After a difficult few years, former EastEnders heartthrob Paul Nicholls, who played schizophrenic Joe Wicks, is back on television in a new BBC drama. He has completely changed from the character he played on Albert Square.
Paul Nicholls, a former EastEnders star, appears a million miles away from his days working for Albert Square in his new BBC role.
In the children’s drama Phoenix Rise, the 44-year-old actor who plays a father of two is virtually unrecognizable.
In his new role, he plays Carl, the father of Rihanna, 11, and Billy, 15, both of whom attend a school for the marginalized.
When the actor from Bolton was cast as the troubled Joe Wicks in the BBC Soap in 1996, he instantly became a teen heartthrob.
His brooding good looks and curtains-style hair, which have since been replaced by a more mature cut, immediately won him fans. He was twice named TV’s sexiest actor and appeared on the covers of all the top teen magazines.
He was only on the show for a year, though, due to his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
He bravely revealed to the Daily Mail in 2008 that he was struggling with addiction, saying: “People said I had too much, too soon when I was playing Joe Wicks – and maybe they were right.
“I could not handle the attention,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to be a heartthrob.”
Despite his problems, he continued to work after leaving the soap opera, making appearances on programs like Law and Order: UK, The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Grantchester, Death in Paradise, and the first two seasons of Ackley Bridge.
When he was chosen to play the bad boy drug smuggler Jed in Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason in 2004, he also had an impact on Hollywood.
He had a near-fatal accident in 2017 while on vacation in Thailand when he got stuck at the bottom of a waterfall for three days after falling down it.
When assistance did arrive, it was discovered that he had two broken legs and 37 different infections, including dengue fever, cholera, and malaria. He was forced to spend six months in the hospital by himself.
Later, Paul learned that these infections had persisted in his blood and caused his stroke.
“My entire right side was paralyzed. At the time, he told The Sun, “I knew it was a stroke.
I completed my physio. I went through the motions but spent the majority of my time in bed. “2019 as a whole was essentially a write-off,” he said.
He acknowledged that this caused him to experience a severe depression, which in turn drove him to use drugs once more.
But after joining Narcotics Anonymous and attending regular meetings, he was able to break the habit once more and maintain his sobriety.
He admitted that he still worries about relapsing, but he had set a goal of returning to work and staying clean for a year, which he has now accomplished.
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