Blast From The Past: Sid Owen (Eastenders’ Ricky)
He may have left Walford, but star Sid Owen is jumping back into the world of soap…
When soap stars depart, they often want to shake off their old persona and move on. But once you’ve been in someone’s living room three, four or five times a week, they will never really forget you. Sid Owen, who played Eastenders’ Ricky Butcher intermittently for nearly 25 years, realises this only too well – but he’s now happy to embrace it, as he embarks on a new soap endeavour...
“It’s been a big part of my life, and it’s no different now from when I was in the show 20 years ago,” he tells us. “I still get recognised – that’s the life of being on soap! I live in France now, though, so people shout ‘Ricardo!’ at me rather than ‘Ricky!’”
However, Sid is making a return to our shores – and his soap roots – to take part in Soap In The Cinema, a new tour hosted at Odeon cinemas, where soap legends past and present look back at their time on the box.
“It gives fans a chance to meet us and ask us questions, and get a better insight into the soap world,” he says. “There are some old pals of mine doing it with me – Gary Lucy (Hollyoaks’
Luke), who I’ve known for years,
John Altman (Eastenders’ ‘Nasty’ Nick Cotton), who’s just lovely – I can’t believe he’s 66, he looks amazing! – and Sherrie Hewson (Corrie’s Maureen Webster), who I did 100 Years Younger with last year. We all got together to make an ad for it – everyone sort of looking moody, like they’re movie stars rather than soap stars.”
While Sid last appeared in
Eastenders back in 2012, when Ricky headed to Germany after another bust-up with on-off partner Bianca, he’s been no stranger to our TV screens, appearing in several reality shows – including I’m A Celebrity…,
Strictly Come Dancing and Masterchef.
“I think my favourite show I’ve done was The Jump, because it was doing something I love, which is skiing, although I’ll admit it was very scary at points,” he shares. “I enjoyed Strictly, too. Learning to dance was great, but it was a lot of work and a lot of pressure. And
Masterchef certainly boosted my kitchen skills, that’s for sure!”
And Sid reveals that he is currently honing another new skill – by writing a book…
“It’s autobiographical, from nought to 16, just before I joined
Eastenders,” explains the star, who was a child actor, appearing in the film Revolution with movie icon Al Pacino. “It’s quite tough as you have to be in the right frame of mind to sit down and write, but I have a publishing deal, so I’ll soon be pressured with deadlines!”