Ashley Roberts reveals her dad took his own life

Ashley Roberts has revealed the heartbreaking news that her father has taken his own life, after suffering a long battle with his 'physical and mental health'.

The former Pussycat Dolls star shared the sad news on her Instagram page, admitting she has been in a ‘state of shock’ since her dad, Pat, died three weeks ago.

Captioning a sweet image of her as a child cuddling up to her dad, she said: ‘With great sadness in my heart, I wanted to share with you that on the 19th of March - after a long battle of physical and mental heath - My father took his own life.

‘The past 3.5 weeks I’ve been in a state of shock, confusion, questioning, pain so deep in my guts it’s been hard to come up for air.

‘Feeling like I don’t know how to move forward from here. What am I supposed to do with all this?'

She added: 'For now, I sit here with this pain - Inviting it ALL in. To teach me, to heal me, to rebuild me.’

Despite struggling to cope with the shock, Ashley vowed to raise awareness of mental health issues and suicide and those left behind.

She added: ‘If any of you have gone through something similar. I understand and my heart goes out to you.

‘I will be sharing more on this in the next days, weeks, months to come - as raising awareness here and outreach for those left behind is so so so important.

‘But for now I am grateful for your love and support.’

Many fans reached out to Ashley following her tragic family tragedy, with one commenting: ‘I'm so very sorry that you are going through this. You are such a beautiful and special person and I send you all my love, positive thoughts and prayers. You will get through this.’

Another said: ‘I know no words can really help. But My wholeheartedly condolences to you & your Family. Many hugs & warm wishes’.