TV HEARTTHROB Soap legend, 61, looks unrecognisable with bushy grey beard 36 years after quitting show
He quit the spotlight to raise his two sons
HE had women around the UK swooning in the late 80s as a clean-shaven EastEnders heartthrob.
And a two years after his exit in 1990, he reaffirmed his position as a housewives’ favourite when he swapped his paisley shirts for a 60s police uniform in Heartbeat.
Nowadays, he might look very different with white hair and a bushy beard, but he still has impeccable fashion taste.
Actor Nick Berry, 61, was pictured out and about in Essex wearing a striped scarf, shades and a coat.
He oozed a relaxed cool with his hand tucked in his pockets and a confident stride.
The popular star made a surprising decision in the early noughties, quitting the acting industry while still in his prime years.
Heartbeat cast including Nick Berry & Tricia Penrose look very different now
After two series of cop drama In Deep, alongside Stephen Tompkinson, Nick decided to become a stay-at-home dad, aged 39.
He has two sons – Louis, 27, and Finley, 24 – with wife Rachel, who he married in 1994.
By that point in his career, he was rumoured to have built up a £5m fortune and favoured time with loved ones over the bright lights.
He had no regrets, telling the Mail in 2011: “I chose to be a stay-at-home dad and have loved it…
“I always said that when the boys were teenagers I could go back, but the longer you don’t do something the harder it is to do it, and I haven’t really missed it. While I’d never say never, I’m genuinely happy as I am.
“The job was great. You’re driven everywhere, fed every five minutes and told what to do and where to go. What I struggled with was that the boys were very young and I felt like I was away filming all the time…”
Such was his pulling power in Enders as Simon Wicks, that he was reportedly offered a £2m golden handcuffs deal to stay with the soap.
He arrived in the Square as the estranged son of Pete Beale in 1986 and had some major storylines.
Nick based his cheeky-chappy character around his “ladies man” brother Simon, saying: “He’s extremely good-looking and is almost always the centre of attention wherever he goes.”
Some of his biggest storylines included an affair with Cindy Beale, which prompted her furious husband Ian to confront him on a staycation in Devon, and a confusing and convoluted exploration of his paternal origins.
Nick had a brief, but successful, pop career in ’86 with his song Every Loser Wins topping the charts. He then made it to number two in 1992 with the Heartbeat title song.
EastEnders bosses made attempts to woo him back over the years, but his only comeback to date was in 2012 when he said goodbye to his on-screen mum Pat Evans, played by Pam St Clement.
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Simon missed her funeral, having travelled over from New Zealand, and was seen in the end credits of an episode saying, “bye, mum” as he laid flowers on her grave.
