A FORMER member of the female dance troupe Hot Gossip died after hanging herself, an inquest heard.
Trudy Beth Watson was a well known face in the 1980s and regularly featured on ITV's The Kenny Everett Video Show.
She was found hanging from the stair banister by her husband, Tony, at their home in Magdalen Laver on September 11 last year.
The 50-year-old was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 27 years ago.
The inquest heard that for 15 months before her death her acute mental state "would not shift" and in the last five weeks of her life she had attempted twice to take her own life by overdosing.
Later her medication was locked away and she had no access to it.
She saw her GP on September 6 when she told him she was not depressed and wanted to return to work on September 12, the day after her death.
Chelmsford Coroner's Court heard on Thursday that on the afternoon of her death she was at home alone.
She had a psychiatric appointment that afternoon and used that as a reasonable excuse to cancel plans to have her mother over to stay.
It later transpired that she had not attended her appointment.
When her husband returned home, he found her hanging from the stair. A note was found.
A few months before her death the keen dancer was seen publicly taking Zumba classes in Matching Village Hall, where she donated £1 from every member towards the building of J's Hospice, a palliative care facility for young people.
As well as performing with Hot Gossip, which recorded the hit I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper, she also featured as a dancer in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, which was released in 1983.
Assistant deputy coroner for Essex and Thurrock Tina Harrington returned a verdict of suicide.