Charlie Brooks has revealed how the course of her life was changed by visits to Liverpool.
The 41-year-old soap star is renowned for her iconic portrayal of EastEnders' villain, Janine Butcher. Although her onscreen counterpart is one of TV's most famous Londoners, Charlie hails from up north as she grew up in a small Welsh town named Barmouth.
She is proud of her roots but told the ECHO how her love for the arts was ignited by childhood trips to the theatre in Merseyside. She said: "There's lots of beautiful natural activities in Barmouth but, for a kid that wants to be on the stage, those theatre trips were definitely part of me falling in love with it all.
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"The first play I was in was a Willy Russell one and that was Our Day Out. That play was a turning point for me as a 10-year-old and I thought that I'm not going to do anything else and this is it."
Charlie has gone on to forge a successful career in showbiz and is currently preparing to grace the stage at a venue close to her heart when The Ocean at the End of the Lane arrives at the Liverpool Empire from May 2 - 6. She said it was a "dream" to play a lead role as Ursula Monkton in the acclaimed National Theatre production.
The I'm A Celebrity winner said: "I had no idea how much of a spectacle and theatrical journey this play would be when I was even in the rehearsal room. It can be scary at times, it can make you jump, it's a beautiful story of a young boy's self discovery and dealing with trauma. To hear that immediate response from audiences, old and young, is quite fantastic."
The show is an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman story from the creatives behind the blockbuster smash hit Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - and Charlie is excited for a Liverpool audience to see the spectacle. She said: "I f*****g love Liverpool so I can't wait. I just love the people of Liverpool, they're so warm and there's a beautiful authenticity with Liverpudlians."
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Charlie's first stage role since 2016 and she admitted there was a few nerves as she returned to live performance. This was exacerbated as it came at a time when her daughter is preparing to move across the Atlantic to go to university.
She said: "I had her full support but I am feeling the full wrath of that at the moment from my own guilt and expectations as a mother." She added: "I've never been on a tour away from home for so long so that's definitely got its own set of challenges."
Charlie moved straight into the role after her EastEnders exit and said she is looking forward to a well deserved break once the tour finishes to spend quality time with her daughter before the big move.
She said: "I'm so proud of her independence, ambition and drive because that's how I tried to bring her up to be. But I'm also in fear of the move, of course, so I'm just going to have to spend more time in New York."
However, it won't be all relaxing for Charlie after the tour ends as she passionately speaks about another project she is working on to give back to the arts community. She has joined forces with her brother to set up an online stage school named iampro as she wants to break down barriers of access for working class kids to have the same chances she did.
She said: "My dad was a builder and my grandad worked on the mines. It's so easy for people to say 'what are you going to do in the arts, get a proper job' . The arts have been cut in schools left, right and centre so we thought it was important to give people an opportunity.
"It doesn't matter where you are in the country, you can have access to these amazing coaches that all teach at RADA and Bristol Old Vic. We have scholarship schemes on there for kids that are means tested. If you're on school dinners you get a free subscription and a lot of our celebrity masterclass people donate their fee to scholarships."
Charlie was last seen in Walford at Christmas as Janine played a key part in the dramatic episode when Danny Dyer's character, Mick Carter, was killed off. The villainous character is currently serving time behind bars for her crimes - but Charlie said she couldn't rule out a return to Albert Square at some point in the future.
She said: "She is always fun to play and I'm always interested in what she's doing and what's she's up to so there's always a possibility but I couldn't play her constantly and I don't think anyone would want me to. I think somebody might actually kill me if Janine was always in their living rooms four times a week."
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is at the Liverpool Empire from 2 - 6 May. You can get tickets here
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