June Brown has reportedly been offered a deal worth £300,000 to extend her contract on ‘EastEnders’ for another year.
The 89-year-old actress – who is known for portraying chain-smoking laundrette worker Dot Cotton in the long-running soap – will see her contract come to an end in March next year but bosses are already keen to slap down an offer she can’t refuse in a bid to keep her tied to the BBC One show until 2018.
A source told The Sunday Mirror newspaper: "Bosses at the BBC like to open talks early so things don’t go down to the wire. They realise June isn’t getting any younger but she has intimated that she wants to carry on in the role as long as she feels able, so that is great news."
However, producers may have to dig a little deeper to persuade June to stay as she admitted recently that she’d like to hang up her character’s overalls before she turns 90 in February.
She said: "I don’t know how long I’ll stay. I don’t think I want to end my life on a soap, but we’ll see.
"I don’t want to be 100, or even 90. I don’t think I look nearly 90, but because I can’t see these days I don’t know. You don’t think about your age, you just knock it down."
June first joined the programme in 1985 – when she was 58 – when she was brought in temporarily after her on-screen son Nick Cotton (John Altman) was accused of murder.
But her contract was extended time and time again after her bible-loving alter ego became a huge hit with viewers.
She took six months off from playing Dot in 2012 to write her autobiography but returned to the soap the following year.
Throughout her time on the show, June has found herself at the centre of some explosive storylines and, although she’s getting older, it seems bosses are still keen to give her a major role.
Her alter ego was left devastated in the summer when she learnt that her beloved laundrette was being shut down.
Not only is Dot trying to come to terms with losing her job, she’s just found out that her eyesight is deteriorating.
June Brown offered 300k deal to extend EastEnders contract
