Entertainment

John Partridge says his mother died with nothing in the bank due to care costs

He said he had to sell her house to pay the bills.
He said he had to sell her house to pay the bills. He said he had to sell her house to pay the bills.

Former EastEnders star John Partridge has revealed his mother died with nothing in her bank account because of the cost of care home fees, just a year after he took part in Celebrity Big Brother to help pay for her medical bills.

The soap star, who played Christian Clarke on the BBC show, revealed she died three weeks ago after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia in 2010.

John Partridge
John Partridge
John Partridge on Big Brother (Channel 5)

He told Good Morning Britain he looked after his mother Bridget for years at home because of the expense of care, but the costs still racked up.

He said: “We still had to have nurses that came in, there were still costs involved in that, then when we as a family felt we were not equipped medically to deal with her condition – my sister and I both work – we had to find her a placement.

“The only place we felt was fitting for her cost that amount of money and we saw a lot of places.”

Celebrity Big Brother contestant John Partridge
Celebrity Big Brother contestant John Partridge
John Partridge (Jonathan Ford/Channel 5)

He added: “Care is incredibly expensive, I don’t come from money. My mum had a two-up, two-down in Manchester which we sold for £75,000 and that was in 2010, so then what do you do? How do you pay those care costs? It was £45,000 a year, how do you pay for that?

“It was devastating, mum worked so hard every day of her life, what she had was to leave to her grandchildren, that was all she had.

“My mum passed away three weeks ago with zero in her bank account.”

Celebrity Big Brother's Angie, John Partridge and David Gest
Celebrity Big Brother's Angie, John Partridge and David Gest
In the CBB house, left, with David Gest and Angie Bowie (Channel 5)

John has previously said he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house in January 2016 to help pay his mother’s care expenses.

He came sixth and the series was won by Ex On The Beach star Stephen Bear.