Who are EastEnders’ Dot Cotton star June Brown’s children in real life as they make cameo on soap

2022-12-13

Three of June Brown's actual children appeared in the Dot Branning funeral episode of EastEnders on Monday, according to the show's bosses.

The legendary character played by June, who graced our screens for over three decades, was honoured in an emotional tribute on Monday in a specially-extended episode of the BBC soap. The star passed away in April this year at the age of 95, with Albert Square finding out earlier this month that Dot, who’d been living off-screen in Ireland, had died peacefully in her sleep.

Executive producer Chris Clenshaw commented: "This is a very special episode for us. It's one we'd rather not have had to do as it means having to say a final farewell to one of our most loved characters.

"When we said goodbye to June Brown earlier this year, we knew at some point we were going to have to say goodbye to Dot.

"I'm sure June won't mind us saying that when she was with us, she was adamant that she didn't want Dot to be killed off. She did of course know that when she did sadly leave us, that it was the right thing to do and we had to give her and the audience the send off they deserve.

"So after some time, we knew we couldn't put it off for much longer and we started to discuss these episodes.”

Speaking to June’s family, her children Nim, Sophie and Billy knew how much the show meant to their mother as one of the soap’s favourite stars and so requested to attend Dot’s funeral to say their goodbyes, Chris revealed.

He added: "Obviously EastEnders meant a lot to June and it was a big part of their lives too. So they approached us – they asked if they could be part of the episode and we thought it was a lovely idea."

After the untimely death of her first husband John Garley, June married the actor Robert Arnold and the couple shared six children, Sophie, Bill, Naomi, Louise and Chloe. However June suffered another heartbreaking loss when their second daughter Chloe died after she was born prematurely at just 28 weeks. June revealed to the Daily Mail: "On the surface, I was fine. But, inside, my heart was breaking.

"Even today, I can’t make a noise when I’m crying. That’s because I’d lie in bed at night after Chloe died, Bob asleep, the tears running silently down my cheeks."

June also admitted on Piers Morgan's Life Stories: "I wasn’t a natural mother. I love my children but it was a lot of work.”

Her children have gone on to enjoy their own successes in their respective careers. Her daughter Lousie Arnold is writer of children’s literature, her son William (Billy) works as a compliance consultant and daughter Naomi (Nim) works as a producer.

Fans of the show can get a glimpse of June’s real-life children sitting with Dot’s great-nephew Reiss in the church in the special episode. Chris went on to say: "They got in touch with us after we shot the episode saying that they had an absolutely wonderful day, because the cast were reminiscing and sharing stories about June. It was a really nice moment."

READ NEXT:

Click here for today's top showbiz news
Lucy Fallon’s ‘wild’ baby shower – gender reveal, Corrie guests and mosh pit
Rihanna on motherhood, three-day maternity leave and rediscovering her sex appeal
Laura Anderson admits her mum fancies her boyfriend Gary Lucy and her friends are ‘obsessed’
For the latest on your favourite celebrities, sign up for OK!'s daily newsletter here

Source: Read Full Article