Loose Women's Denise Welch has paid tribute to a former EastEnders actress after she died backstage while performing in a Nottingham play. Josephine Melville, 61, passed away backstage at Nottingham Playhouse following her performance in the play Nine Night on Thursday, October 20.
The actress, who played Tessa Parker in EastEnders during the 1980s, was starring as Maggie in production. Josephine received immediate assistance from Nottingham Playhouse first aiders and a medically qualified member of the Nine Night audience. She was quickly treated by paramedics but sadly passed away at the scene.
The talk show panellist, 64, offered her respects to the actress, tweeting: "So so sad. A wonderful actress." Josephine arrived in Walford as Tessa Parker, a college friend of Kelvin Carpenter, in 1986 and reappeared in the soap in 2005 as Ellie Wright for one episode.
