JUNE TRIBUTE EastEnders heartwarming tribute to soap legend June Brown revealed – and it’s not what you might think
EastEnders bosses have paid tribute to the late June Brown – aka show legend Dot Cotton – in a surprising way.
But anyone who knew the actress would also say it couldn’t be a more fitting honour to remember the much-loved cast member by.
That’s because soap execs have renamed the canteen at the studios where the show is filmed On The Dot.
She died in 2022 aged 95, and next year would have been her hundredth birthday.
A show insider said: “Naming the canteen after June was something she would no doubt have approved of, and she would have seen the funny side of it.
“Plus it was always a place where, over many fags and cups of tea, she could be found holding court with several of her adoring cast members hanging off her every words.”
Several other stars can recall some of the antics she was also famous for in the canteen, including Michelle Collins, better known as Cindy Beale.
She recalled: “I know she smoked and loved her red wine (but) she was very healthy. I saw her once doing her pelvic floor exercises on the trolley in the BBC canteen.”
Her TV son John Altman – aka Nasty Nick – recalled how she was a regular at the canteen, even if it did take her a while to get there because she was so well loved.
He recalled: “We’d walk to the canteen at the BBC and it would always take about half an hour because she’d stop along the way chatting to people.”
Sounds like they found the perfect way to keep her in the heart and minds of the EastEnders cast.
Duo on a wing and a prairie
Ralf Little and Will Mellor are a long way from Two Pints and a Packet of Crisps.
They’re back on their mission to thrive in middle age for series two of Will And Ralf Should Know Better and are out exploring if Wild West is best.
The duo, who shot to fame in the raucous BBC lad comedy, try cosplaying as cowboys in the next run which lands on U&Dave on Monday.
And they brave ice-cold swimming and full-frontal art classes.
They deserve a pint after all that.
ITV will screen the entire run of US psychological thriller The Affair. Series one to three lands on ITVX on March 13, with season four to follow this summer and five next year.
The show premiered in the US in 2014. It stars Ruth Wilson, Dominic West, Joshua Jackson and Anna Paquin.
Saucy shock for Phil
Comedian Phil Wang has revealed chip-shop curry sauce was a “culture shock” for him as a teen, ahead of his new role as judge of the BBC’s Great British Menu.
Stoke-born Phil, whose mum is English and dad Chinese-Malaysian, grew up in Borneo, before returning to Britain aged 16.
He told the Radio Times: “When I moved to the UK, the biggest culture shock was curry sauce from a chip shop. I’d never had sweet curry glue. British food is now spectacular though. I love foods of all types, I’m a pig.”
But Phil won’t be as harsh with his scores as when he was guest judge in 2021.
He recalled: “I was giving threes and fours, and the producers had a word. I get it.”
The new series starts next Tuesday at 7pm on BBC Two.
Po luck for Iain on weed
Love Island narrator Iain Stirling has spoken candidly about taking drugs, revealing he enjoys trips to Amsterdam and Denmark to indulge.
The comic told the You Be Trippin’ podcast: “I went to Copenhagen, I’ve been a few times now. I was told weed was legal but I think it’s more that they don’t care.
“I’m not really a drug-sy person, I went with two primary school teachers who are even less drug-sy people.
“We got weed cookies from this place but my friend is lactose intolerant so I had to go up to a drug dealer and say, ‘Excuse me is there milk in these cookies?’
“The drug dealers’ English is not amazing so he’s like, ‘No weed’ and I was like, ‘Is there milk?’.
“Everyone ate the entire cookie but on the back it says, ‘This cookie is the equivalent of five spliffs’.
“But with edibles and mushrooms you just do it, nothing happens – I mess it up every time.”
Filming has begun on Channel 4 drama s The Rachel Incident, adapted by Caroline O’Donoghue from the best-selling novel of the same name.
The eight-parter will star Mairead Tyers as Rachel and Ellis Howard as her pal James, plus Sarah Greene and Daniel Ings.
Second Assassin to shoot
Keeley Hawes’ sensational turn in The Assassin was so gripping, Prime Video bosses have green lit a second series.
The Bodyguard star will be back as former hitman Julie, whose quiet life on a Greek island was disrupted by her son Edward (Freddie Highmore) in the first run.
The action will pick up with the duo, after a mysterious fallout, having to rely on each other to take on Spain’s underworld.
Keeley said: “I can’t wait. Audiences are in for a treat.”
Freddie added: “They have cooked up another spectacular adventure.”
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Shalon Brune-Franklin will return as Kayla, Edward’s fiance. Devon Terrell is Kayla’s brother Ezra.
The six-parter will begin filming soon.