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They become a part of our lives and living rooms for years as we follow the ups and downs of their friendships, relationships, and sometimes grisly deaths, but what happens to soap opera stars once they leave our screens?
Former EastEnders stars Tony Discipline and Matt Lapinskas will appear on a podcast this weekend revealing how their lives changed after leaving the soap opera.
Here’s what happened next, and we look at where some of our other favorite stars ended up …
Adam Thomas – Adam Barton, Emmerdale
Adam spent nine years playing Adam Barton on the ITV soap opera before leaving in 2018.
(Image: ITV)
(Image: adamthomas21 / Instagram)
He then took three days a week working at a property management company owned by a businessman friend.
He said: “I have a family to support at the end of the day, so I needed some kind of income. It’s great for my own sanity to go out and start working. “
Then in 2019 he started a restaurant with his best friend.
Katie Jarvis – Hayley Slater, EastEnders
Katie played Hayley until February 2019, but after leaving Walford she didn’t rest on her laurels.
Hard-working Katie since landing a job at a B&M discount store in Romford, East London, said at the time: “I’ve taken a step back in acting. I have a job and I take care of my children ”.
(Image: BBC)
Katie has admitted that, as an actress, she has had many other jobs between roles, including being a waitress and working for a credit card company.
Sean Wilson – Martin Platt, Coronation Street
Sean starred in the ITV soap opera from 1985 to 2005, but decided to leave to pursue his passion for cheese.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
And, in 2009, Sean established a cheese-making company, Saddleworth Cheese Company, whose products are stocked at Asda.
He also makes an award-winning blue called Smelly Ha’peth.
Patsy Palmer – Bianca Jackson, EastEnders
Patsy Palmer is most famous for playing Bianca Jackson until 2014.
But after leaving the soap opera, he moved to Los Angeles with his family.
(Image: BBC)
There, she reinvented herself as a feminist activist, with her own foundation to help women in Hollywood.
The actress created the Commonwealth Lifestyle Foundation, which aims to support women in need and “connect” women to each other.
He also championed the Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment and inequality at work.
(Image: Getty Images)
A source said: “Patsy has completely changed her life and is a great advocate for women in Hollywood. This cause is incredibly important to her. She supports and motivates many women through her foundation. “
Patsy has also partnered with a charity that helps homeless women in Los Angeles.
Matt Lapinskas – Anthony Moon, EastEnders
Former EastEnders star Matt Lapinskas has been working as a builder to make ends meet during the pandemic.
The 32-year-old actor, better known as Anthony Moon on the BBC1 soap opera, says: “Just because you’ve been on TV once doesn’t mean you can never do another job. You have to be realistic with life. “
32-year-old Matt joined EastEnders in 2011 as Alfie Moon’s cousin. But after two years, the bosses told Matt, then 23, that his contract would not be renewed.
(Image: BBC)
He says: “They wanted to change things a bit. They said they couldn’t find much for me anymore so they would let me go. It’s a shock at that age and you panic. “
After leaving the show, Matt participated in 2013’s Dancing on Ice with pro skater Brianne Delcourt, where he made it to the finals.
He has also worked in theater and has appeared in movies.
But at the start of the lockdown last year, she realized she needed to do more to help pay the bills.
He recalls: “I had two movies and a canceled film. He used to be a builder before he was an actor. A lot of my friends run construction companies, so I joined a few of them, doing a little construction work to make sure the mortgage kept going. Now I have started my own Brightside Builders company. “
But Matt, 32, who lives in Ascot, Berkshire, says he will always be classified primarily as an actor.
He says, “It’s not just being on TV on EastEnders or Dancing on Ice that you can make people laugh, cry and smile. When you are a builder, you do it for them in another way.
“It’s still the entertainment business. You still have to chat with people, you have to win the job, you still have to charm them and put on a good performance. “
Tony Discipline – Tyler Moon, EastEnders
He’s been a firefighter for two years, but former EastEnders actor Tony Discipline admits he’s still haunted by his past in show business.
And fans, assume your fire department uniform is part of a new role.
Tony, 31, who played Tyler Moon in the soap opera, recalls, “I went back to the fire truck and someone came by and said, ‘Oh my God, what are you filming?'”
Tony remembers. “I said, ‘no, I’m a firefighter,’ and he said, ‘no, what is it? What program is it for?
“There have been a few times like that.”
Tony, who grew up in Gravesend, Kent, was just 21 years old and working at Billingsgate Fish Market when he landed the role of Alfie Moon’s cousin Tyler in 2011.
But he refused to let the fame go to his head.
He says: “I always knew that the attention was due to the show. When I was at the fish market, I didn’t get that attention! “But, in 2013, the bosses told him that his time at Walford was up.
(Image: BBC)
After EastEnders, Tony took acting courses in Vienna and Los Angeles.
He also did dubbing work and a few short films before turning to business, including nightclub events and video production.
But it was only two years ago that Tony ran for the London Fire Brigade.
(Image: BBC)
He says. “My friend had joined the London Fire Brigade and he was telling me how much he enjoyed it. It seemed like an exciting job with a lot of variety and it really appealed to me.
“I liked the idea of working in the community and realized that I would be proud to be a part of it.”
He adds: “It can be quite dangerous.
(Image: BBC)
“I have faced a fire in a block of flats, in a bakery and in a waste disposal plant.
“But I’m not scared. These are real life and death situations, it’s not like being on the set of EastEnders, so you have to move on. “
Tom Watt – Lofty Holloway, EastEnders
Tom played Lofty until 1988, and only returned briefly in 2019 to attend the character Harold Legg’s funeral.
But when Tom’s acting job stopped coming, he turned to sports journalism, working for talkSPORT, BT Sport, and BBC Radio 5 Live.
(Image: BBC)
He was also a ghostwriter for David Beckham’s 2003 autobiography.
Alongside this, Tom works as a member of the advisory board for BounceBack, a charity that trains ex-convicts.
Gemma Merna – Carmen McQueen, Hollyoaks
Gemma played the glamorous Carmen on the Channel 4 soap opera from 2006 to 2014.
And, in 2007, it won the award for Best Comedy Performance at the British Soap Awards; however, she went on to work as a yoga instructor and personal trainer.
(Image: C4)
Speaking in 2016, she said: “I teach 10 classes a week and I love it. It’s great to find a passion in life and I find that yoga helps with audition nerves. “
Jeremy Edwards – Kurt Benson, Hollyoaks and Danny Shaughnessy, Holby City
Serial soap opera actor Jeremy played Kurt Benson on Hollyoaks between 1995 and 1999, then later played Danny Shaughnessy on Holby.
(Image: BBC)
But when job offers ran out, he insisted he was “happy to graft” and became a worker to make ends meet.
In 2011 he was photographed dumping dirt into a dumpster for a friend’s landscaping business and also worked as a security guard before appearing on the celebrity version of X Factor.
* To hear stories from Tony and Matt and other soap opera stars, tune in to the Soap From The Box podcast: https://soapfromthebox.buzzsprout.com/
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