Lacey Turner has revealed that EastEnders legend June Brown was often upset by the direction the soap took in its later years, admitting the late actress 'hated some of the storylines'.
June, who died in 2022, was best known for playing Dot Cotton in the BBC One soap, appearing in more than 2,000 episodes. After Dot's death was revealed to Walford residents, an emotional funeral saw the return of iconic characters including Disa Brien (Jan Graveson) and Mary 'The Punk' Smith (Linda Davidson).
June's dedication to the show
In her book Gold Dust: My Life (So Far) with the Women Who Shaped Me, Lacey – who plays Stacey Slater – shared an insight into working with June. She wrote: 'June was across everything at work, she read every script. She knew everyone's story and what all the characters were up to.'
'Not many people did that but June was all-knowing and even when she started losing her sight she would have somebody read the whole thing to her.'
Reaction to changing times
Lacey reflected that it was often clear when June did not enjoy certain EastEnders storylines: 'So, as the years went on, she became upset about the direction the show was taking, she hated some of the storylines.'
She added: 'What was hard for June? Was that the world was changing? Which meant EastEnders had to change, too. People were watching television in a different way but she couldn't or didn't want to move at the times, and I completely get where she was coming from because I feel a bit like that as well.'
Lacey's current projects
Elsewhere, Lacey is currently taking part in this year's Strictly Come Dancing. Last week, she and professional partner Vito Coppola scored 36 points for their Charleston.
