He’ll run restaurant in France

EASTENDERS star Sid Owen has retired from acting and moved to France to run his restaurant business.

The soap favourite had played dozy mechanic Ricky Butcher on and off for almost 25 years.

But now Sid, 40, has decided to hang up his overalls and bid farewell to Walford for good.

He said: “I’ve retired. I’m now living permanently in France, where I have been on-and-off for the last 10 years, and I’m running my restaurant.

“I haven’t quite made my millions but I’m happy doing that and I’ll never be back.

“I’m done with the UK and I hope that you will never see me on your TV screens again because I’m done and I’ve retired. I much prefer the lifestyle I have now.”

His character was last on screen last month for the wedding of his sister Janine.

BREAK

Sid, whose real name is David Sutton, joined the soap as a schoolboy in 1988.

He quit in 2000, returned in 2002 then left again two years l at e r b e f o r e returning for a third time in 2008. In January he said he planned to leave temporarily to concentrate on being patron of water charity Drop4Drop, run by Adele’s boyfriend Simon Konecki. But his latest comments rule out another return.

Patsy Palmer, who plays Ricky’s fiery on-screen ex-wife Bianca is also on a six-month break from EastEnders.

Sid, who has also appeared in The Bill, Bad Girls and To Buy Or Not To Buy, bought a dilapidated country house in France and opened his first restaurant, Fortuno, nearby. He sold it in 2005 after finishing third on ITV1’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!. In April Sid split from his fiancee Polly Parsons, 28, who presents The Real Hustle.