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Yep, her off Babestation.

Eastenders actor John Altman quit when writers wanted Nick Cotton to be gay

I was never an avid watcher of Eastenders but even I knew who Nick Cotton was. He was one of the original bad boys of UK soaps and was involved in some pretty murky storylines throughout his time on the show, including trying to kill off his own mum. Dot. Tut tut Nick.

Nick was killed off 5 years ago by Dot but he’s now revealed that his original exit from the show was down to a disagreement he had with a producer over plans to write Nick into a gay relationship. Here’s what Nick Cotton AKA actor John Altman had to say:

They tried to make Nick Cotton gay, it was years ago now. I went in there straight, and so did the other guy, Lofty, who was a bit of a loveable bozo in the early days.

Anyway, they suddenly decided that he weren’t gay, they were gonna make him gay, and I didn’t think that was a good idea as it would’ve changed Nick’s character completely, really. So I went to the producer, I said, “I hear you’ve got this idea, but I don’t think it will work,” and she said, “Well, we’ll write him out,” and I walked away. She was really harsh.

But, I went back. I was just written out for that period. If I’d have gone in playing a gay character, fine. But to suddenly make the character … I dunno, to me, as an actor, it would’ve been wrong. I don’t think the public would’ve wanted it either.

Ha. Sounds like he just didn’t like the idea of going from ‘hard man’ to a tender gay man and took real issue with mere mention of it. Mate, you’re an actor, it’s kinda your job!

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