Danniella Westbrook broke down in tears as she visited a women’s refuge to meet and speak with victims of domestic violence, saying that the ordeals she heard described had reminded her of her own problems with substance abuse in the past.

The former ‘EastEnders’ actress, 41, visited a refuge run by the Women’s Action Housing Group in the North West of England, as part of a short programme she presented for Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC show. During it, she drew a comparison between the victims’ dependence on their abusers as being similar to a drug user’s relapses in their struggles to get clean.

“I can identify with the ‘addict’ side of things,” she said to one victim, going on to describe the tendency of some victims to return to their partners, despite them knowing of the abuse that awaits them, as being like “relapses”. She also later described the victims as “hitting rock bottom”.

Danniella WestbrookDanniella Westbrook presented a short feature for Victoria Derbyshire's BBC show

“As much as the relationship is toxic, and we know it's toxic, it's your drug of choice,” Westbrook said to one victim who had returned 11 times to her abusive, alcoholic ex-partner. “As his would be alcohol, yours would be him.” The woman agreed, saying “he was my addiction, definitely.”

More: Angelina Jolie urges UK politicians to act now on anti-rape campaign

In an emotional interview one-on-one with Derbyshire after the segment, Westbrook opened up about some of her own addiction experiences, saying that she could relate to the victims. “My marriage broke down, through no fault of my own actually, and I was absolutely devastated. I went back to what I knew.”

“I self-medicated… and that’s what these people, who are in these relationships, do… it’s like the drugs, they end up controlling your life. It’s very sad, but it is what it is and we all have our addictions one way or another.”

When asked when she last took cocaine, Westbrook replied: “To me that’s like ‘When were you last with a guy who used to beat you?’ I’m not with him now. You can’t have a relationship with these people… You can’t have a ‘relationship’ with drugs. It’s either extreme or it’s nothing.”

More: ‘Suffragette’ premiere disrupted by feminist protestors invading the red carpet