Veteran ‘EastEnders’ star June Brown has left the BBC soap ‘for good’
The actress played Dot Cotton for 35 years
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Veteran EastEnders actress June Brown has left her role as Dot Cotton after 35 years.
Dot is one of the BBC soap’s longest-running characters after Brown joined the show back in 1985 – the year it was created, the BBC reported.
However, as of January this year, Dot has been in an episode after she left a voicemail message for character Sonia Fowler saying she had moved to Ireland.
And although an EastEnders spokesperson said the ‘door remains open’ for her return, Brown, 93, has confirmed in the podcast Distinct Nostalgia that she has ‘left for good’.
She told former co-star Rani Singh: “I don’t want a retainer. I’ve left. I’ve left for good.
“I’ve sent myself to Ireland and that’s where she’ll stay. I’ve left EastEnders.”
Brown – who joined the soap when she was in her late 50s – continued to say it was a very strange feeling leaving the soap.
She said: “I was feeling rather down the other day.
“I thought, ‘what’s the matter? Why do I feel so sad?’ It’s almost as if I’ve been bereaved.
“I’ve played two people simultaneously for 35 years.
“Really Dot wasn’t me, but spiritually she probably was.”