Hollyoaks icon Rita Simons explains how her health condition has helped in her career

Rita revealed how her ADHD helps her in her career (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Hollyoaks icon Rita Simons has revealed how her ADHD has helped her in her acting career, referring to it as her ‘superpower’.

The Marie Fielding star explained how her ability to ‘hyperfocus’ has allowed her to learn her lines ‘at lightning speed’ during an episode of ITV reality series Drama Queens.

‘I’ve got a superpower. This is ADHD, because I hyperfocus. I literally will get pages and go, “Okay, can you test me?” I learn them so unbearably quickly,’ she revealed, while sitting in the make up chair at Hollyoaks.

‘When you’ve got ADHD, you’re either – well, I am, not everybody – totally distracted or hyper focused.

‘If there’s one thing I can always do, it’s learn lines at lightning speed. As soon as I get a script, I just fully [zone in], take it in, and then what I do is highlight, and then I can see the words in my head. I can even turn the page in my head, because I know where the next line ends and that one starts.’

Learning lines has been a huge part of Rita’s career as an actress, especially in soaps where the environment is so fast paced, with actors filming a number of different scenes every day.

Marie recently discovered the truth about Arlo’s ‘kidnapping’ (Picture: Lime Pictures)

Before taking on the role of Marie, who recently discovered the truth behind son Arlo’s ‘kidnapping’, Rita starred as Roxy Mitchell in BBC soap EastEnders for almost ten years.

‘A lot of the time I can’t focus, but if it’s something I enjoy – and I enjoy what I do – I can focus quite easily. If it’s something I don’t enjoy, like school, you can imagine, I was just a nightmare! Couldn’t do it,’ Rita added.

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Rita has been very open about her diagnosis with both ADHD and OCD over the years.

She has previously revealed that she underwent a hysterectomy because her periods worsened her OCD and Anxiety, and explained how it was the best decision that she had ever made.

I can’t stress enough how it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done,’ she said.

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