OHMYGOSSIP — Charlie Clements loved “increasing his knowledge” of plants when he worked in a garden centre during lockdown.
The former ‘EastEnders’ actor was furloughed from his job as a chef during the first coronavirus pandemic lockdown last year, but he later went on to work in the plant section of a garden centre, and it was a great fit for the 33-year-old star because he has always had green fingers.
He said: “The first lockdown I’d not long started working as a chef, but then I was put on furlough because the shop shut.
“So the first time round I just home-schooled the kids with my wife and we just had as much fun as we could with the constraints of being at home.
“Then the second time we locked down I was back in the garden centre working in the plant section, which was good fun.
“It was just a way of me supporting the family. The kids and the family come first and I’ve never been afraid of work, never been work shy or anything.
“I’ve always loved plants, so working there really increased my knowledge of everything plant-related.”
But Charlie – who played Bradley Branning in the BBC One soap from 2006 to 2010 – has insisted acting will “always be [his] career choice” and he is currently appearing in long-running play ‘The Mousetrap’.
He said: “There’s two separate casts because of COVID, but yeah we’re up and running now and it’s going really well at the moment.
“Acting is always my first love and will always be my career choice.
“But at the end of the day I’m a jobbing actor and I’ve got bills to pay and a family to support just like everyone else.”
Bradley was killed off in February 2010 as part of the soap’s 25th anniversary, and Charlie admitted his character dying has helped him to “focus on moving forward” in his career.
He said: “It was always my decision to leave. I said I’d do four years and move on after that.
“I don’t regret the death in a weird kind of way, because it closed that chapter and meant I could focus on moving forward as opposed to sitting on my laurels a bit.”
But he still has fond memories of ‘EastEnders’, particularly of meeting the late Dame Barbara Windsor (Peggy Mitchell) on his first day on the show.
Speaking on ‘Loose Women’, he added: “Barbara was the first person I spoke to on my first day, which is a lovely memory for me to have.
“I was sat at the reception area waiting to go up to do my first scene and she came over and introduced herself and said, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine. Just go and crack on with it.’ ”

Source: VacationHunter.Online
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