Sounds more like a nightmare…
EastEnders star Milly Zero, who plays Dotty Cotton, has had a shock encounter with John Altman, who played her infamous screen dad, nasty Nick. Well, sort of…
The 20 year old star tells us she met the former cast member, who's about to be in the new series of The Real Marigold Hotel, in a dream!
Speaking exclusively to whatsontv.uk, Milly revealed: “I had a dream where it was the actor John Altman, and we met in real life.
“We were in a crowd. I got a picture with him, but the picture was really blurry, so I went back and said ‘Can we get another one? Because that one was rubbish!’ And I said ‘Hi, it’s such an honour to play Dotty.’”
Nasty Nick was killed off back in 2015, when the soap was celebrating its 30th anniversary. Dot’s ne’ er-do-well son was on the run from a robbery and hiding out in a basement when he persuaded Dot to score him some heroin.
Dot obliged, but Nick overdosed and, as he slipped into unconsciousness, he admitted to murdering pensioner Reg Cox in 1985. Realising there was no hope for her villainous offspring, Dot decided against getting him help, and he died in her arms.
EastEnders baddie Nasty Nick is such an icnonic character...
Adds Milly: “I did used to watch him, but I was really young. When I joined EastEnders, I watched some memories of him and some old archive clips, just to get a sense of him.
“He’s such an iconic character, for my parents especially. They were like ‘Oh my god, you’re going to be Nick Cotton’s daughter!’ He was such a name back in the day.”
Milly joined the cast in October last year. She is currently involved in a high-profile storyline in which Dotty has discovered that Ian Beale was responsible for the death of Sharon Watts’ teenage son Denny in the Queen Vic boat party crash, and is threatening to expose the businessman, who is being hailed a hero for trying to save Denny’s life.
“She despises Ian,” says Milly. “She’s waiting for the right time [to tell Sharon] and wants to taunt him for a bit longer.
“She hates liars, she hates fakes. She’s very upfront herself, she says it how it is, so when she sees Ian being best friends with Sharon and acting like this hero, that’s what she can’t stand.
“She knows, ultimately, that Ian didn’t do it on purpose. If he was honest about it and told Sharon, that would be fine. The fact that he’s milking it is what she can’t stand.”
EastEnders continues on BBC1.
