Scarlett Moffatt has paid tribute to the National Health Service, which helped her family immensely when her dad battled skin cancer.
Scarlett, 28, was just six when Mark was diagnosed, and he pulled through thanks to treatment including surgery.
Speaking on Instagram Stories, Scarlett recalled the difficult time as she prepared to attend the NHS Hero Awards.
“The NHS means so much to me. I have friends and family who work for the NHS, I have been treated by the NHS and I have been lucky to meet nurses who made a very difficult time for me and my family when my dad had cancer easier by helping us smile at times we didn’t think we could,” she said.
“So I’m just really grateful we get to celebrate these amazing people because they work unsociable hours, they don’t get paid enough and they don’t get the appreciation they truly deserve a lot of the time.”
Scarlett was glammed up ready to go to the event at London’s Hilton on Park Lane on Monday night when she posted the clip.
Read more: Piers Morgan clashes with Meghan Markle’s half-sister in explosive interview
She said she felt “lucky” to be invited to the ceremony, where Prince William gave a special tribute to NHS staff.
The awards – which will be broadcast on ITV later this month – were hosted by Paul O’Grady with an array of celebrities presenting prizes.
Scarlett revealed on her Insta Stories that she was joined on her table by Love Island stars Kem Cetinay and Chris Hughes.
Her attendance came after she went to the TV Bafta Awards on Sunday, where Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway had been nominated for Best Entertainment Programme (but lost out to Britain’s Got Talent).
The NHS Hero Awards were held to mark 70 years of the NHS.
Award winners included a surgeon who saved the first stabbing victim of the London Bridge terror attack, a 70-year-old midwife who has been delivering babies for 50 years, and a pair of doctors who pioneered a non-beating heart transplant.
Scarlett wrote on Twitter how glad she was to be able to attend to celebrate these heroes.
She wrote: “The NHS Hero Awards last night were truly unbelievable. I’ve met the most amazing people and feel very lucky to live in a country where we have absolute superheroes that make the nhs what it is #proud.”
Scarlett has previously spoken of how her father, who she appeared on Gogglebox with along with her mum Betty and younger sister, survived cancer thanks to the NHS.
She once told the Sunderland Echo: “We’re very lucky in our family because my dad had skin cancer, but got through it. He had to have radiotherapy and a skin graft.
“They cut part of the skin on his leg to stitch on to his back. He had 72 stitches, but the scar is sort of a medal for him. We were really lucky and the people at the hospital were amazing.”
The NHS Heroes Awards will be on ITV at 8.30pm on Monday, 21 May.
Don’t miss out: Three steps to ensure you see all ED!’s latest news on Facebook