Former ‘EastEnders’ star Aaron Sidwell fears he won’t earn any money this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 31-year-old actor – who played Steven Beale on the BBC soap – feels like he’s fallen through the cracks of society during the pandemic, and admitted it’s become "hard to keep smiling" because of his current predicament.
The dad-of-two – who has starred in numerous stage productions in recent years – wrote on Twitter: "Is hard to keep smiling when everything I’ve worked so hard to build for 13 years could be taken away because I had 3 successful financial years. I could, quite seriously, earn £0 in 12 months. #SelfEmployed #FallenThroughTheCracks #FatherOfTwo #AlwaysPaidTax (sic)"
Aaron previously insisted he never wants to star in a soap again, after his ‘EastEnders’ character was killed off in 2017.
Speaking in January 2018, he said: "I don’t want to do a soap again. It wasn’t a discipline I enjoyed.
"I mean, I admire the actors on there who are so instinctive that they can do it, but I was definitely ready to go. There was a lot of negativity around, and my storylines did meander for me.
"I also think the soap actors can sometimes get taken for granted too."
Aaron feels much more at home on stage than on screen, because he gets to "push boundaries" and develop new skills.
He explained: "I always felt like I didn’t belong there quite as much as I do in a theatre environment.
"Doing theatre means you get to push boundaries a little more, and there’s always something new to discover."