EastEnders legend battling secret family heartache as brother fights to beat heroin addiction
EASTENDERS star Patsy Palmer successfully returned to the show earlier this year in her iconic role as Bianca Jackson.
But away from the camera, the star has been dealing with a family heartache of her own as her older brother battles a drug addiction.
Despite her massive comeback to the soap earlier this year, Patsy’s brother is about to embark on a journey of his own.
This month the 56-year-old will spend three weeks checked into a detox centre followed by a three-month stay at a primary treatment facility.
Albert has been battling a heroin addiction since he was 15 but wants to stop using methadone medicine after being clean for more than a year to control his cravings.
Once he’s free from methadone, he plans to help others who are struggling with addiction issues.
Back in 2022, Albert was released from HMP Rochester after serving a five-year sentence for armed robbery in London.
He previously served another five-year term for the same offence in Bristol in 2010, the reports the Mirror.
Albert has revealed that he is keen to fix his relationship with his famous sister after not speaking to her for about a year.
“I know I can have an alternative life,” he told the publication. “I have problems with addiction and I want my little sister to see that I can get better and stay better.
“I want to make our mum proud and I want to make Patsy proud.
“Me and Patsy were always close but it’s been a bit difficult since she’s lived in America and with my convictions.”
He continued: “I’m stuck on this medication but soon I will be going in somewhere and I’ll have that freedom back and can start a new life.
“If I had another 10 years, I’d spend it helping others. I’d like to be a counsellor or volunteer to help people with addiction.
“I’ve spent most of my life dealing with this and I know I can put my experiences to use, better myself and help others. I believe it’s never too late to change.”
Pasty previously told how she spent £12,000 trying to help Albert kick the habit.
The actress has also spoken candidly about her own battles with drugs and alcohol.
In her book, All of Me, she wrote about her drug use while working on EastEnders.
She said: “Often, I arrived at work after partying and being off my head on drugs all night. Sometimes, I was still high on ecstasy.
“I don’t think anyone realised. They thought my exuberant moods were natural.”
“But I was taking huge amounts of ecstasy, vomiting all over dance floors then taking more drugs.
“Then I’d shower and change before appearing on set. At lunch, I’d grab a Mars bar and a coke and have a sleep in my changing room.”
Patsy also confessed to smoking marijuana at 11 and then going on to sniff solvents.
She wrote: “Sometimes I think, ‘How am I not dead? ‘ given the drink, drugs, lack of sleep, lack of proper nutrition and non-stop schedule I inflicted on myself.”
Now, Patsy is completely clean and lives in Malibu with her husband Richard Merkell and their three children.
She first appeared in EastEnders in 1993 and quit in 1999.
The star then made two reappearances before joining again in 2008.
Then in 2014, it was announced that the actress was leaving the show again, and she returned briefly in 2019.
Over her 13 collective years in Albert Square, Bianca was never far away from drama having been involved in some of the show’s most iconic storylines including the discovery that David Wicks was her dad, her tumultuous relationship with Ricky Butcher and Whitney’s abuse within the family storyline which aired in 2008.