BBC Holby City star announces sudden retirement after 'really tough' three years

A Holby City star has quit acting (Image: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

Holby City star Rosie Marcel has revealed that she has officially retired from acting after a long and successful career.

The 47-year-old, best known for her role as Jac Naylor on the BBC medical drama, continued in the role until the series finale in 2022 when Jac’s character tragically passed away from a brain tumour.

Now, Rosie has opened up about her decision to step away from acting altogether.

In a candid statement, the actress shared her thoughts on retirement. She took to Instagram to write: “Well I guess it’s out there now. No longer a secret that I’ve retired. Go to metro online and read the lovely Calli Kitsons article.

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t say ‘whatever’ that much…and I’m surely more erudite than that?? Or maybe retirement and the dreaded menopause has well and truly kicked in!!

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Rosie Marcel has opened up about the reality of finding another job in the competitive industry (Image: BBC)

“Either way. I’m happy. Truly happy. It’s been a pleasure and a journey. I’ve given my bit. I’m happy with what I put out in the world. Delighted with some lovely successes. Made some great friends. Lost some dear ones. Lost my mind several times but always got it back. Learnt some great lessons. Gave and got back a lot of kindness. Laughed more than I should have on set. Didn’t laugh enough. What a bloody good bit of life I had. Ready for the next bit. Happy to just be me now.”

According to the Metro, Marcel revealed that despite attempting to take on new roles, no one has offered her another acting job.

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She told the publication: “I won’t lie, it’s been a really tough three and a half years. I haven’t had a single job and that’s been really, really difficult. A lot of that is, I would imagine, people can’t see beyond Jac. I think a lot of it is because of my age, I think it’s my gender.”

“I decided to retire. So I actually retired in May. In all honesty so much changed in our lives in that time – my husband’s gym burned down, obviously I lost my job, Ben nearly died, I lost a couple of babies, I got caught in a terrible accident on the A41, another accident with a guy who’d been stabbed by his son. Just this crazy three years of stuff happened.

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Adding: “And not getting any work as well, and getting to the last two for certain things, which was lovely and everything, but the reality of going up for a Netflix job and knowing I was up against 6,000 other people really forced my hand in some ways.

Fans of Rosie flooded the comments section to support the star on her decision. One person said: “The most important thing is you're happy, Rosie. It's definitely the acting worlds loss, but if you are happy, that's the main thing.”

A second person wrote: “love you so so so so much.” A third person said: “I’m sad, but also happy for you. Enjoy whatever life brings.”