EastEnders star Patsy Palmer might be all smiles on the show, but the actress has been hiding a secret sorrow as her brother battles drug addiction.
Despite her cheerful return to the EastEnders set earlier this year, Patsy is dealing with a family heartache her older brother is fighting to overcome his addiction problems. Millions of viewers watched Patsy, 51, come back to her famous role as feisty Bianca Jackson in the soap.
Among those watching was her 56-year-old brother Albert Harris, who is about to start a different journey. This month, he will go to a detox centre for three weeks before spending three months at a main treatment facility.
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Albert, who has struggled with heroin addiction since he was 15, has been clean for over a year but wants to stop needing the methadone medicine that keeps away his dangerous cravings. The pain of addiction is something he shares with Patsy, who moved to America in 2014.
(Image: PA)
She has spoken openly about her own struggles and once admitted to going on set after taking ecstasy, reports the Mirror. But now it’s Albert who is fighting substance abuse. Once he no longer needs methadone, he plans to spend the rest of his life helping others who are battling with addiction issues.
Albert was let out of HMP Rochester in 2022 after serving a five-year sentence for armed robbery in East London. It was his second time in prison, as he was given another five-year term for the same crime in Bristol in 2010.
Albert shared that he hasn’t chatted with his star sister for about a year, but he’s really hoping to fix things up. He opened up to The Mirror, saying: “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.”
(Image: Philip Coburn)
Albert has been using methadone since he got out of jail. He started taking it for pain after an operation on his back. He says the meds make him “tired” and it’s difficult to get a job while on it, but it “stops his cravings”.
He’s planning on getting off his meds and starting fresh. Albert admitted that he’s set to enter a facility to “get his freedom back” and wants to help others through counselling or volunteering with others suffering with addiction. He added: “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.”
Albert also confessed to the publication that it was him who nudged Patsy towards acting when they were just kids. He spotted an ad for the Anna Scher Theatre and they both ended up starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat together.
(Image: Philip Coburn)
Albert says he “played truant” but Patsy stuck with acting. The pair grew up with their dressmaker mum Pat after she left their taxi driver dad. Patsy was just eight and Albert was 13 at the time. Their older brother Harry moved out, leaving Patsy and Albert to live with their mum for another five years.
Albert, who now lives by himself, watched his sister on TV and thought she was brilliant. He said: “I saw her on telly and thought she was great. She looked great, too.”
Now he wants to reunite with his famous sister, after last speaking to her on FaceTime a year ago. Albert said: “It’s difficult because she’s in America. But she’s my sister. We’ll always be close.”
Patsy, Albert’s sister, has spent £12,000 trying to help him quit drugs – and she’s faced her own issues with substance abuse. She wrote in her book All of Me: “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.
(Image: Centre Press Agency, Glasgow)
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“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.”
In her 2007 book, Patsy also spilled the beans about starting to smoke marijuana at just 11 and moving on to sniffing solvents. The mum-of-four shared: “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 totally clean and loving life in sunny Malibu with her hubby Richard Merkell and their children. Daily Star has reached out to her reps for comment.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
