Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines May 24
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"Bridgerton" actress Ruby Barker is coming clean with her fans about a "mental health struggle" she experienced amid the series’ huge success.
"It’s time to be transparent," Barker, 25, said in a video shared to her Instagram account Thursday. "I have been really unwell for a really long time. I want to be honest with everyone. I have been struggling."
The actress, who debuted on "Bridgerton" as Marina Thompson when it began streaming on Netflix in 2020, told fans in the nearly six-minute video address she has been "struggling since ‘Bridgerton,’" adding, "I am in a hospital at the minute, and I am going to be discharged soon and hopefully get to continue with my life.
"I am going to take a little bit of a break for myself, and I would encourage others, if you are struggling, please do yourself a favor and take a break. Stop being so hard on yourself."
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Ruby Barker attends the press night performance of "Running With Lions" at The Lyric Hammersmith Feb. 15, 2022, in London. (David M. Benett)
Barker revealed she "has not hit rock bottom" and is "on new heights" but stressed that society "really needs to change the dialogue and think about our linguistics when we’re talking about mental health because people want to have these conversations, but we don’t really know to have a conversation.
"I get that," Barker said. "Because I was one of these people. Just rage-filled, frustrated and angry. Barker explained she sought relief for "all this intergenerational trauma bundled up inside" of her and felt she "was carrying the weight of the world on [her] back."
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"Now I’m at a point where I have a diagnosis, and I will talk about that at another time," Barker assured her fans. "I am relinquishing myself, I’m forgiving myself and drawing a line in the sand.
"I can’t carry on the way that I’ve been carrying on. I need to change, so that’s what I am trying to do. I want to survive, and I will survive. I am going to."
"Bridgerton" star Ruby Barker told her fans on social media she is in the hospital receiving help after a "mental health struggle." (Tristan Fewings)
Barker, who has 232,000 Instagram followers, received an outpouring of support from many and thanked "Bridgerton" Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes "for giving me an opportunity, for saving me."
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Barker also explained that she recently had to pull out of stage production of "Running with Lions" after contracting coronavirus and dealing with the effects of her struggling mental health.
"I cannot wait to fulfill all of my engagements and to have a good career and a good life. Because I do not want my diagnosis to be a self-fulfilling prophecy," Barker added in her address. "I want to survive, and I will survive, and I'm going to. And so are you. That's the beauty of it, so are you. If you're with me, you're in good hands. Thank you."
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Reps for Barker did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
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