Celebs On The Farm star Shaun Williamson has admitted that he doesn’t expect the new MTV show to be the one that finally takes him far away from his much-loved EastEnders character Barry Evans.
Shaun joined EastEnders in 1994 and left 10 years later in 2004 – when his wife Janine Butcher killed Barry by pushing him off a cliff.
Since leaving, Shaun has never been able to get away from his character.
And, he exclusively told Entertainment Daily, that he is fully aware that he was “typecasting himself” by playing Barry in Extras.
What did Shaun Williamson say about Celebs On The Farm?
ED! asked if Shaun thought Celebs On The Farm could be the show that finally takes him far away from the popular EastEnders character.
You realise you’re typcasting yourself being in the show and then working with Ricky Gervais and playing Barry again, you know you’re doing it to yourself.
“No, I don’t,” he laughed. “It’s one of those things.”
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Shaun added: “You realise you’re typcasting yourself being in the show and then working with Ricky Gervais and playing Barry again, you know you’re doing it to yourself.
“But the likelihood of me being offered Uncle Vanya at the Old Vic are receding as the years pass. That’s just the way it is.”
He added: “I just want to enjoy my life. Trust me, these experiences, these are the ones you remember. Sitting on a porch, when you’re 80, you’ll remember jobs like this.”
Is Shaun still in touch with his EastEnders pals?
“With Facebook and Twitter it’s so much easier to keep in touch,” he said.
“I don’t regularly see anyone from EastEnders, but I keep in touch with them on Facebook and things like that.
“It’s nice if you go through an experience like this, when you bump into the person, even if it’s two or three years down the line, you still have that thing in common that you can reminisce about.”
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So does Shaun think his EastEnders co-stars will see him in a new light on Celebs On The Farm?
“I think they see me in a new light regularly since I left,” he said.
“I’ve got an answerphone message that says: ‘I’ll do it!'” he quipped.
“But this, Celebs On The Farm, it’s been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in my life, let alone being in the business. I’ve never really been on a farm since I was a kid on a school trip.”
Celebs On The Farm ‘saved’ him
Shaun also cited the show for saving him “mentally” in 2020.
He said: “I’ve done all sorts of weird and wonderful things since I left EastEnders. I’m not the sort of person who just wants to sit around waiting for the phone to ring. I like to be busy.
“I’m so glad this job came along, though. It saved me mentally for 2020 and for two weeks we could forget all about COVID – although we were regularly tested. It really saved the year for me.”
Brand new to MTV, Celebs On The Farm premieres tonight (February 8) at 9pm.
Head to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and tell us if you’ll be tuning in.