Ex-EastEnder has a new outlook after cleaning up his act
JOHN Partridge belts it out from the rooftops, louder than any line he ever delivered as Christian Clarke in Eastenders.
“I’m sober and I’m in the best shape of my life,” says the star performer who landed a major role in Cats, aged just 16.
“If I’d known of the benefits of giving up drink and drugs I’d have done it years ago. It’s given me a great piece of mind.”
Until a year ago, the Manchester-born actor was not only a party animal, he was top dog. Yet, the madness reached the point where the state of sobriety was somewhere he rarely visited.
John’s career path had been consistently progressive, bringing bigger and better projects.
And now, the star of recent production of La Cage Aux Folles has landed his first straight role in theatre with the Agatha Christie Company’s version of Edgar Wallace’s The Case of the Frightened Lady.
The former Royal Ballet School pupil also won huge plaudits for his TV roles.
So what was the life of excess all about, John? Why the constant need for escape?
“I’ve never liked the word ‘escape’,” he replies, with a wry smile. “The truth is, I just didn’t want to be me. I didn’t want to be alone with myself.
“In some ways I was frightened of what I might feel, or face about myself – the things I’ve done or the way I’ve attacked my life.”
Partridge adds: “So you use alcohol, shopping, food, sex... It’s about what you use to feel a different way.”
It’s still hard to understand, John. From the outside, you seem to have it all, I suggest.
“Look, I was always comfortable with the performance part of me,” he says.
“I always knew I could dance and I was really good.
“I went into Cats at 16 because I knew I could dance anyone off the stage. But am I good looking enough? Am I funny enough? Am I clever enough? All these other things I wasn’t sure of.”
Did he have problems with his sexuality (he married Jon Tsouras in 2011)? “No, that side of things was good. I had no tragic coming-out story. I had love and unconditional support from my family.
He grins, saying: “In some ways, I’m a terrible role model for the LGBT community. I wasn’t gay-bashed, and my sexuality comes far down my list of issues. I’ve never really considered it.”
That’s not to say he wasn’t upset when he joined EastEnders because, while he’s always been openly gay, the soap’s publicists now described him as such.
“The point is, why mention it in the first place?” he says. “The implication is that there is something off.”
He smiles again. “They said I was ‘an openly gay actor’. Does this mean I’m also open about being an actor?”
I’m going to describe you as ‘an actor,’ John, have no fear. “You can describe me as the gayest actor in the UK,” he says, laughing. “There you go. I’ve got the broad shoulders for it.”
He does. Pics reveal he looks more ripped than a teenager’s jeans.
“I wasn’t in good shape though,” he says of the pre-abstention period.
Come on, John. You never looked like a telly tubby. “No, but the drinking had to stop. I worked out that I had wanted to feel as comfortable in other areas of life as I did about my grand jetes and my leg kicks.
“I wanted to feel as if I were dancing though every other aspect of my life – and the way to do that was getting high and getting drunk.
“It took me until aged 46 to work that out.”
Did therapy play a part? “No, the therapy industry doesn’t work,” he exclaims. “And neither does rehab.
“Those people are like the diet industry – they prey on