EastEnders star Annette Badland has revealed she was forced to "live in hiding" after her soap villain role sparked death threats against her.
The 74 year old actress, who portrayed the devious Aunt Babe, Mick Carter's (played by Danny Dyer) on-screen aunt on the soap, encountered some fierce backlash due to her character's heinous actions, including baby farming, blackmail and leaving her sister Sylvie (acted by Linda Marlowe) for dead.
Annette confessed that despite her love for the character, the intense loathing from fans towards Aunt Babe crossed lines, with some sending "disturbing" death threats her way.
In an exclusive chat with Reach PLC, Annette disclosed: "It's always good to place villians, it's intriguing though it has its consequences in a soap because I did get death threats at the end."
She also expressed concern about how people blur the lines between fiction and reality: "It's very disturbing that people can't divide between your character and yourself, they don't know you're acting," reports the Express.
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(Image: BBC))Annette recalled: "It subsided after about a month, but the security at the Beeb got involved, the police, they were saying, 'Don't tell anyone where you're going, don't go out too much', don't do this, don't do that."
Initially terrified, as law enforcement struggled to trace the anonymous threats from public computers, the situation eventually eased.
In retrospect, Annette regards the harrowing experience as "a compliment" regarding the effectiveness of her portrayal.
Despite enduring a tough period, which saw her exit the show in 2017 following the scrapping of a year-long storyline by a new producer, Annette maintains her professional poise.
Annette hasn't dismissed the idea of making a comeback if the plot is enticing enough.
She explained: "I'd go for a storyline or something, I don't know [if] I'd commit for an indefinite period, but you know, you never know. It depends what they come up with.
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(Image: BBC))"My boy is dead now, Danny," she said, then playfully hinted, "Or is he?!"
Currently, Annette's fans can see her in the fresh comedy-drama 'Portraits of Dangerous Women'. The film charts the journey of three strangers whose paths cross following a peculiar traffic incident.
Choosing to deal with the consequences on their own terms, without police involvement, the trio forms an unlikely bond. As they delve into each other's histories, they find unexpected camaraderie and a shared sense of belonging.
Annette was captivated by the role because, as she puts it, "It isn't normal, it doesn't follow an ordinary track. I [also] liked that it's about women, you know, I support that.
"There is a great deal of humour in it and good story-telling and good character relationships.
"I quite like that it's not so linear how most things are, you know it takes strange little corners, that's always very interesting I think."
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