Annette Badland has revealed that she received death threats during her time on EastEnders.
The actress, who played Aunt Babe for three years between 2014-2017, has revealed that the villainous character made her the target of malicious communication.
Babe’s storylines included her being revealed as a former baby seller, tricking Abi Branning (Lorna Fitzgerald) into pretending to be pregnant, and blackmailing Les (Roger Sloman) and Pam (Lin Blakley) Coker over Les’s cross-dressing.
Her final appearance was in February 2017, when her family, tired of her behaviour, decided to kick her out, and she stormed off, cursing them as she left the area.
Reflecting on her time in the BBC soap to Reach PLC (via Express), Badland noted:
“I did get death threats. It’s very disturbing that people can’t divide between your character and yourself. They don’t know you’re acting.
“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’.
“It was a bit scary to begin with. They could trace some of it, but it was public computers so they couldn’t get anywhere specific, but it subsided.”
The actress found the death threats unsettling at first, but she later came to view them as a “compliment” to her performance. The experience hasn’t put her off a possible return to the BBC One soap.
“I’d go back 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.”
Badland is well known for a wide range of roles across TV, radio, theatre and film with credits including Ted Lasso, Doctor Who, Cutting It and Crossroads.
