Jungle Minty’s real-life tragedy
DAD TELLS SOAP STAR’S AMAZING TALE OF HOW HE BEAT TOUGH CHILDHOOD
CLIFF Parisi’s dad says he has “blanked out” his son’s early years, when the family were evicted from their home after he and his wife refused to sell their children to an evil landlady.
George Manley, 82, said: “Life was very hard in those days. I had a very poor upbringing and things were tough for most people.
“We lived in one room in Crouch End. It was very, very hard. You survived like everyone else.
“Chicken was fairly cheap, although my mum always said chicken was something we could only have at Christmas.”
Cliff, 60, was a newborn when the childless landlady came up with the sick plan to buy him and his year-old sister.
After George and his wife Irene refused, they were kicked out of their London home. The family slept rough in Victoria Park in Hackney, before social services were alerted and took the kids away from their parents.
Cliff explained: “When my mum came back from hospital with me, she wouldn’t give me or my sister up, so the landlady threw us all out.”
The children were placed in a home in Reading, Berkshire, which was too far away for their parents to visit, but Cliff and his sister were eventually returned to the couple. Cliff was in his
50s when he learned of the family secret.
Speaking from his home in Milton
Keynes, Bucks,
George, a retired design engineer, said: “I can’t remember now. You blank out those things in your mind.”
Cliff began his career as a stand-up comedian back in the 1980s.
He then began acting and appeared in Bramwell and Chancer before landing the role of Minty in Eastenders in 2002. He is also known for playing Fred in Call the Midwife.
Dodgy
George said Cliff had always been popular, which would stand him in good stead for winning the ITV contest.
He said: “He was a very active boy, always climbing trees and falling out of trees. He was just a lovely boy, he never got into any trouble or anything.
“He was very, very popular. He had lots of friends – we had to lock them out, he had so many. “He still has friends that he had when he was at school. They are very loyal. He’s a good l ad. He is l i ke Minty. Everyone loved Minty, one of the reasons
they loved Minty is not just because of the way Cliffy played it, but because he always got stitched up by the women.
“He could never find a girlfriend and when he did she was dodgy.”
George said things had worked out “very differently” for Cliff, who has two children with wife Tara and three children from previous relationships.
He said: “He’s done very well, worked hard. He’s a grandad now. I’m very proud of him, he has done extremely well.”
Cliff has already been a hit with campmates but is struggling with headaches brought on by the lack of food in camp. Describing his experience in three words, he said: “Challenging, hungry, scary.”
He admitted he was glad he had come into the show late with Andy Whyment.
Cliff said: “I am grateful in a way that I have come in late.
“These guys have done half a week’s work before I even arrived.”
His dad said Cliff was “brave” for going into the jungle, which he said was a “dangerous place”. He said: “I wouldn’t go in there so I think he is very brave to go in. I reckon they actually plan things to get you to be annoyed with someone else, but Cliff gets on with everybody.”