Former EastEnders star Ricky Norwood was told to 'let it out' by Alison Hammond as he became emotional during a tribute to June Brown on today's This Morning.
Hosts Alison and Dermot O'Leary were back on the ITV daytime show and were joined by Ricky, his former co-star Diane Parish, and the programme's 'soap queen' Sharon Marshall to remember the legendary Dot Cotton actress following her death over the weekend.
EastEnders and her family confirmed in a statement issued on Monday that June passed away on Sunday (April 3), aged 95, surrounded by her family at home in Surrey.
The soap icon is best known for playing Dot Cotton in the BBC One soap, a role she landed in 1985 and played up until her quiet exit in 2020. But Dot, a devout Christian and hypochondriac, still remained one of Albert Square's most memorable and much-loved characters.
Tributes quickly poured in for June from the cast of EastEnders and beyond with fans also fondly remembering the 'iconic' moment she met Lady Gaga on the Graham Norton Show.
The stories of June continued on Tuesday on This Morning, with Ricky, who played Fatboy in EastEnders, becoming tearful. "June was... It's really hard talking about her in the past tense, I've got to tell you," he said with tears filling in his eyes with him struggling to continue.
Dermot then jumped in and said: "Let's not, let's just celebrate who she is," as Alison reassured Ricky that it was okay to cry. She said: "Do you know what, just get it out because it's okay to cry, beacuse the fact that you're crying means how special that women was."
As he continued his reflection, Ricky said: "We get to work with people a lot and when you’re working with people in close surroundings, hour and hour and day in, day out, you do form a bond with each other.”
He continued, “With June it was so special because straight away my character wasn’t just about the slang and he wasn’t a superficial type of character, there were layers we were trying to put into him. She was so kind and open. The first scene I had ever had with her, I couldn’t look her in the eye. It was Mrs B, it was June Brown.
"I grew up with her and it was hard to look her in the eye. I remember her saying, 'If you can’t look me in the eye, look me at the end of the nose and we’ll get the shot, get the eyeliner and we’ll move it on.'"
Ricky added: "She was just a true pro," before Diane, who plays Denise Fox in the BBC One soap, said: "Because she is iconic, everybody recognises June Brown and Dot Cotton… what she created in her character from her hair down to her clothing, down to her handbag, like Ricky said, she was a stickler for detail and it was mesmerising watching her prepare herself for a scene.
"She would prepare what’s in her handbag - handkerchief, cigarettes, the right cigarettes, she would arrange how long her cigarette would be… she was a character actress."
Diane then added: "All due respect to our bosses, June was the real Guvnor," which saw the group laugh.
And This Morning viewers were left 'tearful' over their tributes to June.
@timmyhoop1982 tweeted: "#ThisMorning @thismorning well done for the tribute to June Brown."
"That tribute to June. I'm tearful now! #ThisMorning," @MultiHuns said.
@SlapstickSally commented: "Oh, June Brown #ThisMorning," with a crying emoji.
"Loved the character fat boy! June brown will be so so missed. #ThisMorning #EastEnders," @carlie_200 added.
