British soap opera EastEnders has been running since 1985. Many actors have appeared on the show, from Danny Dyer to Ian Beale, some of which have also left to the heartbreak of many viewers . Nonetheless, the characters are still vivid in fans' minds, including the lovingly foolish Barry Evans. The character portrayed by Shaun Williamson was a regular for ten years before he was eventually killed off in 2004.
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He now makes a fortune thanks to an unexpected new job.
Why Shaun Williamson left EastEnders
Shaun Williamson first appeared on EastEnders as a paramedic in 1994. A few months later, he became a regular on the show as the bumbling Barry Evans, a role he maintained for ten years before his character was eventually pushed off a cliff by his second wife Janine Butcher in 2004. He explained why he chose to leave the soap:
They wouldn’t really let you do much, so I just wanted to do something different. Barry was originally supposed to end it with Janine on Valentine’s Day that year. But I’d decided I wanted to leave. They then rewrote scripts and flipped things around so that I would die instead.
While some celebrities try their hardest to dissociate themselves from the character that made them famous, Shaun Williamson chose to own it. He explained during his Barrioke launch party:
It started with being on Extras, then it got to a point where I thought, ‘I’m never going to win an Oscar’, and I came to terms with that. I’m proud of the fact I’m so well-known for it, even though I got pushed off a cliff over 20 years ago. I’m embracing it.
His life took an unexpected turn after the show
Shaun Williamson's life was already a rollercoaster before he joined the soap opera. After finishing school, he took a job as a postman and started drinking up to twelve pints a day before he even turned 18. In an attempt to turn his life around, he joined the Royal Navy. However, this did not work, as he revealed:
I was knocking back 100 pints of lager a week. There are chunks of my Navy time I can’t remember.
After leaving the Navy, he had several other jobs, but his partner at the time, Melanie Sacre, encouraged him to start acting, so he signed up for the Webber-Douglas Academy stage school in London.
This led him to get his part on EastEnders, and to become one of the most-loved characters on air. Shaun Williamson divorced Melanie Sacre in 2013 after thirteen years and two children, Sophie and Joseph. That same year, the actor discovered he has got a secret love child named Gary, born from his brief relationship with a circus performer in 1987. In 2018, he married his second wife, a forensic scientist named Adele Seager.
Despite the twists and turns he's been through, the 58-year-old actor's fame has only grown, thanks to his appearances in other TV shows such as Extras and The Bill. For the last three years, Shaun Williamson has been performing a karaoke act called Barrioke, where the audience gets to sing alongside the actor to tunes such as Sweet Caroline. Barrioke can be booked for up to £3.000 for private appearances. In fact, according to media reports, he has earned as much as half-a-million pounds through this unexpected gig.
Read more:
Eastenders star cancels appearances as he is struggling with health since the death of his partner
Iconic EastEnders actress Kim Medcalf leaves the show yet again, here’s the real reason why
Sources used:
The Sun: BARRY MORE Quitting EastEnders was my best decision – I make fortune doing karaoke & have duetted with star, says Shaun Williamson
Express: '90s EastEnders star admits quitting was best decision and now makes fortune off karaoke
