EastEnders Clare Bates actress Gemma Bissix speaks out on emotional return after 18 years
EastEnders actress Gemma Bissix has spoken out about her emotional return to the BBC soap after 18 years away, as her character Clare Bates reunites with her dad Nigel
As Clare Bates returns to EastEnders next week, actress Gemma Bissix has spoken about her emotional comeback.
It’s been “a long time coming”, Gemma revealed, with fans in agreement. Viewers of the BBC soap have wanted Clare back ever since her adoptive father Nigel Bates confirmed his dementia diagnosis last year.
His own return after decades away has seen sad scenes, as the character’s health continues to deteriorate. With wife Julie Bates and pal Phil Mitchell now caring for him, upcoming scenes see them accept that Nigel needs to be looked after in a care home.
Gemma, who debuted on the show in 1993 when she was just nine years old, confessed it was emotional to reunite with her co-stars after so long, and to film the moment Clare and Nigel are brought back together. She’s thrilled to have been asked back by Executive Producer Ben Wadey, teasing what’s ahead.
Gemma revealed: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to be back, and a privilege to be involved in Nigel’s poignant dementia storyline. I think it’s a storyline that sadly resonates with so many people and it’s been a real full circle moment for me, as EastEnders is where I learnt my craft as I was on the show from the age of 9.”
“I don’t think there is anything specific I do to get back into Clare, but I feel like Clare is actually very similar to myself. She’s probably one of the only characters that I’ve ever played that is so close to who I am as a person, and that’s probably because when you’re 9 years old working on a TV show, you don’t really know anything else, or have much life experience, other than acting your version of that character from a version of your own reality.”
Gemma, who debuted on the show in 1993 when she was just nine years old, confessed it was emotional to reunite with her co-stars(Image: BBC)
Gemma also touched on filming with actor Paul Bradley again, who plays Nigel. She said: “It was a long time coming, and I was just so chuffed because I haven’t seen Paul Bradley in over 20 years and so to be able to reconnect with him and work with him again felt like time had stood still.
“It was like no time had passed at all, and Paul is exactly the same lovely person he was before. Paul was sort of like a stepfather to me in real life at work, as we spent six years on screen together from 1993 to 1999, and Karen and I were close as well.
“They make me feel like I’m a child again, in the best possible way.” Sadly, Nigel will struggle to recognise his daughter, leaving Clare devastated. Gemma explains: “It’s a complete rejection in every sense of the word. It’s like losing her mum all over again, and I think she probably naively thought that Nigel would be around forever which is why I suppose she took for granted that she didn’t have to see him.
Clare was last on the show in 2008(Image: BBC)
“Unless he was going to make the effort, she wasn’t going to, but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t any love there, it just means that it’s a fight of emotions. I think they both been waiting for each other to make the first move and reach out to one another.”
Teasing how Clare may be this time around after her 2008 stint, Gemma went on: “The last time we saw her in the show, she was a bit of a maneater, and a bit more of a con artist, and those actions probably came from her inner trauma, and having no one to discipline her because her mum died when she was young, and when Nigel met Julie, I think Clare felt really pushed out. All Clare wants is the love of her dad, and she can see that she might not have that again, and she’s missed her opportunity, so it’s really heartbreaking for her.”
Gemma was also thrilled to reunite with her co-stars, having fond memories of the show which kicked off her career. She said: “It was one of the loveliest things. Seeing Paul for the first time was great and he gave me the biggest hug. It was so lovely to see Steve McFadden.
“I was also really close to Barbara Windor when I worked there before, and she got me my agent when I left, and I’m still with that agency to this day, so there’s such a legacy for me there. The funniest thing is the people who really haven’t changed to me are Jane Slaughter who plays Tracy, Ulric who plays Winston, and some of the actors in the market as they’ve been there for the best part of 20 years.”
