June Brown has revealed that she is struggling with both her hearing and sight – but she won't let it stop her from continuing to portray Dot Cotton in EastEnders. The 88-year-old, who first joined the BBC soap in 1985, shared the news of her ailments after struggling to hear her former co-star Barbara Windsor speak during a Q&A on Saturday.
Barbara, who played Peggy Mitchell, brought her friend on-stage at London's BFI with June commenting: "Are you talking to me Babs? Tell me, because I am deaf you see and it is very hard for me to hear so I don't know what you are talking about. What did you say to me?"
© Photo: BBCJune Brown has revealed she is losing her hearing
She added to the audience: "Sorry, I would like you all to shout because I can't hear, you see. I am ever so sorry. I am straining here."
The actress has since told The Sun that her hearing was affected during a recent flight to Glasgow, explaining: "Unfortunately it happened when I was going up to Glasgow for a charity. My ears impacted and they haven't come back since. I hope that they might do at some moment."
The revelation comes just three months after June said that she is beginning to lose her sight.
© Photo: RexThe actress made the revelation in a Q&A with Barbara Windsor
"I see things in my eyes now," she told Radio 4. "My eyes are not very good. In the left occasionally I do get this small circle with what looks like cross-wires. I do pray about my sight – maybe it will return."
However money worries mean that June is not prepared to leave her role on the long-running soap.
"You might laugh at that and think 'she'll never be poor when she's old', but I've not squirreled away lots of money. I've had two pensions each that have gone down by 50 per cent."
