EastEnders star June Brown is unrecognisable as a glamorous 20-something in old snap just weeks before the soap legend turns 90
Fans know her best as moaning washerwoman Dot Cotton who first appeared in Albert Square in 1985
IT'S HARD to imagine EastEnders star June Brown as anyone other than God-bothering washerwoman Dot Cotton - but this snap suggests a secret glamorous past.
But before she became a TV legend, June was a stunning young actress - and she bragged in her 2013 autobiography about enjoying plenty of steamy flings.
She said: "Don’t get me wrong: I wasn’t a nymphomaniac.
"But I was sexually active although I kept quiet about it. You did back then. The war changed everything, of course.
"I was 12 when it broke out. I joined the Wrens at 18 and that gave me a tremendous sense of liberation.
"As you couldn’t be sure what tomorrow might bring, you felt like making the most of today.
"If I’d stayed at home I’d have married as a virgin.
"But, in the heady post-war years and afterwards when I was a drama student at the Old Vic, I fell in love all the time. I hate the phrase 'having sex'. I only ever made love.
"It had to have something almost spiritual about it. But I realise now I should have gone with the ones who made me laugh."
It's unclear if the national treasure will be cracking out any more of her sexploits on June Brown At 90 - A Walford Legend or if fans will have to make do with seeing clips of Dot canoodling with dead husband Jim Branning.
There are sure to be plenty of heart-warming moments as the half-hour special charts the actress' journey from TV newcomer to the UK's best-loved tomato juice-sipping busybody.
After initially joining the show as part of a plot involving her wayward son Nick Cotton, fans have watched as she has seen several of her family members die, remain blissfully in the dark about the fate of her close friend Fatboy, and give her best friend Ethel the pills she needed to die in a ground-breaking euthanasia storyline.
Funnier storylines include the time she was arrested for cannabis use after trying out some alternative therapies.
They've also seen her marry Jim Branning and take care of him after a stroke, which was written into the story when the actor who played him, John Bardon, suffered one in real life.
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Earlier this year, fans reacted angrily when she was sacked from her much-loved job at the launderette after decades of employment, sparking Twitter hashtag #JUSTICEFORDOT.
However, there appears to me more heartache in store when she confided in close friend Patrick Trueman that she may be going blind.
Last December it was reported she was in talks to remain on the show until at least March 2018.
The 89-year-old star, who has been on the show since it first aired in 1985, has become a hot property for EastEnders bosses after becoming a much-loved character throughout her years.
A source told : “They realise June isn’t getting any younger but she has intimated that she wants to carry on in the role as long as she feels able, so that is great news.”
June Brown At 90 - A Walford Legend will air on February 16 at 8 pm on BBC One
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