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Dean Gaffney at Foxy Bingo

Dean Gaffney appeared live on a special Foxy Radio show on Tuesday June 10th. You can listen to that show again here.

You’re most famous for playing Robbie Jackson in EastEnders – what’s it like to be synonymous with a particular character?

Well I’m lucky really, because I think I’m probably known as Dean Gaffney more than Robbie. I’m not blowing my own trumpet, but if you say ‘Dean Gaffney’, whatever opinion people have of me, they can still picture who Dean Gaffney is.

So why do you think people knew you as Dean Gaffney rather than as Robbie, even when you were in EastEnders?

Mainly because the press didn’t leave me alone. I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. And having kiss and tells in the papers played a big part. If you’re constantly in the newspapers on a Sunday, people are going to know who you are - perhaps for the wrong reasons. So it’s had its pros and cons. The pros are that people know my name. The cons are that my family have had to read stories that aren’t entirely true.

The big news on the set of EastEnders at the moment is that Robbie’s sister Bianca has returned. Do you think you’ll you ever go back?

It’s a question that’s asked all the time. Obviously more so now that Patsy’s back. They’ve really bigged her up, which is great. Patsy’s a massive character, and even though Robbie was too, I don’t think my character is missed as much as Bianca was. It’d be lovely to reprise the role in the future, but I don’t think the timing’s right for Robbie to come back.

The EastEnders seem like a happy lot off screen – did you find them a friendly bunch?

Definitely. I was 15 when I joined, and it sounds clichéd but we were like one big family. We’d all go out regularly, especially the younger members of the cast, whether it be once a week to a nightspot or just for food.

Do you still have friends from your days on the Square?

God, yeah! It’s like any job, of course - if you leave, you keep in touch for a couple of months and then things fizzle out - but I’ve been lucky enough to kind of keep up with people like Sid (Owen), Patsy (Palmer), Natalie (Cassidy), Steve McFadden and Barbara Windsor. I was out for dinner with Steve recently and it’s really nice that we all keep in touch. I’ve grown up with these people so it would be hard to just close the door behind me. On the other hand, I’m not so naive that I don’t realise time moves on and different relationships are formed.

What about storylines? Have you got a favourite?

There were lots, but one of the great things was finding Wellard because the dog became so linked to me and tagged to Robbie. It’s always ‘Robbie and Wellard’, whoever Wellard goes to, whether it be Gus or another character.

Do you ever miss the dog?

Like Steptoe misses his Son?! No, it was great and kept me in a job for 10 years, but much as I love dogs, I’d only ever see the dog once a week for an hour or so.

Was it ever difficult working with Wellard?

Yeah and no. The company who own those dogs put them in films and on TV all the time. The same dog was in 101 Dalmatians so it was trained to be obedient. I always smelled of food though, because they were constantly giving me sausages to get him to follow me.

What was your most embarrassing moment on EastEnders?

When me and Sid Owen, who played Ricky, both nicked – well, kind of jumped in - the milk float and drove it round the Square for a laugh. But we crashed it, so that was the most embarrassing and worrying thing that happened. We got really told off for that.

Did you have to pay for damage?

No, but we had to eat a lot of humble pie.

What was Robbie’s funniest storyline?

Because Robbie was purely there for comedy value, every storyline that I had was comical. Helping Barry with his wedding, being his best man, working in the video shop with Nigel… it was all funny. It was nice to always go to work and be smiling.

We’ve recently seen you on Harry Hill and Extras – would you like to do more comedy?

Definitely. With the way TV is changing at the moment, there’s such a shortage of work. It’s all reality-based now. It started with Big Brother and it’s just gone on and on. I heard recently that they’re doing a show called Celebrity Rehab. The whole world’s gone insane. I mean, we all have problems, but none that you’d want to talk about in front of millions and millions of viewers. I really feel sorry for anyone on that show - not in a ‘Oh my god, they’ve got a drug problem’ way, just because they’re sad that they have to go on television and tell the whole nation they’ve got a problem.

You also appeared on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! and described yourself as the sort of person who’d run away from a daddy-longlegs – weren’t you terrified?

I think that’s why I was picked in the first place - for the fact that I’m petrified of everything. It makes better TV.

Did you overcome your fear out there?

Certainly, when I see small spiders round the house, it’s much easier to pick them up and throw them out in the garden now.

What was your worst moment in the Jungle?

The trials. Actually no, the boredom was probably worse, because there are 24 hours in a day and you’re up for 19 for them. And much as it’s picturesque and you can walk about, there’s actually nothing to do. When you’re in the Jungle, there’s no pens, no paper. Its just conversation, conversation, conversation - 19 hours a day.

You seemed well liked - did you find anyone annoying?

Luckily there were no really outspoken people that year. David Guest maybe, but he was actually pretty funny and witty, so he never really p’d you off. If I’d done it the year with Janice Dickinson or, I can’t remember her name - Carol someone [Thatcher] – they’d have driven me insane.

You’re a household name. What are the pros and cons of that kind of fame?

The pros are the money. I’ve not got footballers’ money, but from the age of 15 I’ve been earning better than most people my age. I live in a house with no mortgage, so for a 30-year-old guy with two children, I’ve done really well. And doing a job I love. So many people are out of work or doing jobs they don’t like. The cons are that, unless you’re on a full-time show like EastEnders, you’re in and out of work all the time. And that people read stuff about your life and know all about you. But the pros far outweigh the cons.

Is there a catchphrase that people shout at you in the street?

God, yeah! It’ll always be ‘Where’s Wellard?’ Even after I was in the Jungle, or on Extras working at Carphone Warehouse, it was still ‘Where’s Wellard?’ It just shows how big EastEnders is because I left five years ago and I’ve done lots of things since, but people always, always, always come back to EastEnders.

What’s your take on the spate of kiss and tell stories about you in the papers?

They way I look at it is: I’ve never masturbated in front of my webcam, I’ve never bought drugs, I’ve never taken a line of coke, I’ve never beaten my missus up. There are lots of things I don’t do - I’ve never taken a drug in my life, I don’t smoke, I very rarely drink. In my eyes, I’m not a bad person at all, and I don’t think I’m doing that bad. Growing up, I was a normal 18/19/20/21-year-old red-blooded heterosexual male who went out and enjoyed women’s company. That’s all it was, and life is a learning curve and you have to learn from your mistakes. At 21 years old, in the biggest show in the country, I defy anyone not to enjoy a time like that, whether it be with females or whatever. But obviously it catches up with you and it never goes away. There are stories told about me that happened when I was 19, but they make out that it happened two weeks ago. But there’s no smoke without fire. I’d have to have been in these situations, otherwise they couldn’t have printed it, but a lot of it’s fabricated and blown out of proportion.

Did the stories put a strain on your relationship with your wife Sarah? And are you still together?

Yeah, we are at the moment. When you’ve been with someone for 13 years, they know you very well and know when you’re lying - they just know you. If something’s printed in the papers and I’m lying and saying, ‘It wasn’t me. I wasn’t even there,’ she can see through me. And the fact that she’s still here after 13 years proves that she can see through what the papers are saying and that things aren’t always how they’re printed. Sarah’s no lackey - if there was any wrongdoing towards her, she’d be out the door.

You recently turned 30. Do you feel any different about the future now that you’ve had a big landmark birthday?

I don’t feel 30, whatever 30 feels like. I don’t feel any different than when I was 25. But I’m of a mindset now that I need to get back into full-time acting employment, and I also want to direct, so I’ve enrolled on a course at the National Film and Television School. I have a gameplan that by the age of 35 I’ll have directed my first feature film.

What appeals to you about directing?

I think it’s important to have strings to your bow with whatever you do. If the acting is drying up because reality TV is kicking in, instead of watching Jeremy Kyle at home I want to get off my backside and help myself. So, yeah, it’s studying for two years, but after those two years I’ll be guaranteed a job in the industry.

What would your dream directing job be?

A Brit film. Something gritty and raw, like Nil by Mouth. Something thought-provoking, something you watch and go, ‘Oh my god, what an amazing film!’

You’ve recently done some theatre, with The Unexpected Guest – how was that?

It was great because it was live theatre every night of the week, and I played a kind of retard - which was a completely different experience to get my teeth into. The nicest thing was that, wherever we went - Manchester, Liverpool or London - my reviews were always great: ‘Dean Gaffney blew us away’ or ‘He’s proved that he’s not just a one-trick pony who walks a dog round a square.’

Would you like to do more theatre in the future?

Yeah, theatre’s great. But I think it’s important to do a bit of both. I’ve done a whole year of theatre now and I’m kind of itching to get back on telly.