EastEnders’ Paul Nicholls looks VERY different as he takes on role in a new BBC kid’s drama

Paul Nicholls looks very different from his time on EastEnders, as he takes on a role in a new BBC kid’s drama.

The actor, 44, who appeared on Albert Square as schizophrenic Joe Wicks, has landed a new role in Phoenix Rise, the channel’s latest high school drama.

In the show Paul plays Carl, dad of 15-year-old Billy and 11-year-old Rihanna, who attend a school for the excluded in the West Midlands. 

The former soap star has ditched his trademark curtains and blond highlights in favour of a shorter, dark haircut. 

Paul left EastEnders 26 years ago, back in 1997 following just one year on the cobbles, after struggling with drink and drugs. 

The EastEnders star joined the soap in 1996 but left a year later after failing to overcome his drink and drug problems.

He went on to have a number of TV roles and even played bad boy Jed in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, alongside Renee Zellweger. 

Paul has previously insisted his trouble with addiction began in 2017 when he endured a near-fatal accident in Thailand. He was rescued three days after being trapped at the base of a waterfall.

He was found semi-conscious and suffering from hypothermia after falling from the jungle above and smashing his leg, something the actor admits he has never fully recovered from.

According to Paul, he battled 37 different infections including malaria, cholera and dengue fever. He also revealed that he was left in hospital on his own in Samiu for six months on intravenous antibiotics before returning to Manchester.

The following year, Paul suffered from a stroke which almost killed him, sending him to ‘rock bottom’.

He remembered collapsing before waking approximately 16 hours later to find he couldn’t feel the right side of his body.

According to Paul, it took him three hours to make his way to the phone to call an ambulance. He was paralysed throughout half of his body and felt like his ‘life was over,’ as he broke down in tears to the publication.

He had to attend physio to regain movement, but felt the damage was already done as his illness triggered a deep depression and subsequent four-day drug binge relapse in 2020. 

Paul has previously told The Sun of his 2020 relapse: ‘The rabbit hole I went down led to places that I never thought I’d end up in — in flats with people that I didn’t know. 

‘I was taking lots of dihydrocodeine, a very strong opiate pain killer and on top of that, cocaine… every time I relapsed cocaine is always present. 

‘At certain points I’d be gone for three or four days and not sleep at all. I stopped caring, I pressed the ‘f*** it’ button.

‘The last time I ended up in a flat with people smoking stuff, doing this and doing that. They recognised me. I was looking around and I thought, ‘If I don’t stop, I will die’.

‘I’ve still got so much shame around this stuff.’ 

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