After leaving "EastEnders", Richard continued to appear on-screen until her death in 2009. Richard was married four times, including one husband who physically abused her and another who sold false stories about her to the tabloids. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996, the disease returned in 2002 and again in 2008 in which this time had spread all over her body. Richard made a documentary detailing the last few months of her life before her death in February 2009.