Anita Dobson opens up on "nightmare" after husband Brian May suffered heart attack

22 October 2021, 14:12

Brian May's wife Anita Dobson admitted it was a "nightmare" becoming his personal carer after he suffered a heart attack during lockdown last year.

Anita Dobson has revealed how tough it was becoming her husband's "cleaner, cook and carer” following the heart attack he suffered last year.

During lockdown in May, Queen guitarist Brian May fell ill with Dobson fearing her life would change forever.

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The former Eastenders star opened up on how she dealt with the huge change in their relationship and her career, whilst the world was changing rapidly due to the pandemic:

"My husband had a heart attack, sciatica and a haemorrhage, and I suddenly went from being a working actress to being a cleaner, cook and carer."

“Not a role I’m easily castable for! I did the best I could and thank God he’s all right now."

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Talking to Women's Weekly magazine, Dobson reveals that it whilst it was a "nightmare" at first, they've both come through the other side.

"He’s very kind. He says, ‘It’s down to Anita that I got through it’. But what you would have seen behind the scenes was a menial who was so grumpy it just wasn’t true."

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“I’d go off into a corner and mutter away to myself, the cat, the fish and the birds in the trees – anybody who would listen.”

Anita has been married to Brian since 2000, and said there were periods when she questioned whether or not their lives would return to normal.

“Lockdown was dreadful, a nightmare that I wish never to go back into." she said.

"Even when Brian started to get better there was this awful feeling of is this my life now?”

Best known for playing Angie Watts, the Queen Vic landlady in Eastenders from 1985 to 1988, Anita has now returning to acting and can focus on her career due to Brian making a full recovery.

Read more: Howzat! Queen's Brian May interrupts cricket match by landing his helicopter on the pitch

She's set to star in ITV drama The Long Call alongside Martin Shaw, saying that the part was “a gift from the Gods to play”.

Meanwhile, Brian May has returned to music himself, releasing a video for the title track from his re-issued 1992 debut solo album Back To The Light which sees the Queen legend playing guitar alongside his younger self.

Brian May - Back To The Light: The Time Traveller 1992-2021 (Official Video)