EastEnders legend June Brown says her failing eyesight means she can no longer watch the show.
The 93-year-old, who played Dot Cotton for 35 years, said she “still has her mind” and vowed to continue working despite having quit the BBC1 soap.
But she said: “I haven’t been watching it as I find it difficult to see the television very clearly.
"If your sight is poor, there’s very little you can do. I read my Kindle instead. I can see where everything is around the house but nothing’s clear.”
June has previously told how she suffers from macular degeneration.
She had eye surgery in 2017 but her vision has since deteriorated.
The actress revealed earlier this year that she would not be returning to Albert Square.
Her final goodbye came as Dot moved to Ireland after step-granddaughter Sonia stole money from her.
Show bosses insisted the door was always open for June to return, but she said recently: “I don’t want a retainer for EastEnders, I’ve left for good.
"I’ve sent her off to Ireland and that’s where she’ll stay.”
June joined EastEnders in 1985, the year it launched – joining original cast members including Leonard Fenton, who played Dr Harold Legg, Gretchen Franklin (Ethel Skinner) and Anna Wing (matriarch Lou Beale).
Talking to the Mirror about her decades on the show, she said: “I enjoyed myself enormously for the years that I was in it. I used to leave occasionally for other work because I don’t think it’s good to do the same thing.
“I can hardly believe I went in to do three months and then I was asked if I wanted to be a permanent character. I had no idea it was going to be for 30-odd years.
"I enjoyed most of it. I loved the people, the make-up and wardrobe. It was like a family. I shall miss it.”
She had been due to work on a documentary, “but unfortunately lockdown happened and I haven’t been able to do it”.
Our photo shows June on one of her first times out of the house since lockdown.
She joked: “At least people will know that I am not retired!”
