BBC EastEnders' Sid Owen says worst part of prison show was missing family event

31 October 2023 , 21:00

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EastEnders' Sid Owen shares 'lowest moment' in prison as he teases Ricky’s return to soap (Image: EastEnders' Sid Owen shares 'lowest moment' in prison as he teases Ricky’s return to soap)

EastEnders star Sid Owen has revealed the worst part of being jailed for a new Channel 4 show, Banged Up, as he hints at Ricky Butcher's return to the soap.

The 51-year-old swapped Albert Square for the cells in June as part of a radical social experiment, which sees celebrities incarcerated in the decommissioned HMP Shrewsbury to explore the impact of the UK prison system on society.

For eight days, Sid was forced to live alongside ex-convicts and obey former officers, both of whom agreed to behave as they would have in jail to make the experience as realistic as possible. It didn't take long for the hellish environment to push the Walford icon to his limits, even driving him to attempt an escape on his second day inside.

Sid Owen with Tom Rosenthal and Marcus Luther in Banged Up (Colin Hutton / Channel 4)

But when asked what was his lowest point behind bars, the soap star revealed it had nothing to do with his living quarters.

"I was in prison for Father’s Day, as quite a new dad," he tells the Mirror. "It didn’t even enter my head at first when they asked me to do it and then I looked at it and saw the date." Sid became a dad for the first time last January, after welcoming a daughter Skye with fiancée Victoria Shores. "The guy, Lewis, who I shared a cell with had a daughter and he got 17 years for robbery. He pretty much missed all of his daughter’s first 10 years of growing up. And it’s not a nice place to go see your dad, in a prison."

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Sid said the hardest part of being in prison was being away on Father's Day (Colin Hutton / Channel 4)

The pain of being away from his family on Father's Day left Sid determined to be present for the celebration next year. "Let’s hope I get some more work but let’s hope I don’t miss my next Father’s Day," he added.

He also added that he had visited his own father in prison as a child on one occasion, and never went back. "That was enough. I was only four years old, I wasn’t too aware of it then, thank God," he said. "But as I got older my brothers were in and out of prison. It was just not a nice place."

Elsewhere in the interview, Sid teased Ricky Butcher's return to EastEnders - as well as his hopes for the beloved character's next storyline. "I would always consider returning as Ricky because acting is what I’ve done since I was 16," he said. "Luckily, they’ve always left the door open. I’d like to return, the public needs to see Ricky and Bianca again on screen."

Banged Up airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday 31st October at 9:15pm.

Emma Dooney