Amy Nuttall has revealed her mother Elaine has died.
The Downton Abbey star, 41, shared the devastating news with her Instagram followers on Sunday as she revealed her mother died in her arms just four months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Amy – who recently split from her cheating husband Andrew Buchan for a second time – informed her followers alongside a gallery of snaps with her mother.
She penned: ‘My heart is beating loudly whilst I write this. Yesterday I said goodbye to my beautiful dear mummy. She was diagnosed in July with a glioblastoma (grade 4). To say it was the biggest shock would be an understatement.
‘Together with my wonderful family, we helped care for her to the end where she died in my arms as I lay beside her on 30/10/23 at 5.05pm.’
Heartbreaking: Amy Nuttall has shared the devastating news that her mother Elaine has died four months after brain tumour diagnosis
Amy continued: ‘She humbled us all with how she handled this cruel diagnosis… never complaining, always smiling and bringing her daft humour to the fore every day. Mum, you were my rock. Always. My best friend.
‘I’m not sure how I’m going to do life without you but I know you’ll always be with me to carry me through as you always did. Thank you mummy… you gave me the best days I ever had ❤️xxx #glioblastoma #braintumour #rosemere.’
The heartbreaking loss is the latest tragedy to befell Amy after the breakdown of her marriage.
In August it was revealed Amy had ‘split from her cheating husband Andrew for a second time’ after he failed to stick to the marriage rules she set for him in the wake of his ‘affair’ with Leila Farzad.
The former Emmerdale star had taken the actor, 44, back after his relationship with his co-star, 41, emerged in February – but issued him with a list of strict demands to help them rebuild their marriage.
‘Gutted’ Amy then called time on their 11-year marriage for good and has thrown him out of the family home they shared with their two children.
A source told The Sun: ‘It took a lot for Amy to give the marriage another chance but she thought it was worth one final roll of the dice.
‘There is no suggestion he has cheated again, but as far as she is concerned this is it.
‘She is obviously gutted but also accepts that their time together has come to an end.’
Devastating: Amy referred to her late mother as ‘my rock. Always. My best friend’ and shared a throwback picture of her mother helping her at her wedding
Amy revealed: ‘Together with my wonderful family, we helped care for her to the end where she died in my arms as I lay beside her on 30/10/23 at 5.05pm’
Amy continued: ‘She humbled us all with how she handled this cruel diagnosis… never complaining, always smiling and bringing her daft humour to the fore every day’
She concluded: ‘I’m not sure how I’m going to do life without you but I know you’ll always be with me to carry me through as you always did’
Speaking out: Amy also took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the news as she revealed she wanted to raise awareness of glioblastoma
It emerged in February this year that Andrew had reportedly left his wife of 11 years Amy for his BBC crime drama Better co-star Leila.
But just weeks later, Leila allegedly returned to her husband James Maizels, while Andrew has gone back to his family, with The Sun reporting that Andrew told a friend: ‘We’re healing.’
In July it was claimed that Amy had set her husband seven strict rules to follow after their reunion in order to rekindle their relationship.
Amy apparently demanded weekly date nights as they followed the 777 approach, full access to each other’s phones and absolutely no out of work contact with any co-stars, according to The Sun.
It was reported that Andrew would also need to keep in contact via FaceTime when he’s working away.
‘No one thought they could come back from this but Amy has decided to give it one more go,’ a source told the publication.
‘[Amy] doesn’t want to throw away over a decade together but at the same time she is far from a pushover.
‘They will adopt the 777 approach which means every seven days you go on a date, every seven weeks you go away for the night and every seven months you go away on holiday just the two of you.’
The 777 approach makes up three of the rules, and the final one is that their work should be on an equal footing, it was reported.
Speculation the couple had reunited came in the month before, when Andrew was seen leaving their family home wearing his gold wedding ring in June.
Amy was spotted around the same time at the property, without her ring, but insiders suggested they were giving things another go.
A source close to the couple told the The Sun: ‘Amy was, understandably, devastated to learn of the infidelity and wanted a clean break and a fresh start.
‘But Andrew has come back to her and promised to change.
‘They have been working through their problems and are trying to put the love triangle behind them for the sake of their family.’
It was originally thought that the couple were separated after Amy reportedly demanded a divorce from her husband Andrew in March, just weeks after news of their split emerged, but it seemed her wishes changed.
After being left devastated by her husband’s alleged infidelity, sources told The Sun that Amy was taking the power back after the betrayal, while also claiming that Andrew and Leila had parted ways.
It’s over: The heartbreaking loss is the latest tragedy to befell Amy after the breakdown of her marriage to cheating husband Andrew Buchan (pictured in 2017)
Affair: She had previously taken the actor back after his ‘affair’ with Better co-star Leila Farzad, 39 – but with a list of strict demands to help them rebuild their marriage
Strict: Amy has demanded weekly date nights as they follow the 777 approach, full access to each other’s phones and no out of work contact with any co-stars, according to The Sun
Family: The pair have two children, a son and daughter, who they keep away from the limelight
The source said: ‘She’s told him she wants a divorce anyway, she’s been publicly humiliated and the pain has been unbearable.
‘She thought he was away working, when in fact he was often in hotels with Leila — once the truth emerged it was like being hit by a train.’
They added: ‘Now she’s decided to take back control again and plan her own future. She’s going down the legal route and will get everything she’s entitled to.’
Andrew was thought to have left the family home after their affair came to light and moved in with Leila after meeting her while working together on the BBC series.
READ MORE: ‘I would NEVER try it on with someone else’s boyfriend’: A look back at Amy Nuttall’s rocky romances in her own words
Leila married her husband James Maizels in 2013, and they have a daughter who was born in 2014.
Andrew’s alleged affair with Leila was exposed after Amy discovered that he had purchased racy lingerie in a size that was not her own.
Friends claimed the actor informed Amy of his desire to terminate the marriage shortly before Christmas.
Speaking to about the split shortly afterwards, she fought back tears and confessed: ‘I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry, I can’t say anything.’
A source said at the time: ‘It was a huge shock. Amy is heartbroken.’
The source added: ‘For Andrew to walk away from his family was a huge shock to us all – and Amy is heartbroken. Everyone who knows them thought they were going to be together forever.
‘But he’s packed his bags and left with his new co-star. Whatever has gone on, it seems to have been enough for him to re-evaluate his whole life and rip up their marriage.
‘Nobody is quite sure of the exact details, but Andrew has clearly had his head turned pretty dramatically.’
Andrew is best known for roles in Broadchurch, The Fixer and Garrow’s Law and more recently played Matt Hancock in Kenneth Branagh’s Sky political drama This England.
He landed his first big role in Jane Eyre in 2006, and also starred opposite Matt Smith in Party Animals the following year.
Amy found fame after joining ITV soap Emmerdale in 2000 at the age of 18; she played Chloe Atkinson for eight years before leaving the show to pursue a music career.
While on the show she dated co-star Ben Freeman for more than four years before the couple separated in 2004 amid claims that he had cheated on her.
More recently, Amy played Ethel Parks in BBC period drama Downton Abbey, with her character losing her job at the sprawling Downton estate after having an affair with a serving officer.