Abi Titmuss has revealed she was left shattered by depression and considered killing herself after despising her public image.

Speaking to Fabulous magazine, she said: "I simply didn't want to wake up in the morning. I thought about suicide every day because I hated what I'd become. I got some strange comfort from thinking about never waking up again."

After a sex tape featuring Abi was leaked, the actress, who is due to appear in an upcoming episode of Casualty, claims she sunk to a new low and was left unable to cope.

She said: "After the sex tape got out I felt so violated and degraded. I couldn't cope any more.

"I was the embodiment of something for which I have no respect. I was famous for being famous but there was a huge disparity between me and the image. I was getting my self-esteem from a camera lens."

Despite her desperate unhappiness, Abi continued to command huge sums of money as she appeared on the glossy pages of magazines and, despite some regrets, is grateful she was given the opportunity to secure her financial future.

She said: "I was modelling when magazines had more money, and I'm unendingly grateful for that. It bought me four houses in London. I live in one and rent out the others - it subsidises my acting.

"I do regret some of the things I've done, but it's led me to where I am."

And in her book, The Secret Diaries Of Abigail Titmuss, she credits her parents with stopping her from going through with a suicide attempt.

Abi wrote: "It was only my parents who stopped me from doing something really stupid."