McCutcheon: 'Bandwagon critics upset me'

Martine McCutcheon has said that she was upset by critics who attacked her writing without reading her work.

The former EastEnders star told Metro that her career as a novelist sprung from a script synopsis she had written for a planned ITV show.

McCutcheon said: "Somehow the publishing world found out about it and asked me to write the first chapter. I didn't think it would become a book. I was really honoured.

"They didn't suggest a ghostwriter, as they had complete faith in me as a writer myself. These days if you're a celebrity, it's unusual for people to give you that respect."

Of negative reviews for her novel The Mistress, she continued: "I don't mind it when it's constructive or if people have bothered to read the book.

"The reviewers who upset me most were the ones who hadn't read it and had jumped on the bandwagon to be negative about me as an artist, rather than looking at my work as a writer."

She added: "I can't be bothered to feel anything other than annoyed when people haven't done their research because I just end up having to comment on the criticism in interviews later. I'm proud of the book.

"I haven't always been the critics' darling, and that's across the board with everything I've done. If I had listened every time someone told me I couldn't do something, I'd never have achieved anything."