EASTENDERS star John Patridge signed up for Celebrity Big Brother to pay for
his sick mum’s medical treatment.
The actor, 44, revealed the sad reason he is taking part in the Channel 5
reality show, and the struggles he has faced while trying to care for her
since her 2010 diagnosis.
He said: “My mum has Alzheimer’s, I pay for her care and it is expensive.
The honest answer is I’m here to pay her bill.”
John was a top theatre star before joining the BBC 1 soap as Christian Clarke
in 2008.
He left in 2012 but returned briefly in 2014 and again in 2015 for the soap’s
anniversary week that featured his on-screen sister Jane’s wedding to Ian
Beale.
But away from the show, John was battling a secret heartache as his mum
Bridget’s health deteriorated.
He said: “She was diagnosed in 2010. As a family we’ve dealt with it
since then. She had to sell her home in order to pay for her care.
“Unfortunately she only lived in a two-up, two-down, in a Northern town,
so the money doesn’t go very far.
“She did live with us as a family, and in March of this year we felt that
we could no longer meet her needs, and she moved into a facility.
“That’s why I’m here. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t care what people
think – people say all sorts of things when you want to do a program like
this: ‘you’re washed up’, ‘they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.’
“I unashamedly say, ‘You can say what you want, but no one takes cares of
my bills other than me and that is what I am here to do.’”
The actor, who wed longterm partner Jon Tsouras in 2011, explained that he
doesn’t agree with people who say dementia can be handled in a ‘positive
way’.
He said: “People now say things like, ‘There are positive ways to live
with dementia’. You name me one.
“Because as far as I can see, there is nothing positive to having
Alzheimer’s or dementia. It is brutal and it is cruel and I have nothing
good to say about it.
“But if I can make these years as comfortable for her as possible, then I
will do whatever it is I have to do in order to do that.”
John added that he’s excited about his time holed up in Elstree, least of all
as it means he can put his phone down for a bit.
He said: “It’s not all doom and gloom – I’m here to have some fun as
well.
“I’m also coming in to the Big Brother house to have no responsibility.
Most people are like ‘Urgh, they’ve got to take your phone away’ and I’m
like ‘Take it! Turn it off!’
“I don’t have kids, I don’t have things like that – yes I miss my
husband, but in some ways, I find the whole thing quite liberating.”