Patsy Palmer has insisted Celebrity Big Brother fans will see the ‘real me’ – and she is nothing like her raging and unorganised soap character. Actor Patsy, 52, has played Bianca Jackson in EastEnders on and off since 1993. She made her latest comeback last year playing a key part in the 40th anniversary live episode this February.
But after years playing Bianca and recently being back in Walford, Patsy’s keen to show people who she really is, and that unlike her alter ego. She says: “I think fans might think that I am quite feisty because of Bianca but I’m not really, I’m quite a calm person. People always say that I am, even at work at EastEnders, people always say that I bring quite a nice sort of vibe.
“I’ve got my life together! She can’t get her life together. She’s on fight or flight. I’m not on fight or flight. I’m not really zen, but I do like to try my best to follow that kind of way of life which is so different from the drama in her life!”
Patsy only recently signed up to do Big Brother and says it all happened quite quickly but she likes the idea of “a bit of a detox”. However one thing she won’t be looking forward to is the almost inevitable arguments on the show. Speaking just hours before she entered the house, she went on to say she hopes the house will remain calm.
On conflict, she said: “I’m not expecting it because I think we’re also in a very different culture now. I’d like to think that people have evolved to the point where if there was something bothering them, that maybe you could just have a conversation about it instead of screaming and shouting. I don’t know that it’s going to be like that. Look, we all can only be pushed so much.
“I’m sure that I don’t need Bianca to protect myself in there though, she won’t come out. I feel like it’s not something I enjoy anymore, arguing. I come from East London, so I would say I brought a lot of observations of what East Londoners were, growing up into Bianca. But I certainly don’t like it for myself. I don’t think it’s very good for you as you get older to be like that. If there’s conflict in the house I’d like to sort of back off. But then I think if there’s a place for me to help, I’d like to think I will. But if there’s not, I’m trying not to get involved.”
Patsy was one of 13 new housemates who entered the show on Monday night on ITV including Oscar-nominated actor Mickey Rourke, Love Island’s Chris Hughes and former MP Michael Fabricant.
Others in the line up include singer Chesney Hawkes and TV host Trisha Goddard who will live with Olympic champion Daley Thompson and The Only Way Is Essex’s Ella Rae Wise. At 52, and having lived abroad for more than a decade with stints as a DJ as well as acting, Patsy insists she is enjoying life more than ever and is inspired by the likes of an older British Hollywood star.
“I just feel like now, in my 50s, this is my time to be me, to be whatever I want. I look at someone like Helen Mirren and she’s so inspiring,” she says. “As I’ve got older, I do believe that it’s good to challenge yourself, and for people to see that, and maybe even for your family to see that, your kids to see that.
“My perspective on life has changed about everything. I don’t tend to worry about all the crap that I worried about when I was in my 20s, 30s, and even 40s. I think as soon as you hit 50 you just get a magic potion of we need to really make the most of this now, you know. It’s more of just wanting to enjoy every moment. So it’s like don’t worry about all the crap that’s gone on in your life. It means nothing. It’s meaningless. It is gone. There’s nothing.
“It really is liberating. You wish that you had your mind in your 30s that you have in your 50s. It’s a bit sad really. Like all that time you spent hormonally raging around the world thinking you had to fix everything, and think about everything, and understand everything. There’s nothing to understand. All there is to understand is we’re here right now and going to do something really fun.
“We are all healthy. There’s nothing else to understand. That’s what you realise as you get older, it’s really only what’s going on right now. That’s all that’s important. There’s nothing else. If I could give my younger self some advice I’d just tell her that all of the stuff you think is really bad and all these big problems you think you’ve got are not that bad. You’re going to be alright. It’s not as bad as you think. I have a lot of fun and also a lot of calm in my life now. It’s the best decade for me.”
Once leaving the Big Brother house Patsy’s immediate future is uncertain, both in terms of her career and her homelife. She will be with husband Richard Merkell and spend time with her four children too. She has actor son Charley from a past relationship as well as Fenton, Emilia and Bertie from their marriage. She has been based in Los Angeles for more than a decade and whilst her home is intact, much of her neighbourhood was badly damaged by the recent fires.
“I think that even living out there gives you a perspective because it’s just so beautiful. But now obviously it’s all been shattered lately because of the fires. Everything is burnt. My place was okay, but my neighbour’s house completely burned to the ground. So we will be here more this summer, for sure.
“Or in Europe. It’s had a massive impact. I don’t really know yet because I’ve been working here, and I haven’t been home. So I don’t know till I get home. But my husband said it’s going to be pretty hard. People have lost everything and they probably still have mortgages, yet they have nothing. It’s heartbreaking.”Despite the setback, Patsy was going into the house with a positive outlook.
She adds: “I just think that I’ve been grateful for the life I’ve had. I’ve never been one of those people who go out and grab things, I wish I was. But I’ve always been like, “If this job comes in, great”, I’m grateful and then all the rest of the time you’re at home with the kids. I think having such a nice marriage, you know what I mean?
“It’s just all of it really. I’m just grateful now in life that we’re all still here and everyone’s not gone completely off their heads! I just feel like now, in my 50s, this is my time to be me, to be whatever I want.”
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