO READ: ‘Bridgerton’ star Ruby Barker hospitalised: ‘I have been struggling’ [watch]
LIFE HAS NOT BEEN EASY FOR THE ACTRESS
The former Sterk Skemer actress has had a rough couple of years.
Du Bois lost her sister and her nephew to suicide within a matter of three months in 2015, The Citizen reported.
In 2016, just after leaving 7de Laan, she went through a divorce. This was during the same time she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and anxiety.
To help her cope, Du Bois takes chronic medication and sees a psychiatrist regularly.
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