I’m a former EastEnders star but I took on surprising new job when I was killed off… I had to pay the bills somehow
A FORMER EastEnders star now has a very different job after his character was killed off.
Charlie Clements, 35, found widespread fame playing Bradley Branning on the BBC One soap but is now back working in a kitchen making sushi.
He has shared a photo of his impressive skills, along with a huge knife, and told fans it was his “other day job”.
His time treading the boards in the West End show Mousetrap came to an end last summer but Charlie has managed to keep the money rolling in with other work outside of acting.
Previously, he had worked as a chef in a garden centre near his home and during lockdown he had tended to the plants when the restaurant had to shut.
Opening up about his career change, Charlie said last year: “It was just a way of me supporting the family. At the end of the day the kids and the family come first. I’ve never been afraid of work and never been work shy.”
He added: “Acting is always my first love and will always be my career choice but at the end of the day I’ve got bills to pay and a family to support like everyone else.”
Charlie played the lovable character of Bradley in EastEnders from January 2006 to February 2010 before he was tragically killed off.
He scooped the Best Exit prizes at both the British Soap and Inside Soap awards for his dramatic roof fall in his final scene.
Charlie has also played Jake O’Reilly in Casualty in 2013, before starring in the Murdoch Mysteries as Charlie Brackenreid.
He also had a role in the drama Elizabeth and her Enemies.
Charlie previously insisted he’d never make a return to the BBC soap, and told The Sun: “I can’t say I’ve watched EastEnders since I left. I don’t miss it because if I hadn’t left I wouldn’t be doing other shows which I prefer doing.
“They resurrect characters sometimes but even if they wanted Bradley back as a ghost I wouldn’t take up that offer.”
He added: “I didn’t let them kill me off but before I started on the show I always said that I wanted to do four years and that was it. It was my decision to leave.”