Actress Anita Dobson has revealed she turned down an offer to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, insisting there is 'not enough money in the world' to make her take part. The 76-year-old, best known for playing Angie Watts in EastEnders, said she could not face the challenges of the jungle or being stuck with the same people.
ITV had approached Dobson to join the 2025 series, but she declined. 'They did ask me and I said no,' she said. 'It's having to eat and do all those stupid things and being stuck with the same people all the time that you didn't choose to go on holiday with. No. I couldn't do it.'
Dobson has had a busy year, reprising her role as Angie for EastEnders' 40th anniversary and being unveiled as the legendary villain The Rani in Doctor Who. She admitted she is good at keeping secrets, having told only her husband, Queen guitarist Brian May, about her roles.
Born in Stepney, east London, Dobson has been acting since the age of four. She trained at The Webber Douglas Academy and landed her first role in a Christmas show. She recalled a difficult early production, but her father advised her to persevere, saying 'if you get through this one then everything else will be plain sailing'.
Dobson became a household name in 1985 as Angie Watts, a role she played for three years. The 1986 Christmas special, in which 'Dirty' Den served her with divorce papers, attracted 30 million viewers. She fondly remembered the cast and scripts, saying 'we were a happy family'.
