Kathy Burke reveals why she turned down EastEnders role and it’s utterly brutal

Iconic comedian Kathy Burke has revealed that she was once asked to join the cast of EastEnders – and turned the opportunity down.

The award-winning actress, 60, is best known for her work on a number of legendary sitcoms, such as French and Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous and Gimme Gimme Gimme.

She’s also known for performing alongside Harry Enfield, with whom she performed the madcap teenage duo Kevin and Perry.

More recently she has hosted a number of documentaries, as well as podcast Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake.

Each episode features outspoken Burke sitting down with a celebrity guest and discussing how they believe (or hope) to die, plus their plans for their funeral.

Morbid, but hilarious.

Recent instalments have included presenter Rylan and actress Daisy May Cooper, in which she discussed the one role she turned down – and it was on our beloved BBC soap.

‘I was asked to do ‘EastEnders’ and no, no, no, I f****** hate ‘EastEnders’ she shared.

‘I can’t stand it. In fact, if I’m flicking my television, even if I hear the theme – I have a real “‘URGH” reaction to it.’

Despite her feelings for Albert Square and the show’s signature tune, she did note her affection for the cast and crew – she’s even pals with Perry Fenwick, who plays Billy Mitchell.

‘Sorry to everybody involved’ she said.

‘I know everyone’s got a job to do – I admire you all greatly, but nah!’

Perry was a guest on the pod in 2023, where he revealed he was hospitalised as a child following a series of near-death experiences.

‘From the age of none to ten, I think I spent quite a lot of that time in hospital’ he said.

‘I electrocuted myself when I was three. I was playing with a bowl of soapy water on the rug, and I thought how interesting it would be to put those three fingers of mine in the water and put them in that plug hole in the wall.

‘At which point, my mum is watching television and was aware of this thing going right across to the other side of the room.

He continued: ‘I fell off a bridge. We used to have an iron bridge near where I lived, and you used to have to do this dare where you walked over the arch of this bridge.

‘I had a wobble, fell off of it, and it was about twenty-five to thirty feet.

‘There was a little stream running underneath it with these mud banks next to it and luckily for me, someone had got into DIY early by removing some of the railway sleepers.

‘As this was in the ’60s, if I would have hit one of them, that would have been it.’

Perry recently celebrated forty years of Walford action in a stellar week of episodes to commemorate the occasion.

His character took centre stage, as Billy finally married Honey – just moments before a catastrophic explosion that killed beloved local Martin Fowler (James Bye).

It was announced last month that Kathy will step down from hosting the show after completing over 100 episodes.

A statement published on social media read: ‘Queen Kath is hanging up her death cloak BUT Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake WILL go on. In the meantime, you’ll get more Kathy with FREE 6FU (six feet under) eps in coming weeks.’

Producers Sony Music Entertainment are yet to announce her replacement.

Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake can be streamed on all podcast sites.

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