We need a lot more queens in the Vic...
Actor's soap gays plea
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| Pink flag ... John Partridge BBC |
By NADIA BROOKS Last Updated: 02nd January 2013
EX-EASTENDERS star John Partridge wants soap bosses to bring more “hot new gays” to fly the pink flag in his absence.
John played gay personal trainer Christian Clarke for nearly five years on the BBC show until November last year.
But he quit when Marc Elliott, who played his Muslim lover Syed Masood, left.
And now John wants their popularity to convince bosses to bring in more homosexual characters.
John, who had a successful career in musical theatre before joining the soap, said: “We only ever had a positive response from people.
“It became a love story and the fact that it was two men became immaterial.
“It really became something that was quite beautiful as opposed to sensational.”
Lancashire-born John, who married Canadian actor Jon Tsouras in a civil ceremony last year, added that he hoped he had blazed a trail on EastEnders.
He said: “Bring in hot new gays, that’s what I say. Everyone needs to be represented — so somebody’s got to come flying that pink flag.”
He said he loved his time on the soap after getting his screen breakthrough in the musical Cats.
He said: “I developed a different skill because acting on television is far different from acting in theatre. There’s a different subtlety required. It’s a completely different medium and it was great to pick up another skill at that time in my life.
“My mail bag was always filled with letters and people saying thank you for either helping or encouraging or just having somebody there that we can relate to.
“But that being said, it was time for me to move on. I did feel in my heart it was time to move on and to flex my muscles elsewhere.”
Over Christmas John has been playing Prince Charming in Cinderella at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal.
This year he’s starring in a revival of West End musical A Chorus Line and will perform his own one-man show Dames ’n’ Dudes in London in April.
He said: “After doing pantomime, I’m going straight into A Chorus Line at the London Palladium. It’s great to go back into musical theatre. I play Zach — which is the Michael Douglas role — so I’m the only person who doesn’t sing or dance.”
He added: “I’m so excited about new things to come. What with A Chorus Line, my own show and everything else, leaving EastEnders proved to be the right decision.”
John will also appear alongside former EastEnders co-star Nina Wadia in the new series of Channel 5 show Celebrity Wedding Planner, which begins on Friday.
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